WOW!!! I have had the most amazing experience of my life. As a little recap of my past Elton experiences, I got the "magic ticket upgrade" in Tallhassee, FL in Nov. '97, and *again* in Orlando, FL in Oct. '98 ..... and yet *again* in Gainesville, FL in Feb. '99!!!!! I couldn't believe it ... I guess it pays to be a young, good-looking college student *grin*.
At any rate, I got to sit in the front row, directly in front of Elton for the third time! On the off-chance that I might get to sit in the front row again, I wrote a personal letter to Elton before the show. I was so psyched that I got the chance to personally hand it to him after about the 5th or 6th song of the set. When he came back on stage for the first encore, he signed a few autographs, and then came over to me and said, "Thank you, David, I got your note." I totally flipped ou t. I couldn't believe he said my name. Everyone else around me was also so excited for me. Throughout the show, he smiled and winked at me a lot, because I kept screaming "I love you, Elton," and he really got a kick out of my blowing him a kiss. He even looked right at me and smiled when he sang the line, "Oh, I love blue eyes" in the song Blue Eyes (I do have blue eyes, btw). People in the front row kept handing me their ticket stubs and stuff and saying, "Get him to sign this for me, he likes you the best!" It was pretty funny. All in all, it was such an amazing experience.
On to the show itself ... I thought the sound was fantastic. The piano and his voice sounded great, very clear, and the balance was perfect. I didn't miss the band at all. The bass on the piano and the synths that were used sparingly filled up the songs perfectly. It was nice to hear such a "personal," intimate show for a change since the other three times I've seen him have been with the band.
The stage set up was pretty much the same as for The Big Picture Tour, and he wore the same black outfit with the rhinestone "medusa" face on the back, and a dangly gold earring. The tour books are very nice, and I got him to autograph mine (it helps sitting in the front row and being right up against the stage for the whole show!). The set list was the same as the previous shows, except he put Amazes Me back in, and also kept Better off Dead. I was so pleased with the set list. At any rate, that's my latest Elton experience. If I get a personal note back from him (I put my address on the letter I gave him), I'll let you all know ..... :-)
David devseeff@ufl.edu
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