How do you improve on perfection? Tear up the rule book (that you wrote) and rewrite it. Again. That's what Elton did on Tuesday night at The Marquee. Possibly the best place in the world to see Elton and the band. 5000 people, mostly standing, jammed into a circus tent. No big screens or fancy back drop. Just pure rock and roll in your face, raw and uncompromising.

As Kim Bullard finished playing the opening notes of Funeral For A Friend, Elton arrived to a thunderous roar. Possibly Louder Than...As he sat down and hit the opening notes on the piano a deadening off tune duhhh was heard. Not good. At all. Elton stopped and the band followed suit. What's wrong guys? As Elton repeatedly tried to get tried the keys, there was no improvement. So exit the stage did Elton, for the tech guys to do their thing. After much twiddling and tuning, Kim replayed FFAF. Elton arrived again to an even louder cheer. Now we could let rip. But low and behold lightening struck again. At the exact same spot. Now Elton's patience was being tested. Worried faces, with no painted smiles were in evidence. I don't care if we're here to midnight, we're gonna get this fixed said the master. A man with a big screw driver appeared and broke all records in trying to repair it. Davey Johnstone was so amused by proceedings, I thought he was going to give birth. The crowd waited with exceptional patience, witnessing a truly dramatic moment. Finally after much screwing and twiddling, Kim completed his hat trick and went for number three. With great glee on his face. At the appointed moment, Elton appeared again. This time with a forced robotic walk probably expecting the worst. With a sharp intake of breath from 5000 folks and the band and crew, Elton plunged down his left hand...and eureka!! A tuned set of keys! And they're off. Davey's plea if there was a god in heaven with his joined hands had been answered. He gave the piano a final touch...and his Captain Fantastic Les Paul was unleashed on us. The journey through Love Lies Bleeding was amazing. It seemed to so far away at one stage, yet here we were flying through it. Saturday Night's Alright followed with the 2 Croatian cello players, dressed in green trouser, white shirt and orange shoes, a musical pair of Irish tricolours, playing the sensational orchestra intro, wonderfully arranged in harmony with Kim on the keyboards. The crowd were rocking out...big style. My two American friends who had travelled over, typical of the loyalty that Elton inspires had seen nothing like it in their home land. No blood, plenty of sweat and tears to follow later. The four backing singers came on for Levon. The strong vocals gave the song a real stadium anthem feel. In a confined space. Snazily dressed in green as a compliment to the crowd. We compliment them back for their class. Madman Across The Water was pure Elton. Doing what he wanted at that exact moment of time, we all following every note he gave us. At one point he stopped, Davey played the riff over and over as Elton nodded at him in a duel of wits. Bottle that moment and sell it. It would be worth a fortune. Tiny Dancer may be overplayed according to some commentators, but when he played the opening notes, the deafening rum pah-pah was matched by the smile on Elton's face. Did something go wrong at the start of the show? You'd never know by this stage, Elton was feeding of the joy and delight, with the whole band doing an 11 on the volume counter. For my American friends, to hear Sacrifice was a unique experience. Almost exclusive to Europe, they were hearing this for the first time. Ditto Are You Ready For Love? later on in the set. Rocket Man is the same way for the last number of years, but you know what? Who cares. Its unexpected twist and turns takes the virgin listener into new places of their aural experience. The three Union songs were perfectly chosen. A couple of rockers and the inspiring Gone To Shiloh. We were all shoulder to shoulder that night. The dueling outro of Hey Ahab with Davey and the cello players jamming was no ELO gimmick. It was a new twist on a new song. Bob Birch on the driving bass never relented on the charge. I thought the version of Gone To Shiloh with Ray Cooper in December was the definitive version. But Elton has upped the bar again. No surprise there. The cellos and Tata Vega's haunting vocal brought even more depth to the song, Kim's synth arrangement beautifully recreating the album sound. The crowd loved the new songs, amazing considering the fact that was probably the first time they'd heard them. Elton then pulled another rabbit out of the hat. As the intro to Take Me To The Pilot tinkled in, what was this we were hearing? Did our ears deceive us? No!! Song For Guy!! Not a snippet, not fade in fade out version. But almost the whole thing. Beautiful! Elton on his own, the piano now behaving itself. Wouldn't you if Elton was playing on you in this rare form. During the band intros, my friend Jennifer from Michigan who had earlier held up a banner stating the fact, was highlighted by Elton when introducing fellow Michigan native Bob Birch. For Elton, it is all about the fans. The final flourish on Don't Let The Sun Go Down Me from Nigel was all energy. I was out of breath watching him. Are You Ready For Love was a real chanter...a sea of humanity moving at one. The la-la-la's were so loud they bounced off the roof and sent the band back in a wave of sound, Davey nearly toppling over. John Mahon was in great mood, in his ancestral home. Adding the vital fills and high vocals to the mix. Like the last time he played the same venue in 2007, Your Song was the crowd’s song. Elton almost becoming a backing vocalist. 

A word on the sound. I know there has been a lot of complaints about the sound recently since Clive Franks departure, but I have to say it was A1 on the night, Vocal and instrumentation separation was crystal clear. So no worries there.

Overall, I'm not sure what was the biggest story of the night. The fact that he may have bettered his 2007 performance, or that he took the piano malfunction in his stride. Probably an indication of where he is in his life at the moment. Plus the fact he didn't want to let down one of his favourite places to play. Which he didn't. And never would either. Hopefully it won't be too long before Elton returns to these shores. I have a feeling it won't be!!