Sir Elton John wows capacity crowd at home of the Kitchener Rangers
Robson Vianna
 Elton John belts out a song during a concert in January on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, off the western coast of Africa. (AP photo) |
Tickets are priced at $127, $88.50 and $72.50 and can be purchased at 868-7300 or go to Ticketmaster.com.
John made his American concert debut at the Troubadour in West Hollywood in 1970. Initially marketed as a singer/songwriter, John soon revealed he could craft contemporary pop and pound out rockers with equal aplomb.
He could also dip into soul, disco and country, as well as classic balladry and even progressive rock. His versatility, combined with his effortless melodic skills, dynamic charisma and flamboyant stage shows has made him one of the most popular recording artist of the past 30 years.
A former student of the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, the man born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in 1947 left school and immediately began his path in the music industry.
His first band, Bluesology, was formed in 1961. He would later take his stage name from the Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean and their charismatic frontman, Long John Baldry.
John was introduced to Bernie Taupin in 1967 by Ray Williams at Liberty Records. Their first compositions were conducted by mail. In 1968 they became staff songwriters for Dick James' DJM label, farming out music to budding pop stars.
Elton and Taupin 's prolific nature was established early in his career. By the time John's self-titled breakthrough album and evergreen hit "Your Song'' had introduced him to an international stage in 1970, they had honed their skill to such a degree that Taupin could turn out a lyric in half an hour and John could compose to it within the hour.
Between 1970-76, with producer Gus Dudgeon at the helm, they made 14 albums.
The 90s saw John collaborate with Tim Rice on music for Disney's "The Lion King'' and he garnered not only a Best Male Pop Grammy but his first Academy Award.
Elton has since collaborated with Tim Rice again on the Broadway smash "Aida.'' "Billy Elliot, The Musical,'' with music by John and lyrics by Lee Hall, was launched on the London stage in 2005.
The new millennium has seen Elton at the top of his game, continuing to play sell-out concerts all over the world with his band: Guy Babylon (keyboards), Bob Birch (bass), Davey Johnstone (guitars), John Mahon (percussion) and Nigel Olsson (drums).
Since 2004, John and the band have also undertaken a residency with The Red Piano show at the Caesars Palace Colosseum in Las Vegas. On March 25, 2007, the superstar celebrated his 60th birthday while breaking his own record with an unmatched 60th concert at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York.
Torstar News Service
KITCHENER—There was a certain buzz last night at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. It looked the same on the outside, but when one entered the seating bowl it didn't feel like the familiar small-town junior hockey arena we're used to.
It could have been the hundreds of seats on the floor, the spotlights aimed at the stage or the giant video screens above it.
More likely, it was the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Commander of the Order of the British Empire on stage.
Sir Elton John made Kitchener feel like the centre of the entertainment universe last night. For 156 tightly packed minutes, the Rocket Man took an enchanted audience of lucky Ontarians on a ride through Philadelphia and New York City, down the Yellow Brick Road and onto the screen with Roy Rogers and Marilyn Monroe.
Some in the crowd were skeptical beforehand that the 60-year-old musician, alone on stage with a piano, could perform up to the lofty standards of his decades-long career. To a person, they became convinced that John still has it.
"Absolutely fantastic," said Georgina Kostal, 54, of Guelph, when asked her opinion near the end of the show. "His passion for what he does after all these years. Look at his face; you actually see the passion in his music."
As much excitement as there was among the concert-goers, it was clearly a different type of scene from a full-bore rock concert.
For the most part, the crowd stayed seated except between numbers. Even during Candle in the Wind, one could easily count the number of lit cigarette lighters, which were outnumbered by cellphones and glowsticks held aloft.
When John went on a bit of a jazzy improvisation during Honky Cat, one grey-haired man in a CFL jersey got up and cautiously started to dance. The pianist quickly returned to the standard melody, and the grey-haired would-be dancer awkwardly looked around and slumped back in his chair.
But while this wasn't a Black Sabbath crowd, it clearly wasn't a Barry Manilow one, either.
Instead, it was more or less a cross-section of southwestern Ontario: families in ski jackets, managers in denim shirts with company logos and middle-aged men holding umbrellas over their wives as they escaped the rain.
It looked just like a Kitchener Rangers crowd, until one saw the 45-minute lineup for concert memorabilia.
Jackie Scott, 40, didn't mind the wait, considering she sat outside 14 hours in the snow for tickets. "You can't put a price on an Elton John T-shirt," she said.
Actually, you could: $40 for a T-shirt, $75 for a "bowling shirt" and $150 for a denim jacket. They were going as quickly as the overwhelmed workers could hand them out.
Other than a few people in oversized novelty glassesno one tried to imitate John's flamboyant attire of the 1970s, as some fans have done in other cities.
The prize for best costume went to a group of teachers from Ayr Public School, who held pictures of Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr over their faces. They said the mayor — widely criticized for accepting a free ticket to the concert — found their gag funny.
When the lights went down in the arena, it was illuminated by BlackBerrys and digital camera screens. John's appearance was greeted with the type of camera-flash binge that usually accompanies the first pitch of the World Series.
As the focus of attention broke into Your Song, many of the women in the audience squealed like teenagers watching the Beatles.
"Ooo, this is my favourite song! I'm gonna cry," said Peggy Ellert, 42, of Kitchener, whose husband of eight years was taking her to a concert for the first time.
Two seats away, Linda Hayes of Cambridge dialed a number on her BlackBerry and held it toward the stage.
"That was my ex," said Hayes, 43. "That was our song. I wanted him to hear it because I'm here and he's not."
Although almost everyone found something to appreciate in John's lengthy set, one of the greatest outbursts of applause came between songs.
