It was a rainy night in Atlanta, GA but that did not stop tens of thousands of fans from flocking to downtown for both the SEC Championship game and the Elton John performance that would follow shortly after. For many local fans, the SEC Championship was a bust as the University of Georgia lost a tight match to the University of Alabama. However, a portion of those fans had their night rejuvenated after walking just a smidge over a quarter mile to State Farm Arena to catch Elton John complete his second and ultimate Atlanta performance.
After spending more than five decades touring, Elton recently announced his plans to depart from the road. The current tour, “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” which consists of more than 300 dates worldwide, is said to be the legendary singer and pianists’ final send off. “It’s time to come off the road so I can fully embrace the next important chapter of my life”, stated Elton. The tour which started in Allentown, PA in early September has received rave reviews. However, just prior to Atlanta the singer became ill with an ear infection forcing two Florida dates to be rescheduled. Fortunately, the singer was able to persevere and the Atlanta shows not only continued as scheduled but left fans thrilled.
The Saturday, December 1st, and final Atlanta performance at State Farm Arena kicked off with an upbeat and high impact “Benny and the Jets”. Despite being ill, Elton was full of energy and proceeded to pump up the fans all without missing a beat. As he did after several of the songs that night, he jumped out of his seat, pointing, and making funny faces to the sold-out crowd. The show then proceeded with the penultimate track from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, “All the Girls Love Alice” before leading into a trio of top hits including “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues”, “Border Song”, and “Tiny Dancer” which evokes thoughts of the sing-a-long scene from “Almost Famous”. You may recall the classic scene where the band Stillwater reconnects with their lead guitarist who had an LSD related incident the night before.
On this night, and consistent with the tour, there would be no shortage of highlights. A massive screen behind the band only supplemented the already stellar performance. During “Rocket Man” the screen really began to have an impact as shooting starts and rockets seemed to project from the display all while Elton’s 6 piece band erupted. There was a beautiful interplay between Elton’s piano and Davey Johnstone’s guitar which fed one of the more notable jams of the night. “Take Me to the Pilot” had the crowd on its feet and gathered at the lip of the stage with its gospel inspired sounds. Three emotive ballads including “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”, “Levon”, and “Candle in the Wind” were all crowd pleasers and featured plenty of eye candy ranging from psychedelic cartoons to video clips of the partially nude Marilyn Monroe.
After a very short break (literally a few minutes), Elton returned to the stage with a new outfit which included an elaborate sparkle adorned kitten face jacket. He proceeded to play “Funeral for a Friend”, the opening track from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. “Burn Down the Mission” followed and during the peak of the song, imagery on the screen showed Elton’s live solo but with a flame engulfed piano. Elton then shared several heartfelt sentiments with the crowd. During the dialogue, Elton referenced his dear friend “Hugh” who was in the crowd that night and in the early 90’s helped Elton to overcome his addiction to drugs and alcohol. He later referenced the AIDS epidemic and how early on in his life he felt he had not sufficiently contributed to it, which led to the creation of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Elton noted that while great progress had been made in treating HIV / AIDS, it was still having a huge impact in Atlanta, especially on lower-income African American communities. Elton pledged to do all that he can to improve the situation. He came back to a theme of love and spoke to how we all must rise above the current climate in our country and focus on helping one another.
The dialogue was appropriately followed by “Believe” for which the lyrics echo “I believe in love, it’s all we got. Love has no boundaries, costs nothing to touch”. Later in the show, Elton also took a timeout to introduce his band and to express his gratitude to the fans where he attributed his highly successful music career to their support. The show would conclude in true Elton fashion with high energy favorites inclusive of “Bitch is Back”, “I’m Still Standing”, “Crocodile Rock”, and “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”. The final song of the night which bid farewell to the loving crowd was the ever so appropriate, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”.
It was a wild night in Atlanta whether you came for football, music, or perhaps even both. Regardless of your university allegiance or concern over the state of our country, at Elton John’s performance, you were guaranteed to have been uplifted and if even just for a moment, bonded in musical bliss with thousands of your neighbors.
2 Responses
Elton John Give Atlanta 100%. Give? Really?
It’s “Bennie and the Jets”, not Benny. Geez.