When composer Jeff Wayne first opened HG Wells’s book The War of the Worlds to pass the time on tour in the 1970s, he likely would not have predicted what followed.
More than 45 years on from the release of the double album, which sold an estimated 15 million copies worldwide, the spectacular musical production The War of the Worlds will return on tour for its 19th year.
Last in Aberdeen at the old Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) in 2009, Jeff said he still remembers being shocked when he arrived.
“I was stunned at how beautiful Aberdeen was,” he said, and admitted it was the first time he learnt about the city’s relationship with oil and the North Sea.
Having been more than 15 years since his last visit, Jeff said he was looking forward to seeing what had changed.
But revealed he was bringing some surprises of his own too.
Conducting feels like a hovercraft
Always striving to give audiences a fresh production and himself a creative challenge, next year’s tour is no exception.
Celebrating 130 years since the publication of HG Wells’s book, the show conducted by Jeff will feature actor Liam Neeson in 3D holography as the journalist who recounts his story of survival from the 1898 Martian invasion.
Using a whole host of tech to create a fantastic visually immersive experience, the production will be rolling up at P&J Live on April 1 2025 with 12 truck-loads of equipment – double the usual amount.
Perhaps in a few years even giving Elton John, who arrived with 32 artic lorries, a run for his money.
“It’s always a major high point in my career as a musician because so much of my work is in the studio,” said the 80-year-old.
“And in The War of the Worlds, it’s a different experience.
“So in a way, with all the multimedia ingredients, conducting the show, I’ve always compared it to feeling a bit like a hovercraft where my feet never quite touch the ground for about two and a half hours.”
How The War of the Worlds began
The son of a popular singer, entertainer and tennis player, Jerry Wayne, Jeff grew up in a bubble of creatives and tennis pros.
After his family moved to England from New York when he was nine years old, Jeff remembers watching his dad in Edinburgh shows and marvelling weekly at his performances as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls in London’s West End.
As a result, he was naturally influenced by this and ended up following in his father’s footsteps and straddling the worlds of music, arts and tennis.
Jeff was commissioned to compose music for films and many TV and radio shows such as the theme for Good Morning Britain and was also producing for English singer-songwriter David Essex.
The night before going on tour as David’s musical director, Jeff’s dad handed him HG Wells’s The War of the Worlds.
He added: “He came to me one day and said, ‘Look, I know you’re loving the roll you’re on with your career.’
“But he remembered I always wanted to try to find a story I just fell in love with and could start with a blank page.
“On the very first read of The War of the Worlds, unlike any of the other books I had been reading or he had been reading, this one just struck an immediate chord.”
Father’s legacy
The project soon became a father and son partnership with Jerry, a former West End theatre producer, saying they should take it on tour if the album was a success.
Sadly he died in 1996 and never saw the first arena tour.
While Jeff has enjoyed many highlights and successes over the years, there is one secret hope that will never be able to come to pass.
He said: “If I could have ever had the chance to conduct a concert with my dad being the artist, it would have been that.”
However, there is one part in the epilogue from the show The War of the Worlds which helps keep him close and has stayed the same despite all the changes made over the years.
“My father played all the voices that are in it and in every tour we’ve ever done,” Jeff added.
“He’s just the last voice you actually hear in the show. So he’s with us in every form.”
The Spirit of Man Tour
The show’s success and legacy appear to only be growing with Jeff noticing new and fresher faces with every tour as fans bring along family and friends.
He added: “I think it just resonates as a story on the sort of levels that appealed to me.
“Without intention, but by natural evolution, the show has just grown and grown. And I think our audiences feel it and enjoy it.”
Conversation