Elton John: Classic Concert Series on YouTube

One show I would LOVE to see released is the 30th anniversary gig of Captain Fantastic. Also from Madison Square Garden
(a handful of gigs I've since found out, with a very decent radio broadcast available on youtube of the CF album portion of the show)

There is one clip of the gig as a bonus on the MSG 60th show. Seems like there is "only" the big screen feed, but they would be able to make a nice looking release if they wanted to...



Elton sounds very strong here imo

 

I wasn't able to watch the whole YouTube concert last night so have dug out my dvd from the Dream Ticket boxset and am watching it now.

One of the things I like about this concert is the inclusion of a few songs that he would not usually perform - Little Jeanie, Club at the End of the Street, I Don't Wanna Go On with like That, Don't Go Breaking My Heart and Come Together.

There would often be a couple of moments in his shows when he would dig a bit deeper into his back catalogue.

As this is the last full band show in this series, a special mention should be made to Guy Babylon (keyboards) and Bob Birch ( bass) who are no longer with us.

Also a shout out to guitarist Davey Johnstone, who is musical director of Elton's band. He has been with Elton since 1972.

 

there some deeper cuts indeed, and when the whole show is presented, the special guest seem less "intrusive" compared to the cd...

another thing worth noticing; the dream ticket box set features either dolby stereo or surround, whereas the original dvd from 2001 features an additional DTS track. Imo, that's easily the best sound for this concert

 

Very disappointed in the low-res picture quality of the MSG 2000 show, looks like we are just getting the show in DVD quality, rather than HD which it was likely filmed in.

 

I attended one of the Boston shows. First there was a set focusing on the relatively new Peachtree Road, then Capt. Fantastic (though Writing was omitted), followed by the hits set. A very Springsteen-esque 3+ hour show.

 

As the issue of HD concerts have come up a few times, I thought it worth mentioning some of the more recent concerts that have been filmed well.

In addition to the 60th birthday concert that I added a link to above, it is also worth checking out the two concert films of his Las Vegas residencies. The first was The Red Piano and the other one was The Million Dollar Piano. These concerts have a more visual element to them than most of Elton's recent concerts. They have both been released on blu ray. I can't find the full concerts on YouTube but you can find individual clips.

 

For sheer technical production value, pound for pound, The Million Dollar Piano is the best looking/sounding Elton concert film.
A great show for what it is (shorter set, over the top stage etc), and the musical highlights are great. The Ray Cooper portion is worth the price of admission alone (how I wish they would put out a double feature of those tours; one from 94, and one from 2009-10. Out of the 15ish Elton shows I’ve attended, the one with Ray Cooper in 2010 is probably the best)

the red piano dvd / blu ray is sadly flawed in the PQ department. Some of the images are sharp and crystal clear, whereas others are extremely grainy. It would be weird if they shot the gig using some HD cameras, and some SD..so I can only assume something has gone wrong in the post production and somehow escapes quality control...
Great show though, and a very good release in terms of audio quality

 

Something which annoys me about many bands and their concert films from about 2000 and throughout the next decade. Dvd-only releases of shows that were filmed in HD. I’d rather have SD than nothing..but: What a waste

 

My two least favourite EJ songs, Benny and the Jets and Saturday Night used in the trailer. He played these songs at Live Aid too. I don't get it whatsoever.

 

The most interesting of these concerts for me have been the Verona concert and the Edinburgh one, the latter having been cobbled together from various sources but thankfully complete.

If they do any more they really need to find/fix/clean up/remix/issue in complete form:

Earls Court 1976
Wembley Stadium 1984
Unplugged 1990
Hammersmith 1982
Central Park 1980

 

Could I add to that list:

Royal Festival Hall 1972
Hollywood Bowl 1973
Hammersmith 1974
Dodgers Stadium 1975
Russia 1979 (complete show)

I would also welcome a complete version of one of the orchestra shows from 2004 which were the only shows that were performed entirely with an orchestra. The Radio City Music Hall show was broadcast in edited form on US TV.

 

I’ll add

W/ Ray Cooper 1994 + 2009-10
MSG 2005 - Captain Fantastic

..in case anyone from team Elton should happen to drop by for inspiration

 

The COMPLETE '94 LA Greek Theatre Elton/Ray show would be amazing.

 

This was a great show, I was present for it. And an amazing setlist-- 4/5 of Captain Fantastic, then six songs from Peachtree Rd. right in a row, and THEN the standard greatest hits set. I knew I'd never get an Elton show this great again (and I haven't).

interesting that CF leaves out two songs and it's STILL longer than the album!

 

I was at the show in New York, it was an epic set. Apparently, according to Davey Johnstone, those two songs (Writing, Tower of Babel) were rehearsed but EJ opted to leave them out.

 

Too bad-- Those aren't my favorite tracks, but it would have felt even more special to hear the album in its entirety.

 

Yes, sound and visual quality weren't top notch, but the concert was. Better than the last few.

By the way, the only guest appearance I really liked was Billy Joel's. But what was up with Mary J. Blige? Not a very good vocal. And Kiki Dee seemed a bit uninspired.

 

That Royal Festival Hall concert was astoundingly good from the clips I have seen. Moreso the orchestral section for me, as the band sound was a bit raw, but great nonethelesa

 

Is it the same show that was recorded for the Here and There album?

 

No. That was in 1974 after the release of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The one we are referring to was in early '72 just before the release of Rocket Man.

 

No - the HAT concert was a charity concert in 1974.

The one we were talking about was in 1972.

 

So this series started with a solo show and this weekend it will end with a solo show. This was filmed in Ephesus, Turkey in 2001.

The trailer has been uploaded:


They have also uploaded a clip of This Train Don't Stop There Anymore which at that point was a teaser from his forthcoming album Songs from the West Coast:

https://youtu.be/03amzn_Q1E8

Like last week's concert, this concert was released on the Dream Ticket box set so I am not as excited about this one as I was about some of the concerts earlier in the series. But that's not to say it's not an enjoyable show.

 

Just a heads up before the screening of this week's concert:

In Elton's solo performances at this time he had installed a MIDI in his piano. This means that at certain moments you will hear other sounds that are fired by the MIDI - specifically strings.

 

Yes, he's had a MIDI trigger in his piano since the mid 1980s (you hear it working on the Live in Australia album, during Bennie and the Jets and Candle in the Wind). At this show, it triggers strings (and a blended digital acoustic piano) along with electric piano sounds.

The Ephesus show was a great performance, but the audio quality wasn't, Elton's vocals don't sound as full as usual. Likely due to the fact that it was being live-streamed over the internet. I also doubt this is the full show, but rather, the truncated version on the Dream Ticket DVD.

 

Was it truncated on Dream Ticket? I think it was about 2 hours on that release.