ELTON
JOHN e band
+ Leon Russell
New York - Madison Square Garden
16 marzo 2011
Elton e band
- Funeral for a Friend
- Love Lies Bleeding
- Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)
- Levon
- Madman Across the Water
- Tiny Dancer
- Philadelphia Freedom
- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
- Rocket Man
Elton e band con Leon Russell
- If It Wasn’t For Bad
- Hey Ahab
- Best Part of the Day
- Gone To Shiloh (with Gregg Allman)
- Monkey Suit
- When Love Is Dying
- Never Too Old (To Hold Somebody)
- Dream Come True
Elton e band
- Sad Songs (Say So Much)
- Take Me To The Pilot
- Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
- Candle in the Wind - (Solo)
- Burn Down the Mission
- Bennie and the Jets
- Bitch is Back
- Crocodile Rock (con la figlia di Davey Johnstone alle percussioni)
- Your Song
da Rolling Stone
Music: Elton John Performs With Surprise Guests Leon Russell and Gregg Allman at Madison Square Garden
di ANDY GREENE
Until
that point the show had been a standard Elton John arena concert. As
usual, he opened with the prog-rock majesty of "Funeral For A
Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" before ripping into "Saturday Night's Alright
For Fighting" as the largely boomer audience danced in the aisles.
"Madison Square Garden is my favorite place to play," John told the
audience. "It's the home of so many memories in my career, and not one
bad one."
John then proceeded to play a trio of songs from his
1971 classic LP Madman Across The Water. Everybody knew "Levon" and
"Tiny Dancer," but it was a bold move to break out the long, progged-out
title track. Some fans squirmed in their seats as guitarist Davey
Johnston expertly recreated his complex acoustic guitar parts from the
album, but they were rewarded with a bombastic "Philadelphia Freedom"
and a sing-along "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."
The Leon Russell
portion of the show – during which the duo played eight consecutive
songs from their new LP The Union – further tested the patience of
casual fans. "I know you like to hear songs you know," John told the
audience. "But we can't just play the same old songs forever." Upbeat
tracks like "Hey Ahab" and "Monkey Suit" worked quite well in the
massive space, but slower tunes like "When Love Is Dying" and "Best Part
Of The Day" didn't connect like they did when John and Russell played
them at the intimate Beacon Theater last year. Maybe it would have been
better to throw in a couple of Russell's classic hits instead.
Before
the John/Russell Civil War epic "Gone To Shiloh" began, roadies brought
out an extra microphone stand and a lyric sheet on a stand. Out walked
Gregg Allman (on break from the Allman Brothers' Beacon Theater run) to
sing Neil Young's verse from the album. He seemed woefully underprepared
and it was hard to hear much of anything he sang, but the crowd was
overjoyed by his presence nevertheless.
For the final third of
his show John returned to his greatest hits. I could happily go the rest
of my life without hearing "Crocodile Rock" again, but when 18,000
people screamed with delight after the first note I found myself
standing and singing along about Suzy wearing her dresses tight along
with everybody else. As cool as it would be to hear him bust out "I Am
Your Robot" or " I Feel Like A Bullet In The Gun Of Robert Ford," they
would almost certainly lead to a mass bathroom exodus. Nobody knows that
better than Elton does, which is why we got "The Bitch Is Back," the
long version of of "Take Me To The Pilot" and a gorgeous rendition of "
Candle In The Wind."
Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson get a lot of
attention for their "never-ending tours," but in the past 15 years Elton
has done just as many shows as they have. It's clear that he feeds off
the crowd's enthusiasm, and even after the show passed the three-hour
mark he looked more than capable of carrying on for another hour or two.
(It's almost as if he traded his drug addiction for a touring
addiction.)
This show was his 61st concert at Madison Square
Garden, building upon the record he set on his 60th birthday four years
ago. It's probable that he played "Your Song" at every single one of
those 61 shows. It was the grand finale at this one, and even though
he's sung it about as many times as Wayne Newton has sung "Danke
Schoen," he still poured every bit of himself into it. It's the only way
he knows how to operate.
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