John took time out to recognize some family members of his partner, David Furnish.
"They're from Canada, you know," John said. The crowd roared. With the outburst of patriotism, the Aud felt a bit like a hockey arena again.
— The Record
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Memorial Auditorium, Kitchener - March 3, 2008
Elton John thrills 'deserving' fans for nearly 3 hours at sold-out show
By JANE STEVENSON -- Sun Media
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KITCHENER -- Some 40 years after releasing his first album, British pop singer-songwriter-pianist Elton John finally made his debut at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex -- or The Aud, as it's known locally. The occasion was one of only two Canadian stops on his 2008 Rocket Man Tour, the other unlikely one being Sudbury Arena on Sunday night. Apparently, the 60-year-old John -- who last played the Toronto area in 2006 at the Air Canada Centre -- wanted to play in markets he never had before after already booking a private gig on Saturday night in Ontario. "It's great to come to these places," said John to huge cheers. "Too many people don't come to these places -- people deserve entertainment." The 6,000 odd tickets available in Kitchener sold out in under a half-hour and while the 50-year-plus-old venue has hosted the likes of The Who and Led Zeppelin in the past, John's visit is by far the biggest in recent years. (Hilary Duff and Michael Buble have also made stops.) Last night, John -- decked out in a black sequined jacket with tails, an electric blue shirt, black pants with the same blue piping down the sides, blue tinted glasses, and a large diamond encrusted cross necklace -- kept things intimate, playing alone on a stripped-down stage, seated at a black Yamaha piano, although he frequently got up to take a bow, wave at the audience or take a sip of water between songs.
The strategy worked. The show opener, Your Song, got the first of many standing ovations from the crowd. "It's great to be here, that song was the breakthrough for me as an artist in 1970, it came from an album called Elton John," said the singer, who followed up with Sixty Years On, The Greatest Discovery, I Need You to Turn To, and Border Song, also from that classic disc. The minimum flash -- slick lighting and images, synthesized strings and the occasional vocal reverb aside -- showed off just how good a piano player he really is and how strong his voice remains. The keyboard flourish he displayed on Honky Cat, Philadelphia Freedom -- the first song to produce an actual clapalong (the second one was the later standout Bennie and the Jets) -- I Guess That's Why They Call it The Blues, Levon and Tonight were particular highlights as were his slowly-building vocals on Rocket Man. After an incredibly strong opening dedicated to his breakthrough disc, he jumped around his 40-year-career, moving into Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes from 2001's Songs From the West Coast; Daniel from 1973's Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player; Honky Cat, Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters from 1972's Honky Chateau; Tiny Dancer from 1971's Madman Across the Water, and so on. He even dedicated Sacrifice to his "extended family" in the crowd, that would be the Furnish clan related to his longtime partner and Canadian husband David Furnish, who he wed in a civil ceremony in England in December 2005, and later reminded the audience that Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word was written and recorded in Toronto in 1976. And while there were hits aplenty during the two-hour-and-40-minute show, John also pulled out such live rarities as Nikita, Ticking, and Roy Rogers just to keep things really interesting. The crowd finally rushed the stage for Bennie and the Jets, which John spiced up with a snippet of In the Mood, and remained there for Crocodile Rock, and the encore numbers I'm Still Standing and Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me. |
| Elton John lives up to the hype |
Date Published | Mar. 3, 2008 |
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Torstar News Service
KITCHENER – Few recording artists have enjoyed the highs and persevered the lows over as long a career as Elton John.
It's a testament to John's continuing popularity that tickets to his concert last night in Kitchener, Ont., sold out in minutes and subsequently ignited a political firestorm after city councillors helped themselves to free tickets and accepted preferential treatment at the box office.
John has sustained an impressive career in pop music by juggling the roles of artist, showman and celebrity.
While often reviled by music critics, John and longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin co-wrote some of the most enduring pop radio hits of the last 35 years.
Even when a period of flamboyant excess sent his career into a tailspin in the late 1970s, his talent as both a vocalist and a pianist would not be denied.
Fortunately, it was John the artist who made his Kitchener debut as part of a North American tour, with Sudbury, Ont., as the only other Canadian stop.
Dressed in a royal blue satin shirt and sequined black tux and wearing dark glasses and a diamond pendant around his neck, he sat at the piano and turned the pages of a pop songbook that held the capacity crowd captivated from start to finish.
He could do no wrong in front of this predominantly 40-plus crowd.
They were concert-hall quiet throughout the 27 songs delivered over an uninterrupted two and a half hours. There were regular applauses of recognition after the opening bars of songs, many of which received standing ovations.
It was adoration from the first few words of "Your Song" "It's a little bit funny . . ." onward through "Sixty Years On," "I Need You to Turn To," "Daniel," "Honky Cat," "Rocket Man," ``Tiny Dancer," "Nikita," "Philadelphia Freedom," "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word," and "Candle in the Wind" among others.
He demonstrated his prowess on piano, backed occasionally by an electronic soundscape.
However, his pianistic ornamentation and vocal mannerisms became a tad redundant. For instance, the similarity of arrangements among some of his greatest hits became evident when he followed "Rocket Man" with "Tiny Dancer."
The diminutive artist revealed his political side a couple of times with brief introductions to "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes" about HIV/AIDS and "Ticking," a peace song written in the mid-'70s which is "still applicable today."
John built momentum throughout the concert, playing 10 songs or so, before getting up and stretching his legs, waving to the audience and pumping his arms to everyone's delight.
He received a huge ovation when he mentioned that some of his "extended Canadian family" were present.
"I love you very much," he shouted.
The audience happily and gratefully returned the feeling.
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Robson Vianna.