Man the mosh pit at Elton John was awesome. There was some slamming, some surfing and one guy even got to stage dive from a speaker stack. I came out exhausted bruised and ecstatic.
Or maybe not :)
The above is one of my favourite forgotten lyrics. I hadn't realised how much I like it, or that I had forgotten it until hearing it live last night. Despite some unkind comments made about Mr Dwight's canon I have previously made, the Wellington concert last night was not an opportunity I could pass up. And it was well worth it.
It doesn't express much now, but I listened to a lot of Elton John when I was growing up. I have a somwhat dualistic relationship with him though: for every song I love (e.g 'Someone saved my life tonight'), there is one I hate ('Philedelphia freedom'). So while looking forward to seing one of the legends of the game live in concert, I was a little concerned that I would spend half the night waiting for the next song.
Fortunately, that notion was dispelled the instant the concert started when they opened up 'Funeral for a friend', and followed with 'Benny and the Jets'. With a new album to push I was expecting a modern tilting playlist, so it was cool to hear classics so early on, and that they dominated the set.
I like the 70's and early 80's stuff and I wasn't disappointed. I felt like they had deliberately chosen my favourites. Okay, so my favourite John songs also happen to be huge hits which helps. And there was no Disney, thanks God.
Also good was seeing an artist clearly still enjoying himself. The voice may not get to the high notes anymore (requiring masking/support at times by the band vocalists), but he really seemed to be having a good time rather than just going through the motions.
Highlights:
Going to a 'rock' concert with my Dad, the Waiata, 'Someone saved my life tonight', 'Rocketman', 'Tiny Dancer', the crowd la la laing to 'Crocodile rock', the person in the green polo shirt dancing exuberantly in the stand, at times rivalling the main stage for entertainment. You are a legend whoever you are.
Way fun in a mellow chilled out MOR kind of way. Wasn't perfect. The seating on the ground was way too confining (my arms were folded because I didn't have room to unfold them), and frankly I thought I would have had a better view from the stands.
Next gig to attend is Shihad. Which I expect to be considerably different. But also fun.
1 comment:
I saw the green polo shirt guy. You're right - he looked like he was having a good old time.
Crocodile Rock was the most fun song, I think. Most audience involvement and everyone was on their feet (we all got up for 'I'm Still Standing' the song before and didn't sit down again the whole show, eh).
I think taking cell-phones to concerts is fun. It's one of those great bonuses they would never have imagined when they invented them.
You can use them to find out where your friends are sitting (as me and Sam did). You can use them to tell your friends sitting in other parts of the stadium fun things to look at (like the green-shirt guy) and you can use them instead of lighters after it gets dark (I didn't do that, but one of the people I was with did).
We had a real family group. It was me, my dad and brother. Dad's wife (Lynne) and her daughter, nephew and neice (from first marriage) and her son and is wife... The Lynne-family were dancing in the aisles and drinking wine from the get-go. The Judges were sitting sedately until near the end.
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