When myself, GregsynthWizard and EltonJohnGigs were deciding between ourselves what gigs we were going to get, I ended up with Hartford and Oakland (EltonJohnGigs will be uploading Chicago!) and whilst I was happy with my gigs, I had a feeling I had pulled the short straw by getting two shows where it would be presumed that Elton would have bad vocals and I would be writing negative things! WRONG! Both shows are great vocally (for the time period!) and some performances from both shows are probably best version of the tour! You've heard Hartford and how great it was! Now to Oakland! This show is 100% complete and in good quality!
Now, the month of October and the year 1986 don't go together very well as the two Los Angeles gigs show that Elton's voice had basically gone and there was no return for it to get better! Before hearing this show, I had predicted that Elton would sound pretty bad and have moments similar to Tallahassee and the two Los Angeles shows! However, having listened to the show in detail, Elton's voice although slightly rough because of the touring schedule, is actually in pretty decent shape and some performances match early US stuff! This show is also the last good performances vocally for most songs!
Onto the show, Tonight is a nice performance without falsetto plus his voice isn't as rough as some other performances on the tour, One Horse Town where he uses Australia phrasing which works here plus he hits some clean notes, Better Off Dead where he just about pulls it off with his voice beginning to show signs of wear, Rocket Man which is better than all the September versions by a clear mile with some of the best vocal/music improvs on the whole tour, Philadelphia Freedom where his voice is stable so it enables him to give a good performance plus the keyboards sound awesome, Burn Down The Mission which Elton pulls off effectively as well as Someone Saved My Life Tonight although he does have a hard time with some of the higher notes!
The Bitch Is Back is a surprising performance as Elton hits nice notes in the second chorus which makes this better than the majority of September, the medley is fine with no real failure, Levon where Elton hits clean A4's plus has a decent attempt at the higher parts which makes this version better than 80% of the September versions, Paris where he sounds fine, Restless is pretty obnoxious in particular during the first verse and Bennie And The Jets with very obnoxious vocals plus one of his finest piano solos ever.
Love Song is next where Elton exploits his vocals nicely plus the instrumentation is fantastic however Elton flubs the words, Sad Songs (Say So Much) with a great vocal intro unlike a week later plus the song is performed well with some wear in the voice evident, This Town where Elton sounds like himself, I'm Still Standing where Elton has some moments with angry birds but his voice is clean enough to hit some decent notes, Nikita where Elton sounds nothing like Los Angeles plus sounds himself on the lower notes plus does some interesting oversinging, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting which is one of the most surprising vocal performances of his live career as his voice is clear enough to nail the first two verses without dropping down octaves although he does it in the third, he does it well unlike a week later, Candle In The Wind where he still has his tone to deliver the song effectively, Daniel which is a nice performance and Your Song with some nice phrasing throughout! Enjoy this great show!
Note 1 - This bootleg has been christened with the name "Clive, Can You Hear The Snare Drum?" due to a video between Philadelphia Freedom and Burn Down The Mission! Watch it and you'll understand why!
- Adam, Elton Bootlegs
While I am focusing on Elton’s Medusa Tour at the moment, Elton Bootlegs came up with a request for me: he asked me to upload this brand new show (which also can be found on Elton Bootlegs’ channel) with this particular picture, which is just before Elton went on stage at this night, the 3rd of October 1986. Elton is here standing with Ryan White who would make a major impact on Elton’s life as well as (according to Elton) saving his life and making him change direction.
This bootleg is almost 100 % complete (save for a cut before Someone Saved My Life Tonight and Bennie And The Jets and a few other cuts) and in decent quality. Let’s get onto the show:
While this show is rather late in the year of 1986 Elton would presumably have bad vocals, which in this case is a wrong prediction. Elton is in very good shape (compared to shows like MSG 9/14, Saratoga, and both LA shows) and delivers great versions of several songs!
Tonight is a great performance, though it is a bit conservative, yet better than both LA shows. One Horse Town is not one of my favorites as Elton voice does not sound clean, although he does have some ‘great’ moments – I do not know whether it is the recording or not, but not a great performance in my ears. Better Off Dead is decent enough, but we do have better versions. Rocket Man is really good with a great extended outro and Elton playing with his voice in some ways I have not heard before! One of the highlights of the evening. Philadelphia Freedom is a great October version of the song and sounds like an early North American version. Great version of Burn Down The Mission which Elton manages to sing well, even though the chorus is in a high key!
Someone Saved My Life Tonight is the first song of the night which causes Elton major problems. Although he hits the notes fine, his voice does sound a bit weak and wear and does not have this strength left as it had earlier in the year. The Bitch Is Back is great and fun as Elton does some funny phrasings and he hits most of the notes during the song! The Medley is good and a surprising no-angry-birds version of Song For You! Levon is actually quite good with Elton hitting the most of the higher notes. He does, however, growl a few notes. Paris is an OK performance, and so is Restless! Bennie And The Jets is a bit random at spots especially in the third chorus where he uses funny phrasing. Also, the piano solo is one of the best ever performed, but I do not think it beats the two LA solos, however, I must give this solo credit for its uniqueness.
Love Song is next and that is a nice feature on this show. Sad Songs (Say So Much) has a steady introduction unlike many other performances earlier in the year! This Town is decent with no real errors during the song and I’m Still Standing with nice phrasings here and there and angry birds at spots, but some notes are noticeably cleaner than other performances. Nikita is a performance where I was a bit shocked since Elton sounds almost exactly like on the record during the first verse, albeit at bit deeper in the tone, but another great performance from this show. Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) is very good with Elton singing the choruses very good like earlier in the year and he is being obnoxious on the third chorus! Candle In The Wind is another strong performance from the night which I really like (though he is being conservative in the third chorus) and Daniel which is a fine performance though it has seen better days! Your Song ends this surprising show, and is a good performance with nice phrasings after the first chorus (I love when he goes up in the higher octave!).
NOTE 1 – As Elton Bootlegs wrote: “This bootleg has been christened with the name "Clive, Can You Hear The Snare Drum?" due to a video between Philadelphia Freedom and Burn Down The Mission! Watch it and you'll understand why!”
- Emil, EltonJohnGigs