Elton John Concert Review from Wells Fargo Center 03.25.11
The excitement was high as today was Elton John's birthday and he was in a city he loved, Philadelphia, PA. What would he have in store for his fans that have stood by him through 41 years of recording music?
If It Wasn't for Bad
Elton John has been on my concert bucket list forever, but he always toured with that drunk hack Billy Joel and I refuse to pay good money to sit through that trill Uptown Girl to hear Tiny Dancer. This "Greatest Hits" tour is a thinly veiled attempt at touring behind The Union, that reunites one of rock's most prolific duos Taupin/John and adds Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame musician Leon Russell.
The album was released in October of 2010 and is very solid, however, let's call this tour what it is....an Elton John/Leon Russell tour. Sir Elton arrives on stage promptly at 8:10 and played for a full three hours, cycling through hits after hits and songs you may not have even known were Elton's.
The house lights dimmed and the first chords of Funeral for a Friend that opens the iconic Yellow Brick Road double album. The all instrumental song written by Elton as a piece of music he'd like to hear at his funeral brought the legendary knight to the stage to play right into the second song off Yellow Brick Road Love Lies Bleeding. These songs are paired together on Yellow Brick Road and are kept that way in concert.
From that moment, the hits didn't stop. Elton clad in a pink lined black tuxedo with tails sat stage right (our left) on his big, black Yahmaha piano as he powered through Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Levon, Madman Across the Water, and my personal favorite Tiny Dancer.
Elton took his time almost soaking in the Philadelphia crowd who sang along to every word as loud as they could. The big HD screens flipping from the piano camera focused on Elton's lightning fingers or occasional shots of the Canadian Nick Manning (look him up on YouTube) on bass. The Philadelphia crowd erupted and roared when Elton ripped into Philadelphia Freedom. Fans were dancing in the aisles and swinging to the upbeat/tempo song celebrating the city.
Elton wasn't done with the sing along portions as he rolled through Yellow Brick Road, I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues, and a long extended jam of Rocket Man. However, the concert took a turn when Leon Russell, the bearded General Robert E. Lee came out to a piano sitting stage left. Leon was decked out looking like ZZ Top mated with Colonel Sanders.
The first four songs played off The Union album were great (If It Wasn't For Bad, Hey Ahab, The Best Part of the Day, and Monkey Suit). But this performance was four songs too long. Eight songs was too much and I could see the crowd getting tired around the fifth song, sadly we still had to endure three more full songs. It just seemed each song drug on and on. The crowd's energy never matched what it was before the Leon Russell set, which is a shame. It was drastically different and the crowd never recovered even when Elton broke into Sad Songs (Say So Much).
I am glad I got the opportunity to see Elton John. He is a legendary performer, an excellent penis pianist, and a world wide icon. But I really wish the Leon Russell set was three to four songs shorter to keep the flow of the concert moving toward the greatest hits we were promised.
Setlist for Philadelphia 3.25.2011
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
Leon Russell set
If It Wasn't for Bad
Hey Ahab
The Best Part of the Day
Gone to Shiloh
Monkey Suit
Never Too Old (To Hold Somebody)
Dream Come True
Regular Elton
Sad Songs (Say so Much)
Take Me to the Pilot
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Candle in the Wind
Burn Down the Mission
Bennie and the Jets
The Bitch is Back
Crocodile Rock
Encore
Your Song
Forgive spelling and grammar, I am dead tired.
I guess I can forgive the spelling and grammar, but check your facts before you review...
Are you kidding me? Elton only toured with Billy Joel? Have you been under a rock?
And more importantly--that is AMERICAN Bob Birch on bass.
It was amazing to see and hear Elton with his idol Leon Russell-for 8 songs. If you only want to to hear the greatest hits, listen to your collection of Elton's way-too-many Greatest Hits albums--I'm sure you own them all :-)
Fool4EJ
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Fool4EJ - my facts are correct....well the facts I positioned as facts.
I am glad you found this site and I hope you enjoy your stay. That being said and since you are not a regular, while I have been to thousands of concerts I have never been to Elton John. In fact, I didn't even like Elton John until about 10-12 years ago...when I was 16. That should give you an idea how how old I am and why I wasn't able to see Elton John in the 80s or even 90s (money mostly).
Obviously he hasn't ONLY toured with Billy Joel, but more recently his past tours have been with the Piano Man and I have refused to see him because of Billy Joel. That was the point I was making with thatcomment.
The Bob Birchcomment was a dig more at his look then his name. Nick Manning is a male porn star who has bcome an internet meme (search him on YouTube as I suggested in the article). Our readers are up on the internet memes and would know that Nick Manning was NOT the bass player for Elton John, but merely a man who looked like him.
I too agree that it was fun seeing Elton with Leon Russell, but from my vantage point the 8 songs brought down the feel of the concert. Some people around me left and never returned after the fifth song from The Union. Four songs would have been sufficient to plug the album and still maintain an acceptable flow that everyone paid to see.
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I totally agree with your entire review! We were very disappointed to go and listen to those 8 songs with cousin it/willy nelson/santa/zztop guy. This totally brought the whole building down, and we were all ready for bed after that snoozefest. One or Two songs would have been sufficient. I wont pay to see him again, he lost me as a customer.
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I have been an Elton fan for a long long time. This was the 6th 0r 7th time I have seen him ( last time was 16 yrs ago.. I also agree, the place was rocking.."till" the Leon Russel fiasco. But IMO Elton pulled it back together once that was over. I will look forward to seeing the rocket man again but hopefully without anycompany!
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I'm a huge Elton fan and have been to many of his concerts. Over 20. This show was by far the worst I have ever seen. Although Leon Russell is a rock icon and props to him. BUT...we paid top dollar to see an Elton John concert. I still look forward to Eltoncoming to the area again......hopefully SOLO!
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I am blown away that huge Elton fans wouldn't want to hear songs from his latest album. Snoozefest? Fiasco? If you have been keeping up with Elton's career, you know how stoked he is about "The Union." I've seen Elton in concert in most of his many formats: solo, band, red piano, orchestra, and even with that boozer Billy Joel. I love that he switches it up for us, and I've never been disappointed. :-)
Fool4EJ
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To Eltonfan1: I saw Elton for the first time. I truly envy you if this was his worst show. As for Leon Russell, I didn't get restless until about 6 or 7 songs in. Perhaps there should have been an uptempo song earlier in that portion.
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