Moody Blues To Soar Across North America

The Moody Blues brings its progressive rock stylings back to the U.S. when the legendary band’s “Fly Me High” tour launches in Florida in early March. Select shows go on sale this week.

Photo: Steve Jennings

Wells Fargo Center For The Arts, Santa Rosa, Calif.

The outing shares its name with the band’s 1966 single.

“2016 is the 50th anniversary of John [Lodge] and myself joining the band, and one of the first things we did together that year was record ‘Fly Me High’ at our own expense at Regent Sound Studios in Denmark Street,” Justin Hayward said.

“The ‘suits at Decca liked it but thought it could be recorded better. So we turned up at the Decca studios on the appointed day where we met Tony Clarke for the first time. He was assigned to us as ‘in house’ producer and we recorded the song again. Decca released the new version and it was picked up by the BBC who used it as a ‘jingle’ for a while. It was all absolutely great and ‘Fly Me High’ was the start of our new sound and direction. The Decca engineer on ‘Fly Me High’ was Gus Dudgeon who went on to produce mega hits for Elton John. He did a great job!”

Photo: Edison Graff

Pearl Concert Theater, Las Vegas, Nev.

A half-century later finds the Moody Blues made up of Hayward, Lodge and Graeme Edge, the latter being the band’s only original member. Here are your “Fly Me High” dates:

March 3 – Hollywood, Fla., Hard Rock Live
March 4 – Fort Pierce, Fla., Sunrise Theatre
March 5 – Clearwater, Fla., Ruth Eckerd Hall
March 6 – Sarasota, Fla., Van Wezel Perf. Arts Hall
March 8 – Orlando, Fla., Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts
March 9 – Melbourne, Fla., King Center For Performing Arts
March 10 – Estero, Fla., Germain Arena
March 11 – Saint Augustine, Fla., St. Augustine Amphitheatre
March 12 – Atlanta, Ga., Fox Theatre
March 15 – North Charleston, S.C., North Charleston Perf. Arts Center
March 16 – Columbia, S.C., Township Auditorium
March 18 – Chattanooga, Tenn., Tivoli Theatre
March 19 – Cherokee, N.C., Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Event Center
March 20 – Nashville, Tenn., Ryman Auditorium
March 22 – Wilmington, N.C., Cape Fear Community College Humanities & Fine Arts Center
March 24 – Durham, N.C., Durham Performing Arts Center
March 25 – Richmond, Va., Altria Theater
March 26 – Newport News, Va., Ferguson Center For The Arts
March 28 – Charlotte, N.C., Belk Theater
March 30 – Louisville, Ky., The Louisville Palace Theatre
March 31 – Paducah, Ky., Four Rivers Center
April 1 – Robinsonville, Miss., Horseshoe Casino
April 2 – Biloxi, Miss., Beau Rivage Resort & Casino

Presales for many dates launch Nov. 3. General onsales for March 3-4, 8-9, 15-16 & 24 begin Nov. 6 while March 6, 10 & 11 start Nov. 13. General onsales for March 5 commence Nov. 14. Check out MoodyBluesToday.com for details.