Monday, August 24, 1998
Still rocking after 30 years, Elton John dazzles crowd
MUSIC: Something about the way legend performs sets him apart from aging stars
By Mike Prevatt
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
He may be in his fifties, but there's no way the sun's going down on Elton John just yet.
Showing no sign of exhaust after over a year of touring, the knighted pop star thrilled fans at the Anaheim Pond Friday night with a near three-hour concert jammed with the hits that have made him one of the biggest names in music.
Playing a "greatest hits" show is the ultimate safety net for more popular pop and rock artists. The audience is so caught up in the excitement of hearing their favorites that the skill in the musical and vocal presentation usually goes ignored or lacks the quality of the studio recordings (i.e. the Rolling Stones and the Eagles). John is in the position where satisfying more than 15,000 fans (paying over $50 a head) means playing his biggest hits, the usual scenario for adult contemporary and classic rock acts which tour regularly.
But it takes a truly talented artist to transcend the "going through the motions" phenomenon and perform the songs the way they were meant to be played. Elton John is one such performer who, after almost thirty years, still can give his songs a freshness and vitality that others his age cannot.
And a performer like John doesn't need to perform for almost three hours. Accomplished artists like Stevie Nicks will charge $65 a ticket and only play for 90 minutes. Yet, either as a testament to the demand to play his numerous hits or to fill the void that fellow piano star Billy Joel was supposed to fill as co-headliner (he canceled tour involvement earlier in the year), Sir Elton plowed through twenty-seven songs with the exuberance he has become famous for. And even if he passed the falsetto parts of his songs on to backup singers, John proved his voice can go on for hours.
With snippets from Disney's "The Lion King" gracing the screens above the stage, John walked out to an extremely enthusiastic capacity crowd and opened with "Circle of Life." The rhythmic back-up band filled the huge Pond with a arena-shaking sound, but it never overshadowed John's virtuoso piano playing or soaring vocals, no matter how hard the shameless, '80s-reject session musicians moved about or sought attention.
John dove early into the favorites, from the upbeat "Grey Seal" and "Honky Cat," to the soulful "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues." And after every single song, the humbled John bowed to the crowd, even walking around to shake hands and acknowledge the fans.
His '80s songs, like "I Don't Want to Go On With You Like That" and "Sad Songs," were certainly pleasing and juiced up more so than their recorded versions, but his '70s hits seemed to prove themselves more memorable and striking in the live performance setting. His renditions of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," Daniel," "Rocket Man" and especially "Your Song" not only drew eardrum-shattering shrieks, but possessed an unexpected poignancy in such a big arena spectacle.
His '90s, middle-of-the-road hits glowed as well, even if the songwriting isn't as mastered as the aforementioned chart-toppers. This included the moving comeback single "The One" and "Something About the Way You Look Tonight," the A-side to "Candle in the Wind '97, "the biggest selling single of all time (which John vowed he'll never perform again).
After an electric, back-to-back performance of "The Bitch is Back" and "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting," John encored with covers of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire."
The climax, however, was saved for the second encore. A now shorts-adorned John slammed the first note of "Bennie and the Jets" onto the piano, and caused complete pandemonium among the fans. During the pleasantly extended version, John kicked away his bench and played from under the piano without missing a note, proving that "Bennie" is all about Elton and his piano. It's further evidence that John is both a consummate showman and a near-genius songwriter. Even though he no longer needs to prove himself, it's always exciting to see him at his best. DERRICK KUDO /Daily Bruin
Legendary singer and songwriter Elton John performs to a packed crowd at the Anaheim Pond.