My friends and I (including EltonsLove, JanBansch and others) just got home from a long but inspiring two day trip to see Elton at the Peoria Civic Center.
First of all when we got there, we were so early that we were able to hear Elton doing his soundcheck, and of all songs, he was doing WITS!! We found an unlocked door and went inside to have a peek. There were 6 of us there, and needless to say, our jaws hit the floor! We were in absolute awe.
After we were back out in the commons, we were confronted by a newspaper photographer, who proceeded to snap photos of us and his reporter interviewed us! As we went on our way, we were next confronted by the local TV station who asked us to be live on their 6 o'clock news! (Maybe it was the cardboard cutout of Elton that we had that was drawing all this attention to us!). So we were interviewed by her, and were on the 6 o'clock as well as the 10 o'clock news!
From there we went in to find our seats which weren't too hard to find as we had 1st and 2nd rows respectively. Not too far into the show, after the first number (Your Song) we found ourselves standing at the stage. Elton was doing his rounds, as he always does, and after he signed several autographs he looked at me (as I was holding the cutout), pointed to me and said, "Do you want me to sign that?" I said I did, so he sent his roadie to get it and he put it on top of his piano and signed it with his trusted Sharpie! The whole crowd cheered! It was a moment I will not soon forget! Ok, I'll NEVER forget!! Later, after shaking his hand about 3 times and getting my ticket stub autographed, while Elton was standing in front of me I said to him, "I love you!" and he looked at me and said "Thank you." I about died! So all in all it was just most excellent concert.
He did a lot of songs that we were really excited to hear like Better Off Dead, Ticking, and he surprised us all with WITS. Elton also did a touching tribute to Dusty Springfield who had sadly passed away that day. He told us how he grew up admiring her, and that he had her pictures all over his bedroom wall. When he said that, I heard someone in the audience shout, "Now you know how we feel!". Elton then sang I Only Want to Be With You, dedicating it to Dusty.
So to make a long story longer, it was so wonderful to see Elton again, since I hadn't seen him since October, and I was beginning to experience withdrawl symptoms! ;-) It was well worth the 8 hour drive, and I certainly plan to try to see him again on his solo tour.
Return to the concert details.