Sir Elton - the recap

The concert was fantastic. La Reine and I met our friends just up the road a bit at a park and ride where they joined us. We drove up to west valley and had a wonderful dinner. During dinner we talked about our favorite songs, and which songs we thought he'd play, and which we hoped he'd play.

We arrived to find that our "cheap" seats were actually fantastic. We were in the upper concourse, but only about 50-60 feet from the stage with a great view of the piano (on our side) and of Elton the whole time.

And, it turned out that our thoughts on what he'd play and our wish list were not too far off from what he actually wound up playing!

The setlist from Tuesday:
1. Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding (One of B's favs - didn't think he'd play this, but really hoped he would.)
2. Bennie And The Jets (thought he'd play it)
3. Philadelphia Freedom (didn't discuss)
4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (thought he'd play it)
5. Believe (thought he'd play it)
6. Tiny Dancer (thought he'd play it)
7. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues (thought he'd play it)
8. Take Me To The Pilot (didn't expect this one - loved, loved, loved it - Elton played a 10 minute "intro" which ranged from blues to gospel, to classical, back to blues etc. while his band took a bit of a break off-stage. AWESOME!!!)
9. I Want Love (didn't discuss this one)
10. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Hoped he'd play - B's other fav)
11. Postcards From Richard Nixon (From the album that released on the same day as the concert - I bought it the next morning, most excellent)
12. Tinderbox (also from the new album)
13. Blues Never Fade Away (also from the new album)
14. The Bridge (Also from the new album - My fav of the new songs)
15. Old '67 (also from the new album)
16. Captain And The Kid (also from the new album)
(Note that Elton "introduced" each new song, and also explained the whole album, which is essentially the companion to the Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.)
17. Mona Lisa's And Mad Hatters (One of my favs, didn't think he'd play it, I was thrilled that he did!)
18. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (Another of my favs, didn't think he'd play it.)
19. Rocket Man (Thought he'd play it)
20. Daniel (didn't discuss it)
21. Levon (thought he'd play it)
22. Crocodile Rock (thought he'd play it, and when this one started this dude 10 seats or so to my left, probably in his 50's, started be-boppin and fist shakin' and singin' along, very fun.)
23. The Bitch Is Back (thought he'd play it)
24. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting (didn't discuss this one)
25. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (thought he'd play it)
26. Your Song (thought he'd play it)

We've seen Sir Elton now four times (once with Billy Joel, three times just him) and this was without doubt the best I've ever seen him. The voice was as pure as the early seventies, though he no longer hits the falsettos like he used to. He seemed very connected to the audience and super happy.

The concert lasted about 3 hours total, with no intermission, though there was about a five minute break when everyone, including Elton left the stage - right after "Levon" I think. When Elton came back out onstage, he spent probably 10 minutes moving from one side of the stage to the other signing autographs, smiling and laughing the whole time.

Dear Sir - please come again soon. We've missed you.

- jake