Before “Lights Out,” UFO marches to “Last Orders” in Indiana

Photos by Andy Argyrakis

For those who couldn’t secure a ticket to UFO’s sold out pair of shows in Chicagoland (essentially its second home outside of London thanks to the “Strangers In The Night” recording), the Honeywell Center’s Ford Theater in Wabash, Indiana was more than worth the road trip. In addition to being a carefully restored state-of-the-art facility on the arty side of town, the hard rockers sounded as indestructible as ever, especially with the volume cranked all the way up.

UFO blasted the lights out with a bang, but could just as conceivably keep the door open to a reconfigured future, or at the very least, leave behind one of the last half-century’s heaviest legacies.

In fact, the intensity never wavered throughout 90 mighty minutes, which marked the dual occasion of being the band’s 50th anniversary and also a chance for co-founding front man Phil Mogg, 71, to bid fans farewell. The aptly named “Last Orders” outing found UFO lifting the lid on tunes from no less than nine albums, leaning the emphasis towards earlier epics such as “Lights Out,” “Obsession” and “Force It,” but making sure to make at least one stop in each decade along the way.

That meant everything from the monstrous choruses of “We Belong To The Night” and “Only You Can Rock Me” to the recent riffer “Run Boy Run” and the rarely performed muscle of “Fighting Man.” Throughout them all, Mogg and original drummer Andy Parker wailed away with all the expected intensity, augmented by the aggression of returning rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Neil Carter (in the wake of Paul Raymond’s passing), plus long time lead guitarist Vinnie Moore and bassist Rob De Luca.

The audience even got a chance to get in on the act come the call and response of “Too Hot To Handle,” while Moore kept up Michael Schenker and Paul Chapman’s longstanding tradition of adding a wild solo to “Rock Bottom.” By encores of “Doctor Doctor” and “Shoot Shoot,” UFO blasted the lights out with a bang, but could just as conceivably keep the door open to a reconfigured future, or at the very least, leave behind one of the last half-century’s heaviest legacies.

Click here for more photos of UFO at the Honeywell Center.

For additional information on UFO, visit UFO-Music.Info.

Upcoming concert highlights at Honeywell Center include Chad Prather (Oct. 25); Moscow Ballet’s “Great Russian Nutcracker” (Nov. 1); Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood (Nov. 8); “Cirque Dreams Holidaze” (Nov. 17); Jackie Evancho (Nov. 23); “A Christmas Carol” (Nov. 24); The Midtown Men (Nov. 30); Home Free (Dec. 12); The Oak Ridge Boys (Dec. 14); The Wizards Of Winter (Dec. 15); Fort Wayne Philharmonic Holiday Pops (Dec. 18); Mannheim Steamroller (Dec. 19) and Point Of Grace (Dec. 21). For additional details, visit HoneywellCenter.org.

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Before “Lights Out,” UFO marches to “Last Orders” in Indiana

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