Before his concert at Polaris Amphitheatre last Wed., Sept. 9, Elton hadn't been to Columbus since August 1995 (Made in England tour), so I was more than *ready* for some boogyin'!! From the weather (clear skies, cool night) to the red moon rising above the horizon, it was a perfect night for Elton to be back!!
The big news (no cheating! spoilers coming up!!) was the change in the song lineup: he substituted Capt. Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy for Roy Rogers, saying this was the first time he had done so. I really enjoyed hearing a "new" song... er, one I'd never heard him perform live before (unless maybe at the Ray Cooper concert?).
There were many high points in the evening. Honky Cat was eminently danceable (we got tix on the lawn so I could dance!). Levon provided my first goose bumps of the evening. That was a rare one to hear live.
Since I hadn't been reading the spoilers, I was surprised to hear the oldie but goodie I'm gonna be a teenage idol. I remembered Spring 1973, listening to that album!!
Daniel, Your Song, and Recover your Soul provided the quiet, sweet moments of the evening. Elton dedicated SATWYLT to all those in love or just wanting to get laid!!! He's a riot. I always love to hear Mona Lisas -- doesn't matter how many times I have heard it already.
Elton seemed in a jovial mood. He interacted a lot w/the audience up front, signing autographs, shaking hands, etc. For some reason, the big thing was giving him shirts to sign. At one point, he was trying to get back to his piano to play, and people kept throwing shirts at him!!! It was kinda funny, he made a comment like "Stop throwing t-shirts!!" :) He said a special hello to the people on the lawn -- he probably does that at all the concerts but somehow it makes us "lawn people" feel more a part of the proceedings. He also thanked all his fans "who've been there thru it all, for 28 years" or something to that effect. Hey, I've been a fan for 27 years!!! Does that count, Eltie??) Then he pointed at both sides of the audience, and it seemed like he was pointing right at me (yeah right... :)
The only downside of the evening for me was the lack of material from The Big Picture, especially Live Like Horses and January!!! I LOVE those two, and I missed hearing the new material. I love hearing new material live (for example, the first time I EVER heard Sacrifice was at the Cleveland 1989 concert -- I was *blown away* and it still affects my love for that song). How about Wicked Dreams live? That'd be kickin'!
Also, I wish he'd leave out a few old "warhorses." I suppose everyone would pick different ones for him to leave out (I for one never get tired of hearing Your Song! :). My list of songs to "leave out next time, Elton" would be: Tiny Dancer, IGTWTCITB (I can't believe I'm saying that -- it used to be my fave -- but I'm really tiring of hearing it live, for some reason), I don't wanna go on ...", Crocodile Rock, Simple Life / The One, Sad Songs. I know he has to do a certain no. of hits (one can feel the energy level decrease when he plays a more obscure title like Teenage Idol) BUT I wish he'd vary his "oldies" from tour to tour a bit more.
The encores were *wonderful*. Lucy in the Sky.. was the high point of the concert for me. His voice was wonderful all evening, but on that song he was *golden* -- his voice just had a wonderful deep resonance. Great Balls of Fire and Bennie were, of course, great fun. As someone said in another spoiler, GBOF seems to have been written for him. On Bennie, he was wearing that cool red jacket and the black shorts, and he did a lot of acrobatics (how does he do that at the *end* of the evening?) -- under the piano playing, leg up on the bench, etc. He can sure vamp! (He's got nice gams!)
Seeing Elton again was a dream come true. Thanks, Rocket Man!!
--Barbara
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