I am so sorry that it has taken so long for me to do this blog post, I will try not to let that happen again. You remember in my last blog post back in November that I couldn't wait to see Elton John live in concert again at Elysian Fields, Canungra, now I can tell you that I've been, and what a night it was too! I think Elton was in a very good mood that night, he done mostly his greatest hits, but a fair amount of non-single songs were played as well! I am so happy I went, as I always say, to me, Elton John is the best singer in the world! I've even got some pictures, taken by Reece, of the concert!
Well, I guess I'd better start from the beginning! Reece (my brother) and I drove out to Elysian Fields, which is a winery plantation, we actually passed a few winery fields on the way to the concert! After a 30 minute drive, we get there in time to hear the support act playing. The support act was Eran James and I say "hear" because Reece and I were in the food queue for the entire time Eran James was on stage (from 6:00-6:55pm).
By the time Elton came on and started playing the piano (15 minutes earlier than expected), Reece and I were heading to our seats. When we got to our seats, Elton was just about to finish his first song of the night, which was
Your Song! That song is always great no matter when Elton plays it, with band or without!! We were in our seats when Elton started
Sixty Years On, another great song, like
Your Song, from Elton's self-titled
Elton John album in 1970! I loved hearing the piano during this song as it is nice to hear this song sometimes without the full orchestra.
Elton then talked about
The Greatest Discovery, the next song in the set list, as being about Bernie Taupin's little brother and he played that song nicely as well,
The Greatest Discovery, was also taken from the
Elton John album! I was a little surprised when Elton followed
The Greatest Discovery with
I Need You To Turn To, also from the
Elton John album. I have to admit, it is nice when Elton doesn't do a show with just hits, it shows us that he can still sing those songs that weren't singles just as good as the hits, especially the songs from his 70s albums.
After Elton would do a song or two, he'd get up and wave to the audience and get a drink, but when he'd come back to the piano, there would be bugs in the keys, so Elton had to stand up and get the bugs out of the keys. He only had to do this in the first half of the show, because, I guess, that as it got darker, all the annoying bugs couldn't hang around any more. Throughout the night, Elton performed many great songs which I have listed at the bottom of this post.
Rocket Man is always a treat for me, especially
Sacrifice, and
Philadelphia Freedom. I was surprise that Elton did
Ticking as I don't think I've ever heard Elton do that live! I love the way he did
Carla Etude and
Tonight together, and the extended intro's to
Philadelphia Freedom,
Levon,
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues and several other songs were so cool!
Later in the night when Elton was playing
Bennie And The Jets, Reece went up to a security guard and asked why people were going up to the stage and asked if it was OK if we could both go up together! The guard obviously said yes because Reece then came back and said "Come with me, we're going up to the stage!" When we got up there, I went wild, being so close to my favourite singer was so cool! I wasn't near the piano, but I was close. I wasn't exactly right against the stage as there were people in front of me! Thanks to Reece, I think this concert is definitely going to be my most memorable!
We were up near the stage for the last 3 songs after
Bennie And The Jets (from
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road), which, in order, are
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (from the
Caribou album),
I'm Still Standing (from
Too Low For Zero) and
Circle Of Life (from
The Lion King soundtrack). The last few songs were encores, but when Elton finished
Circle Of Life, we all screamed for more, but that was it. It was definitely a concert to remember, especially when you're standing just a metre away from your hero! Reece enjoyed the concert too, but was a little disappointed, as was I, that Elton didn't do his favourite song,
Someone Saved My Life Tonight. I was really hoping for
Crocodile Rock too, but that didn't happen either. Oh well, there's always another time!
All in all, it was a fantastic concert! Hopefully next time Elton comes over, solo or with band, I'll be in the front row near the piano! I've actually heard that because Elton didn't do Perth or the Northern Territory when he did all the other Australian states in November/December 2007, he came back to Australia at the end of his Asian tour in May to perform in Darwin, Broome and Perth. I also heard that in 2009, Elton might be bringing his
Red Piano show to Australia! Whether he tours Australia with the
Red Piano, or just stays in Sydney or Melbourne (similar to what he does in Vegas), it all depends, but I hope he does the tour.
Here is the complete set list of Elton's concert at Elysian Fields, Canungra:
- Your Song
- Sixty Years On
- The Greatest Discovery
- I Need You To Turn To
- Border Song
- Ballad Of The Boy In The Red Shoes
- Daniel
- Honky Cat
- Rocket Man
- Tiny Dancer
- Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters
- Nikita
- Philadelphia Freedom
- Sacrifice
- Ticking
- Roy Rogers
- Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
- Candle In The Wind
- I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
- Electricity
- Carla/Etude
- Tonight
- Take Me To The Pilot
- Blue Eyes
- Levon
- Bennie And The Jets
- Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
- I'm Still Standing (encore)
- Circle Of Life (encore)
