Saturday, April 16, 2005

An evening with Elton John

I've been a fan of Elton John since 1973 when I was a kid growing up in Arkansas. We lived in the boonies, so even the closest country station didn't come in clearly. On top of that, we lived way down in a holler (hollow for any Yanks reading this) and it was almost impossible to get a good radio signal except at night. After the sun went down, I would turn on my radio and listen to WLS in Chicago. I don't know how, but the signal came in crystal clear, especially after 10:00pm. That's when I first heard Elton John. It was a year later and I got my first Elton John eight track, his greatest hits.

Tonight at the concert (My sister was in town for an Herbalife convention. Elton John was the entertainment and she bought me a ticket. Thanks, Sis.), I realized just how much I listened to those songs. I sang along with most of them. He was phenomenal. Gee whiz, I just don't think he could play a bad song at a concert. He and the band are consumate musicians. Bobby Birch (bassist) was the reason I started playing bass (edit...playing bass again. Dee Murray was Elton's bass player in the 70s). Solid, groovalicious, and lots of pop. Davey Johnstone was right on and did great work. He played two SG doubles (two different colors), a Flying V, Les Paul, Strat, and a couple different acoustics (and Ovation and Larivee I think). Nigel Olsson is a machine.

Michelle got to hear Philadelphia Freedom via my cellphone. Whoever did the sound had it dialed in.

I may try the Peachtree Road project although it has a bit of a country flavor.

Great concert. The ______ is Back was incredible. The guitar on that song always makes me want to learn guitar. I'm sleepy and rambling now..................