Rocket Man

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How about a last-minute Elton John concert? Usually going to a concert requires some planning, not the least in the aspect of acquiring tickets. A bit surprisingly though, the concert is not sold out, so we get tickets only a couple of hours before the concert. An artist in this league, the highest of them all, should guarantee a great show, but due to the short notice I haven’t had the time to build up any expectations. Turns out that was for the best. Elton starts the concert with a number of to me unknown songs. If I was in charge of the playlist, I would have chosen a well-known and popular song as a starter, to get the crowd going. But Elton can afford to go his own way. On very few occasions he leaves his piano to get up and sing for a minute. Then he’s back at the piano. Doesn’t really connect with the audience, doesn’t let his magic out. But that’s what he does, plays the piano and sings his songs. Surrounded by great musicians, and supported by his own brilliant piano play and powerful voice, it’s still a solid performance. Can’t really fail with his repertoire of hits. And after a while he brings out the more famous songs. “Rocket Man” is dragged with excessive piano and guitar play. It’s a good song, but it’s not a ten minute song, Sir Elton. Everybody knows and can sing along to “Candle In The Wind”. “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” rocks, as does “Crocodile Rock” although it’s also dragged out to an unnecessary extent. “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” works. The audience doesn’t really know what to do with “Daniel” and “Hercules”. The crowd knows very well what to do with “I’m Still Standing” - stand up and sing along. Not at all surprisingly, the last song for the evening is “Your Song”. In my opinion one of his best. Sound pretty much like it does on a CD. Maybe not what you expect from a concert, but it could be worse. Not a magical evening, but a rather satisfying three hours after all, and I can check Elton John concert off my To-Do list. Can’t promise I’ll go again, but maybe if he promises to play those Lion King songs...

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