Moody Blues Announce Spring 2016 U.S. Tour

The Moody Blues are set to celebrate 50 years with singer-guitarist Justin Hayward and bassist John Lodge in the group. The band announced a month-long series of dates across the U.S. for the spring of 2016.

The tour will begin on March 3, 2016 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla. They will spend the entire time in the South, and wrap it up at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino on April 2. It coincides with their third fan cruise, which will depart Miami on Feb. 26 and feature performances from the Zombies, John Waite and Christopher Cross.

They are calling this the "Fly Me High" tour, after the first single they released after those two replaced Denny Laine and Rodney Clark in late-1966. “2016 is the 50th anniversary of John and myself joining the band," Hayward said in a press release, "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. 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!”

"Fly Me High" failed to chart, but things would soon turn around for the Moody Blues. By the end of 1967, the would release "Nights in White Satin" and the album Days of Future Passed, and the band would spend the next 20 years as one of the most reliable hitmakers among their progressive rock contemporaries.

For complete ticket information on the "Fly Me High" tour, visit the band's website.

The Moody Blues Spring 2016 U.S. Tour

3/3 – Hollywood, Fla.
3/4 – Fort Pierce, Fla.
3/5 – Clearwater, Fla.
3/6 – Sarasota, Fla.
3/8 – Orlando, Fla.
3/9 – Melbourne, Fla.
3/10 – Estero, Fla.
3/11 – Saint Augustine, Fla.
3/12 – Atlanta, Ga.
3/15 – North Charleston, S.C.
3/16 – Columbia, S.C.
3/18 – Chattanooga, Tenn.
3/19 – Cherokee, N.C.
3/20 – Nashville, Tenn.
3/22 – Wilmington, N.C.
3/24 – Durham, N.C.
3/25 – Richmond, Va.
3/26 – Newport News, Va.
3/28 – Charlotte, N.C.
3/30 – Louisville, Ky.
3/31 – Paducah, Ky.
4/1 – Robinsonville, Miss.
4/2 – Biloxi, Miss.