Recently I bought some shows from the fantastic guy, Tony Marshall. And this show from Cologne 26th of November 2008 is one of these shows. This show will be the first show on my YouTube channel from the first European Red Piano tour. The show comes in great quality despite being an audience recording, and unfortunately, the audience is a bit loud compared to the music. Also, the acoustics in the arena is really lousy!
As a matter of fact I attended the show after this in Copenhagen and Elton complained about a cold he had at that time so he would probably start to catch it around this show. However, Elton is in great vocal shape during this show.
What is special about this particular tour is that Elton had a special light tone in his voice. Actually I don’t really recognize this tone anywhere else in Elton’s concerts. This tone is emphasized particularly during Bennie And The Jets. Though I said in the introduction that Elton probably would start to catch a cold around this concert, Elton sings a great version of Philadelphia Freedom with some nice phrasings and a few falsettos, though it still contains some angry birds. But Elton is in great vocal shape on this night! Believe is great, but not as good as the versions from the US spring tour 2012 – I have some of those performances on my channel!
The Red Piano was a show where Elton had a quite short set list, but also a show where he took time to tell the audience stories and in general just talked much more than what he usually does. Though many of the stories are the same, they are still amusing to listen to and I believe that it gives the show – and the songs – more depth. Rocket Man is fantastic with a phenomenal extension. Fantastic version of Someone Saved My Life Tonight with great harmonies and great backing vocals. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a sweet feature, and so is Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word. Elton hits higher notes fine and clean without the hoarse sound and he plays a great rendition of Tiny Dancer and he introduces it with a sweet story.
After listening to the Band Introduction we can now add Ginger Beer to the list of bands that Davey Johnstone has been a part of. Great version of Candle In The Wind with a nice tune and great solo arrangement.
I have always been a fan of Pinball Wizard and I still think that Elton should tour much more with the song as it is a great rock song. With that being said I am not a big fan of this version as Elton seems to growl many parts of the song. The music being played on stage saves the song though as the band plays some fantastic music! The Bitch Is Back is alright though Elton sounds a little rough on spots. Elton also plays a great solo during the song with some great blues scales. I’m Still Standing which actually has only minor angry birds (I must mention that we recently saw a version where Elton would hit the Bb4 clean. And it is from 2012!). Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting from this show is not on my top list. Elton does however use some creative phrasing on spots which sounds good. Your Song is sweet and the audience seems to love it!
- Emil, EltonJohnGigs