Music / 10CC, “The Ultimate Greatest Hits Tour”. At Llewellyn Hall, June 21. Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.

THIRTY million albums sold tell you many things about a band, but the musicality and crafty lyrics of 10CC make them like few other groups.

Formed in 1972 in England, 10CC crosses many musical boundaries. Jazz, reggae, pop, and progressive musical styles fill their highly artistic creations. I never get tired of listening to their songs because they are so inventive, and all their hits sound as fresh today as the day they were written.

Today, 10CC are made up of co-lead singer and bassist Graham Gouldman; Rick Fenn, guitar, bass, vocals; Paul Burgess, drums, keyboard, vocals; Iain Hornal, vocals, guitar, percussion and Keith Hayman, bass, keyboard, vocals.

When you’re 10CC, you don’t need a warm-up act. You hit the stage and blast out one of your fastest and loudest songs, “The Second Sitting for the Last Supper”. It was as tight and loud as the original from 1975. Then, after an almost psychedelic-infused beginning, dreamier than the original, another hit, “Art for Art’s Sake”. Several people got up to dance. It ended where it began in a fusion of overdriven sound.

It then got better, the wild and ear-splitting, “Life is a Minestrone”. This song sums up the crazed aesthetic of 10CCs music and lyrics. It got everyone clapping along. It was so loud.

After several earlier hits, one of the craziest songs they ever wrote, “Clockwork Creep”. It’s about a conversation between a plane and a bomb, with mandolin. The flashing lights nearly made me fall out of my seat.

Such has always been the musical talent in this group, they astound. All members play several instruments, and everyone sing. This makes them one of the most diverse musical bands ever.

“Wall Street Shuffle”, still had that edgy funky combination of styles wrapped in hard-hitting lyrics about greedy, greedy money grubbers. It’s still a hit. After a new song about the James Webb Telescope, which Brian May of Queen performed on the studio recording, “Things we do for Love”. Their massive 1976 hit, which has some of their most normal lyrics was still a pop explosion.

Then, the song that everyone and I was waiting to hear, “I’m Not in Love”. The memories, the times, the people this brought back for me, and I’m sure for most others at the concert, this was the emotional highlight of the night.

Songs don’t get funkier than “Dreadlock Holiday”. The audience didn’t like it, they loved it. There wasn’t a person in the house sitting after that.

Then an a cappella version of their very first hit single, “Donna”, sung in that crazy falsetto voice. All around one mic, the players not only performed the song but also comical antics with hilarious timing. They rocked out with a song many were calling out for, “Rubber Bullets”. It went on and on as the band cut loose. That was 10CC, original, talented and riotous.