Elton John wowed the crowd at the first Sydney show of this tour
At 72, Elton John is still capable of delivering a knockout show, and he did just that to the delight of thousands of fans at the First State Super Theatre in Sydney’s Darling Harbour.
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No legendary rock star knows Sydney like Elton John knows Sydney.
As he has often cheekily reminded us during his regular visits over the decades, he was married here once in the ‘80s.
But the waters here run deeper than a failed celebrity wedding and this time, he got to share his love of the city with his husband David Furnish and their sons Elijah and Zachary in the audience at his opening Sydney show on Saturday.
The Rocket Man owned the record for most concerts by an international artist at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and played its swan song show there before it was demolished four years ago.
So it was wholly appropriate the revered rocker opened his run of Sydney shows over the next three months at its replacement, the First State Super Theatre at Darling Harbour.
It was immediately apparent as this consummate entertainer struck those distinctive, pounding chords of Benny and the Jets to open his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert at the arena on Saturday night, this would be a show offering something for everybody.
As southerly winds blustered and smoke choked the city, John offered communal nostalgic escapism from an apocalyptic end to a tough year for his Australian fans.
Benny! Benny! It’s Elton’s first gig in Sydney on his three month long farewell to Australia #farewellyellowbrickroad pic.twitter.com/aazIoff4RO
— Kathy McCabe (@McCabeRadar) December 21, 2019
And he did it with an emotionally-charged performance of an enviable catalogue which had been finely honed over 153 concerts, with almost 100 more shows to play before he finally bids your life farewell in London at the end of 2020.
Name the song you love the most and Elton delivers that one and perhaps a handful more than you dared to hope for just in the first half – I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues, Tiny Dancer, Philadelphia Freedom, Rocket Man, Take Me To The Pilot.
He’ll have a standing ovation, thank you very much, as the prodigiously talented piano player with that distinctive bluesy growl leapt from his instrument after each song to equally rev up and embrace the reaction from the capacity crowd.
His first half costume, a black tux jacket festooned with big sparkling bits, acted as much a part of the lighting design as the often mesmerising video packages.
Vocally, John sounded a little croaky when he addressed fans but the 72-year-old performer was in sparkling singing voice as evident with the heavy lifting required by beloved ballads including Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word.
His loyal players, musicians such as Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson and that force of nature percussionist Ray Cooper – the only man ever born to play extreme tambourine as it should be – who have gathered their own multitude of fans courtesy of playing in the Elton John Band on and off for five decades, were all given permission to shine during the almost three-hour long show.
After an epic, driving Levon, John plucked all of the heartstrings with the immortal Candle In The Wind which soundtracked revelatory and intimate footage of Marilyn Monroe, whose death inspired a song which would tragically be given another life with the passing of his friend Princess Diana.
The second half opened with the epic double act of Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, the special effects thunder and lightning storm in the arena reminding drought-ravaged Australia what rain sounds like.
John got super busy at the piano for that legendary double A side and then built in enthusiasm and energy through the Americana honky tonk blues of Burn Down The Mission and then the supremely melancholic Daniel.
Elton John brings his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour to Sydney #ICCSydney pic.twitter.com/yp8mzRmJm9
— Kathy McCabe (@McCabeRadar) December 21, 2019
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He addressed his most passionate causes during the show including the availability of medication for HIV sufferers as he introduced the setlist’s only relatively “newish” song, the 2001 hit I Want Love.
The romp home featured a hefty measure of beloved classics including Sad Songs, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me – dedicated to his almost lifelong Sydney friend Dolly East – The Bitch Is Back, I’m Still Standing, Crocodile Rock and Saturday Night’s All right For Fighting, with plenty of video cutaways of Furnish and their sons rocking out in the audience before he got to the two-song encore of Your Song and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Elton John and his supremely brilliant band return to the Sydney stage on Monday.
Originally published as Elton John wowed the crowd at the first Sydney show of this tour
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