It was quite the show. On Sept. 6, 2024, my fiancée and I saw one of our favorite bands on their final tour. It was Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). The “Over and Out Tour” was a greatest hits, visual spectacle.

The tour began on Aug. 24, 2024, in Palm Desert, CA., and will end on Oct. 25 in Los Angeles. The band has been around for 54 years, beginning in Birmingham, England, in 1970. Created by Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, and Bev Bevan, the band has achieved a lot of success and been through the ringer. This incarnation of ELO, called Jeff Lynne’s ELO for legal reasons, has all new members except for Lynne.

“It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen,” said Ashlyn Weber, ’19. Weber has been a fan of ELO since childhood. Her father introduced her to the band through songs like “Telephone Line” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.” I had always been aware of the band’s songs, though not by name, until Weber inundated me with their magical music on long car rides. Songs like “Last Train to London” and “Rockaria!” really resonated with me.

Their music strikes a special balance of unique instrumentation and catchy lyrics. My typical playlist from the ’70s consists of Black Sabbath and AC/DC, while Weber’s has more friendly bands like The Doors and performers like Glen Campbell. But ELO manages to meld our tastes through their command of melody and lyricism.

The concert itself was well worth the trip to St. Louis and the admission cost. “There was very little gap between songs,” said Weber. “They would transition into the next song in about a minute.” This pace was helpful since neither she nor I enjoy incomprehensible one-way conversations with elderly music artists. At the last concert we attended, Alabama at the State Fair, the lead singer babbled in a way that combined a strong Southern accent with the slurring of a man who had recently suffered a stroke. Lynne, on the other hand, was much more understandable and seemed to really just want to play his music.

That said, it was apparent that it was time for Lynne to retire. At least twice during the concert, Lynne was singing off beat, and I’m not entirely convinced that his guitar was plugged in. It was so bad at one point that another member had to step in to sing for Lynne, who couldn’t keep up with the tempo of the song. That said, “Even with Jeff Lynne being aged and visibly exhausted, they captured the essence of the original recordings,” said Weber.

All in all, the concert was amazing. Knowing a playlist so well you can sing every song with the crowd is an experience like no other. If you haven’t heard of ELO, I recommend listening to “Evil Woman,” “Mr. Blue Sky,” and “Strange Magic.”

This story has been edited to correct an error about the initial tour concert location.