Not entirely "private" , since 300 seats were sold at $150 each to the public out of the only 2000 available, but only a handful of lucky fans got to see Elton baptize this new venue. His concert marked the grand opening of the Hard Rock Live concert hall in Orlando, adjacent to a new HR Cafe in the Universal Studios Citywalk complex.
The hall resembles an early 20th century movie theater, with Greek columns and a small second level balcony. All attendees got a special shaped commemorative "CD" with the HRC logo and grand opening details, as an admittance badge. Celebrities there included Trey Parker (South Park co-creator) and some of the Backstreet Boys.
Elton made a change from his usual black suits of this solo tour, and instead, for this special occasion, chose a purple suit with sparkly trim, and rose tinted glasses with black frames. He performed the same set list as in Carbondale,again omitting Friends, but played longer than the event organizers expected: they hoped for about 18 songs and were surprised to hear almost 30!
The only disappointment was the overplayed Daniel. The electric keyboard sound used was annoyingly high pitched. Otherwise, the sound quality was by far the best I have ever heard at any concert. Crystal clear. I'm sure Clive Franks was impressed with the building's acoustics. Shame that this show did not appear to be taped for future broadcast.
The crowd was not allowed to go stand up front due to the front row VIP's, but Elton got standing ovations after every song, and people were allowed to go up for autographs.
Sharon
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