Elton John was bad last night in ways I have never seen a musician been bad before. It was a mixture of arrogance and hard work, and an inability to respect his craft for what it is.
Look at Elton this way:
:1. Piano guy session player
2. Serious artist who isn’t selling
3. Human Jukebox
4. Rich, drug addled human jukebox
5 Sober
6. Serious artist.
Now here is his mistake: he isn’t a serious artist IN THAT SENSE. Elton, prime Elton, when he really mattered Elton, was a purveyor of world conquering pop songs that topped the charts around the world. Should be enough, should be more than enough. It gave him legendary status and made him so rich he was spending $500,000 a week IN THE 1980S!!
But it wasn't enough.
Elton wanted to be a SERIOUS ARTIST.
And started playing entire albums nobody remembered, liked or wanted to hear in concert. And crap albums like "Peachtree Road" (you know it's a crap album when Rolling Stone only gives it 3 1/2 stars).
Followed by an album with Leon Russell which Elton is very proud of, and so is Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone, but everybody else forgot the moment they heard it.
The only thing that got me out to see Elton again was the promise of a greatets hit package.
And that's what we got.
But man, it was like being mugged at Phoantom of the Opera.
Opening with "Funeral For A friend/Love Lies Bleeding", though it was a mess of hard rhymic piano pounding, bad acoustics, and painfully over sung vocals, well, it was always purply and I settled down a little. But every song was the same. Drawn out, overwrought piffle, destroying song after overplayed song; everything overwhelmed by John's slam handed piano and so far over the top vocals. Nothing survived the onslaught.
"Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting"
"Levon'
"Tiny dancer"
Take no prisoners, barrel pounding, completely humourless diabolical versions. Worse is to come. A "Madman Across The Water" that lasts years and years and years. "Philadelphia Freedom"… how on earth could he fuck up this song. One of his greats. And why is he bowing after every song? Does he think he has to coax the cheers. Is he deaf? "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" -for some bizarre reason he asks us to sing the chorus, which nobody knows of coure.
And worse, a version of "Rocket Man" so bad that the guitar solo is a relief and around the 12 minute mark, I began wondering what would happen if it never ended. If hewas just gonna sit there forever screaming "Rocket Man" forever. First we would eat all the food in the arena, but then we would turn on each other…
Finally he calls out Leon Russel and the entire audience heads for the Food Court -except for me, I go all the way out the door and on to 7th avenue.
There is zero excuse for this shameful performance. Elton has no idea what he is doing. He is not a "serious" artist, that's not why he is famous. He is, much more important and much much harder, a pop star. Tripped over over his own ego and press cuts, he pounds and pkays his songs to a long and blood curdelling death and loses himself in something he is far better than.
In its own unique way, the worst concert I've ever seen.