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Post by dougs on Feb 7, 2018 15:33:29 GMT
re: last song to be played on the FAREWELL YELLOW BRICK ROAD tour:
I, too, think that "Your Song" makes good sense. I wonder if the tour will open with "Empty Sky" as we know that EJ really likes this song and it was his 1st song on his 1st album. I love those extended 1975 and 1976 versions. I know, I must be dreaming! After taking a "reality pill" I now realize that he will only play "Empty Sky" in my dreams and nowhere else! "Your Song" however, is a likely final song...
Doug
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Post by RocketLight on Apr 2, 2018 18:41:37 GMT
I think that if this is real the last Elton's World Tour, the set list must be 2 parts. One part including hits and the second part, for the fans.
Songs like Your Song, Daniel, Sorry Seems, Candle, Tiny, Sacrifice or Nikita are hits, and Well All Fall, Captain Fantastic, Tinderbox or Little Jeannie are for fans.
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Post by dougs on Apr 2, 2018 20:28:59 GMT
RocketLight:
I, too, would love to see rarely played tracks like "Little Jeannie" but the song does suffer (1980) without the horns/sax which makes all the difference (2000) as we saw with John Jorgenson on ONE NIGHT ONLY. So, for a song like that to excel Elton will need to expand the band for this FAREWELL tour - which I hope he does. I would expect EJ to play a couple of album track gems but I would think he would be choosing them carefully. "Hercules" and "Have Mercy on the Criminal" get great responses so they have a chance. "Tinderbox" wouldn't likely receive much fan response, unfortunately. It didn't in 2006. I'd love to see "Tonight" or "Indian Sunset" which have always received very enthusiastic fan responses in concert. "One Horse Town" got a great response on the 1985-86 tour but Nigel has never played that one so it may not stand a chance to be played now. "Ticking" was done superbly on the 1982 tour with the band. It would be great to see "Curtains" but when they played it in 1997 and 2005 it lacked those iconic and great drum fills - too bad. "Madman Across the Water" in its extended rendition always gets a great response. So, hopefully EJ will pick a few gems for us. It would also be great to see rarely played HITS like "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" which sounded great on the last leg of THE BIG PICTURE tour in 1998. "Simple Life" unfortunately disappeared when Nigel rejoined the band around 2000. It had become a great live song.
The shame is that Elton never took the opportunity to play a smaller venue album track type of tour or mini-tour for his most dedicated of fans. He got himself on a looping treadmill these past 5 to 10 years doing essentially the same set list of mostly familiar hits. He should or could have pushed himself and rewarded the fans but as Davey Johnstone says, Elton hates to rehearse and to do a show like that would require a lot of time for rehearsals. The good thing is that EJ and the band can still extend and rock out on occasion like they do with "Levon" which is totally incredible these days! They are also acing "Have Mercy on the Criminal" which has so much power.
Doug
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Post by Dr Johnny Fever on Apr 3, 2018 19:38:16 GMT
IMO...for what's it's worth...which isn't a lot...I really do think your in cloud cuckoo land, if you think Elton will play anything but hit songs...it's going to be sold out shows that the non Elton fans will go to, because it'll be the last time they will be able to see him live...and they will be a little pissed off hearing album tracks they've never heated of...I think it'll be the same old stuff, with the odd hit song played...maybe it'll change for Europe and the states...but let's see..
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latitude
Big Man In A Little Suit
Posts: 133
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Post by latitude on Apr 4, 2018 1:17:45 GMT
IMO...for what's it's worth...which isn't a lot...I really do think your in cloud cuckoo land, if you think Elton will play anything but hit songs...it's going to be sold out shows that the non Elton fans will go to, because it'll be the last time they will be able to see him live...and they will be a little pissed off hearing album tracks they've never heated of...I think it'll be the same old stuff, with the odd hit song played...maybe it'll change for Europe and the states...but let's see.. I'm afraid I agree with this. He knows that the majority want to hear hits, and on this last tour he'll want the greatest applause he can possibly get after every song, so he'll sing the most popular ones. I really don't think this is the kind of tour where he'll do obscure songs or anything that's not popular. We all, as hard core fans, want to hear the deep cuts, but on this last tour of his life, I don't think this is where it'll happen. But, I betcha it'll be an enormously vibrant, passionate, exciting tour, with him and the band giving some **hot** performances. However, as Dr John said---'but let's see'. (Hope we've both wrong).
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Post by dougs on Apr 4, 2018 1:57:26 GMT
re: set list...
How about back-to-back performances of "Empty Garden" and "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" as encores or mid-show?
These were singles and were very popular in concert and both relate to his friend John Lennon who meant so much to him and the audience. This would be so much better than the familiar "Daniel" and "Take Me To The Pilot" being played again.
EJ has enough really familiar songs that could be played that would still be a fresh departure from the consistent play list of the last decade or more.
Doug
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latitude
Big Man In A Little Suit
Posts: 133
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Post by latitude on Apr 4, 2018 2:01:52 GMT
re: set list... How about back-to-back performances of "Empty Garden" and "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" as encores or mid-show? These were singles and were very popular in concert and both relate to his friend John Lennon who meant so much to him and the audience. This would be so much better than the familiar "Daniel" and "Take Me To The Pilot" being played again. EJ has enough really familiar songs that could be played that would still be a fresh departure from the consistent play list of the last decade or more. Doug Let's hope that happens. I've about had it with 'Daniel' being in every single show for years and years. 'Pilot' is ok if he has a nice long intro. Otherwise, it's boring.
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Post by dougs on Apr 4, 2018 17:24:13 GMT
Latitude:
I can handle a "hits" FAREWELL tour but not if it is the same hits from the past 15 years done the same way. A song like "Philadelphia Freedom" is great but has become rather rote and predictable in recent years. "I'm Still Standing" and "The _itch is Back" also. We all have heard the many great versions of songs like these that Elton used to do from one tour to another in the 80s and 90s. He always changed things up. Also, those three songs all end so anti-climatically these days. EJ and the band tinker with these songs but we haven't seen a decent new arrangement for any of them in almost decades! I would be very disappointed to see the FAREWELL versions being the same as the recent tour versions. I would be thrilled to see new arrangements with extended versions here & there. We'll see how inspired Elton and the band are. They have the ability to blow us away.
Latitude, are there any particular "hits" that EJ hasn't played recently or much at all, that you would like to see on the FAREWELL tour and feel are likely to be candidates? Anything with horns (eg. "Little Jeannie") requires Elton adding at least one new person to the band (like John Jorgenson - which seems unlikely) to do the horns (eg. sax).
Doug
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Post by BenandtheJets on Apr 5, 2018 0:56:55 GMT
I would love (or I hope) for Elton to add a horn section and also some additional backing vocals. Ken Stacey and Billy Trudel (along with Nigel) did an excellent job on One Night Only. Mortonette Jenkins, Marlena Jeter and Natalie Jackson were a very refreshing addition also in the late '80's/ early '90's. According to Elton, this will be his biggest concert production ever. I hope it not only means stage and visual effects, but also the band. (And why not have Ray Cooper for the whole tour).
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Post by dougs on Apr 5, 2018 1:50:04 GMT
BenandtheJets:
I, too, really hope that Elton expands the band. Certain songs of his benefit greatly from having horns. You are right, the trio of backing vocalists on the late 80s and early 90s tours were incredible. Remember the version of "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" with Natalie Jackson - electrifying. Elton could really use an additional musician to add some guitar to compliment Davey who has to try to deal with rhythm and lead parts by himself. John Jorgensen was a great fit; guitars of all types, horns, and backing vocals.
Doug
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