IOWA CITY

by Walter

This past Saturday in Iowa City, IA one of my dreams came true. I have Jim McKay and all of you to thank for this.

The evening began with my leaving for the Iowa City concert a little early in the hopes that I might be able to purchase a better seat for the concert. Unfortunately I was a victim of Ticketmaster and thus had resolved myself to becoming well aquainted with the rafters of The Carver Hawkeye Arena. Upon my arrival at the venue, the tickets were all SOLD OUT. As this was little surprise, I consoled myself that at least I was seeing Sir Elton in a setting that we, as fans, should appreciate under any circumstances.

My first surprise of the evening occurred when entering the building. The ticket-takers were handing our promotional flyers for AIDA. I immediately went on search for as many other flyers I could obtain from other ticket holders who were disgarding theirs. So, I have an extra 8 flyers for those of you who collect this sort of thing. I will gladly mail 1 each to the first 8 who EMail me with an interest and their addresses.

Now that I had took care of at least some of my fellow Rower I went on a search to find our elusive "ticket-upgrader". After wandering the foyer for about 20 minutes I saw a slender man in his early 30-ies with dark hair and glasses trading tickets with some other concert goers. Had I found our man?? I approached him and asked if he was the now-famous 'friend of the Row'. He told me that he was trading tickets on a random basis with people who looked like they were there to have a good time. I immediately began my pleading that I had flown from Canada and would do pretty much anything under the sun to get closer to the stage. He told me that if I met him in 30 minutes at the very spot he would see what he could do. Given that it was his job to hand these out randomly I told him OK and that I'd see him later.

In the meantime, I purchased my usual concert merchandise. The merchandise is pretty much the same as that from The Big Picture tour with the addition of 'An Evening with Elton John Solo' program - $15.00 and a black T-Shirt with Elton on the front in a red coloured suit and the tour dates on the back - $24.00. I purchased both.

I then began my wait for our ticket-upgrader. I was shaking with anticipation. As I was walking around he re-appeared and said "I was waiting for you. You're in luck. Just one condition - you can't sit during the concert. Elton likes to see his fans at the stage." Almost with tears of gratitude, I told him that would not be a problem. He took my ticket stub in exchange for... front-row centre. I don't think the smile has yet to come off of my face...

The stage was set up with 2 large silver circles (like giant hubcaps with a woman's face in the centre) hanging from the rafters and one on the stage. Elton's black Yamaha was positioned to the left of the stage.

I met briefly with the others around me and found that we all had received 'ticket exchanges' in the 1st row. The vast majority of the front row were in their early to late 20ies and ready to have some fun. None of us could believe where we were sitting.

Before the concert even had started we were all standing at the stage. Security encouraged the 1st 3 rows to stand up - most did. My elbows were ON the stage and at the foot of Elton's piano. Instrumental music was playing from AIDA before Elton's arrival.

Elton came out to a roar from the crowd. He was wearing a black suit with green patches on the elbows and had on a pair of wire framed glasses. He looked great!

The song list was as follows: Your Song, Skyline Pigeon, The Greatest Discovery, Border Song, Talking Old Soldiers, Daniel, Honky Cat, Come Down In Time, Sacrifice, Better Off Dead, I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, Ticking, Carla/Etude, Tonight - my favorite, I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That, The One, Written In The Stars, Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters (Pt 1), Take Me To The Pilot, Friends, Recover Your Soul, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Blue Eyes, Levon, Crocodile Rock, Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me; 1st Intermission: Circle Of Life, Bennie and The Jets; 2nd Intermission: The Last Song.

Some highlights of the concert included:

Elton and his Diet Coke. They should really be sponsoring this man for life for the amount he drinks
Talking Old Soldiers: Elton said that the song was about getting old and being alone and that he has experienced both
The Greatest Discovery: Elton noted that this song was about Bernie's younger brother
Elton performed an extended opening to Take Me To The Pilot
from what I could make out, much of the screens were focusing on Elton's hands playing the piano
before Written In The Stars, Elton said that LeAnn Rimes could not be present but that he'd do it solo. I called out that we only needed him much to the laughter of Elton and the crowd. I was being SERIOUS!
Elton signed autographs twice during the show. When he first came on stage he mouthed to the girl beside me with an album cover of Madman that he'd visit us later on. I was fortunate enough to get both my program and the one I purchased for a fellow Rower signed. Surprise Paul! Note that those who wanted their ticket stubs signed generally missed out as Elton seemed to take the largest items presented to him for signing.
We wished him Happy Birthday the first time he came around to sign.
Elton got the crowd to sing the "La's" in Croc Rock. He strained his voice trying to do them but it was a lot of fun. Everyone went crazy!
During Circle of Life, scenes from the Lion King were shown on the screens
As I was mouthing all of the words to every song, Elton looked up at me during Mona Lisa's and raised his eyebrows when he sang "I thank the Lord there's people out there like you" and then smiled. I think it's amazing that he enjoys the contact the fans. Other concerts I've been to, the artist performs, mentions the city their playing in to get cheap applause and then leaves.
Elton changed to a black pyjama outfit for The Last Song and dedicated it to those with AIDS. He told the crowd about the Vanity Fair magazine and reminded us how lucky were all were to be healthy

What an evening. I am still in shock. I know I have all of you to thank for this.

Jim, once again, thank you for all of your hard work putting up with us brats. I know we can get ancy at times but I think it's because we are all so passionate about the person(s) and the music that brings us together.

If you get a chance to see Elton with the last remaining dates of this tour or on the next leg, DO NOT HESITATE! I promise you will not go home disappointed.

Walter.

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