Justin Hayward -- Wind of Heaven Tour

I spent an enchanted evening on Valentine's Day, attending Justin Hayward's "Wind of Heaven Tour," at the Lexington Opera House.

Hayward, along with virtuoso guitarist Mike Dawes and multi-talented keyboardist/background singer Julie Ragins, performed 14 songs, a mix of Hayward's solo efforts and  Moody Blues' standards. 

Justin Hayward

Hayward, who turned 70 last October, delivered heartfelt and emotional ballads as well as a few uptempo tunes from his vast catalog of music. I'm not sure his voice has improved with age (he was at the top of his game during the Moodies' core seven era from 1967-72), but there is still the sincerity and honesty in his voice that has connected with music lovers for more than a half-century. 

Mike Dawes, Justin Hayward and Julie Ragins

Appropriately, Hayward opened with "Tuesday Afternoon" and closed with the timeless "Nights in White Satin," followed by an encore "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," to an appreciative audience of 800 or so fans.

Among the other songs were "The Best Is Yet to Come," "One Day, Someday," "In Your Blue Eyes," and "Forever Autumn."

Mike Dawes

The concert started with Dawes playing several awe-inspiring instrumentals before Hayward took the stage. Dawes certainly has to rank as one of the best guitarists with what he can do with the instrument. 

This marked the first time I've seen Hayward without his MB mates. I've seen the Moodies nine times, dating back to 1971 in Kansas City. I've never been disappointed.


This year is the 50th anniversary of the Moodies' groundbreaking "Days of Future Passed" album,  which the group is commemorating with a tour this summer.

Until the next time. . .

Justin Hayward Concert Tickets

I must have been a good boy in 2016 because I scored some nice tickets for Justin Hayward's "The Wind of Heaven" concert tour.

Hayward, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the legendary Moody Blues, will be performing at the Lexington Opera House on Feb. 14.

Justin Hayward

 I had received several email notifications about the concert, and my son Justin heard announcements on the radio about the event and texted me about the date. He thought it would be a lovely way to spend Valentine's evening with his mom so I  put it on my calendar.

This morning at 10, I was on the Ticketmaster website to see if I could get decent tickets. It was a slow process and I was about to give up after an excruciating 25 minutes. 

I chose the option of letting Ticketmaster find two tickets, but the best it could do were rows J and K, and the seats weren't next to each other. 

So I gave it one final shot of finding seats, thinking they would be on the second level (which I wouldn't want). But to my amazement, perhaps a bit of shock, there were two tickets on the second row from the stage. 

Are you kidding me? 

I told my wife Mary what was available and she said go for it.  And I got them. Whoopee!

There will be four seats between us, but that's not a big deal. I mean, we bought the tickets to see and hear Justin Hayward perform, not to sit next to each other. For a couple of hours we'll get lost in the music, something that would have happened regardless of our seats. And then we'll sit next to each other on the way home in the car and (hopefully) talk about a wonderful concert by one of our favorite performers.

I'm not much of a concert-goer these days. I don't like large crowds, dealing with the traffic and parking, and poor acoustics.  Those things shouldn't be much of a problem at the Lexington Opera House.

Hayward, who recently turned 70,  presents a more intimate performance on the tour, playing an acoustic guitar, accompanied by guitarist extraordinaire Mike Dawes and keyboardist/backup vocalist Julie Ragins.

I recently purchased Hayward's "All The Way" CD, a compilation of some of his solo recordings since the mid-1970s. My only regret is that it has only  15 songs; it could have been a two-disc set, featuring other tunes from his songbook.

Now the countdown begins to the show. I'm looking forward to the new year.

Until the next time....