The talented and much-loved Sir Elton John played one epic & final Australian show at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium last night.
The charismatic 75-year-old kicked off the evening by walking to his piano and hammering out the short sharp first note of 'Bennie and the Jets' to which came a chorus of shouts and cheers from a mammoth crowd. With a long pause and a second short sharp note, the anticipation rose and we were off on the most incredible journey as we witnessed a musical genius in action who was undoubtedly one of the greatest musicians of all time.
Our journey wove through a catalogue of sing-along hits that had all dancing or jostling in their allocated seat. The set list was planned out flawlessly to accompany this ride and the musical master that is Elton John went on to deliver hit after hit for a whopping 2 hours. His voice was as perfect as my treasured Vinyl records.
We traveled along through 'Philadelphia Freedom', 'I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues', and a touching story recount of the Queen of Soul herself Aretha Franklin. Elton spoke of how as young boys new to the scene having Aretha record their 'Border Song' was at the time the greatest thing to have ever happened to them. He mesmerizingly played this song solo to us before the band joined him again to absolutely smash out 'Tiny Dancer' to a roaring crowd.
Elton spoke of how he and long-time guitarist David Johnson had not played 'Have Mercy on the Criminal' live for a very long time and then David moved downstage to deliver an awe-inspiring solo. A loud countdown began backward launching us into a version of 'Rocketman' that blasted us out of the stadium with massive eco effects and speedy percussion right until the end.
The camera shooting to the large screens kept vision switching between Elton's hand on the keys, his face with a reverse reflection from the piano's lip, and flicking between the musicians. These guys knew how to put on an amazing show.
There is never a truer statement than 'Do something you love and you will never work a day in your life' when watching these guys in action. The pure energy and passion of percussionist Ray Cooper had us mesmerized and elevated by his enthusiasm and excitement hitting every beat and moment with such power. The whole band was smiling and interacting with each other cheekily as if no one was watching. There were at times moments when you would feel as though you were witnessing a jam session of sorts through a secret viewpoint. They were simply magic together and the energy and comradery were palpable.
Davey Johnson gave us his epic riffs and had some great guitar changeovers to a sparkling glittery number and then to a beautifully adorned yellow brick road design. Drummer Nigel Olsson smiled looking so elegantly dapper with his suit jacket, pocket square, and white gloves. There was an air of classic elegance throughout the whole band. A glance into a time gone by when style was treasured.
Elton made many heartfelt and humble dialogues to the audience with one of them being “I want to thank you all for the love, loyalty and kindness and support throughout the years, for buying the records and the CDs and the cassettes and more importantly the tickets to the shows because I love to play live more than anything" he said.
There was a short break and a reposition of the piano before a crack of thunder and a visual spectacle of a beautiful storm filled the stadium.
Elton appeared in a new outfit and images of a haunting candlelit candelabra filled the screens while he played 'Funeral For A Friend' and 'Love Lies Bleeding' and onto 'Burn Down The Mission' with the band having the greatest time.
After announcing “Let's Dance” Elton went on to play 'Sad Songs' and dedicated 'Sorry' “To all of the lovers”, then went on to do a heartfelt introduction to us of each of the musicians in the band. He seemed to take genuine pleasure in letting them have their moment in the spotlight before playing 'Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me'. He went on to deliver with gusto 'The Bitch Is Back' sharing that Bernie’s wife at the time used to refer to him when he was in a bad mood as “ the bitch is back” and Bernie penned the song soon thereafter.
While playing 'I’m Still Standing' the large screens once again were alive with footage of video montages of Elton’s career highlighting soul train appearances, family times, and the more recent carpool karaoke with James Corden.
The stage went to blackout leaving the crowd cheering for an encore in which he certainly didn’t disappoint, coming back out to the stage in a floor-length silk dressing gown which showed a hint of a new costume change yet to be revealed. The Recent PNAU Cold Heart song came next with everybody out of their seats and singing their part on instruction from Elton.
He dedicated 'Your Song' to Brisbane saying “ That’s Your Song Brisbane. Thank you for everything, you are the most amazing people, the most incredible country, so be nice to each other, be kind to each other, I wish you health and happiness and prosperity and farewell.”
'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' played and through tears of joy we sang and felt so blessed to have witnessed this musical great and walked with him down his musical memory lane. The screens turned into a yellow brick road scene and he said “After July the eighth of next year, this is it for me, I want to spend the rest of my life with my family,”. He promptly disrobed to reveal one final outfit with the word Elton accross his back and then bid us goodnight for the last time.
