Moody Blues to Return to Van Wezel, 3/24

The Moody Blues, still rocking in 2013 with original members Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge, have released 24 albums in a career spanning nearly five decades. They have sold more than 70 million albums, earning 18 platinum discs and all manner of awards including Playboy "Group of the Year", the "Golden Ticket" award for selling the most tickets at Madison Square Garden and an Ivor Novello for Outstanding Contribution to British Music; the band has even appeared in an episode of "The Simpsons."

Their classic album, Days of Future Passed (featuring the Moody Blues' signature song "Nights in White Satin"), heralded the era of the concept album and detailed sleeve artwork that would epitomize the Progressive Rock movement that followed.

Formed in 1964 in Birmingham, England, The Moody Blues came from the same gene pool that would give the world Traffic, the Move, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Slade. The band's original line-up of Denny Laine, Graeme Edge, Clint Warwick, Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder scored a global number one hit with "Go Now," but unable to follow up this success, Warwick and Laine left the group - to be replaced by John Lodge and Justin Hayward, respectively, in 1966. For the next few months, the band crafted a new set of original compositions that would change their fortunes.

Drastically re-thinking their musical approach, the band began to compose new material in a uniquely different style. Eager to recoup some of the money they had invested in the band, Decca asked The Moody Blues to record a rock version of Dvorak's New World Symphony to demonstrate a new stereo system they were launching known as 'Deramic' sound. Instead, the Moodies, along with producer Tony Clarke, used the orchestral settings for a suite of their own songs, which resulted in Days of Future Passed, a record that was as groundbreaking as any of that era and featured "Nights In White Satin." This proved a turning point for the band and they soon became acknowledged masters of lushly orchestrated psychedelic rock and trailblazers in the use of the mellotron, which they used both live and in the studio to mimic the sounds of a full orchestra.

Tickets are priced from $35-$85. For more information, call the Box Office at 941-953-3368 or visit www.VanWezel.org.