Sir Elton John - Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, final tour before he retires from touring *

I mean, he’s got two thirds of that time to spend with his family

 

Yeah, that's another kinda silly aspect of the whole thing. You can tour and fit in the time around a family.

Elton could do a McCartney: short tours that still allow him to have ample family time.

It's not either you're on the road for 300 days a year or you don't tour at all, especially when you're as rich as Elton.

Do 2-week tours like 6 times a year!

Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I really doubt this is it for Elton. Maybe he won't do a massive tour again, but I don't think he'll leave the stage forever!

 

He takes his kids on tour with him anyway, expect he wants to do more "normal" stuff with them though. We will see

 

I think that’s the point. He will just be done touring. I don’t think he ever said he was going to be done performing completely

Agree with you on all your points. He can essentially do what he wants. He’s Elton John

 

This really sounds like something coming from the point of view of a fan in Europe or North America, used to having the opportunity to see their favourite performers several times a year. "Will I see them this tour? No, I'll go to the next one in three months' time". Or "Why aren't they playing here where I live? I don't want to have to go 100 km to see them in the next town".

Elton, unlike many big name acts, actually shows a bit of respect for fans all over the world. He has often played in Australia, and unlike some I could name he is aware that Australia consists of more than just Sydney and Melbourne. How many other such acts would play places like Geelong and Townsville? Not to mention that so many of them forget that the country has a left side as well as a right side, but Elton always makes it across to Perth.

The time span between Elton's first and final Australian dates will be about three months. That's not three months of nightly concerts. there are only about a dozen concert dates. Clearly what that means is that Elton is taking it easy. It's a long flight from anywhere else to Australia, so it makes sense to make the most of his stay and allow plenty of in between time for relaxation, which is something he can well afford to do.

"2-week tours 6 times a year" could well be more exhausting, unless you are just talking about touring the UK.

 

Maaate

He even played for the fellas and fallesses in Werribee

 

Agreed. He has always shown such respect for Australian audiences and the sheer amount of diversity and distance in this country. Until recently I lived in Central Australia for pretty much my entire life and yet a few years back I was able to see Elton in Darwin...hardly anyone EVER comes to Darwin but he did. Similarly on this upcoming tour he is doing a heap of winery shows in rural areas and regional centres too. He tries to make it easy to see him live and that’s why he is so loved in this country.

 

I bet he is. I've noticed over the years that many artists seem to cancel their Australian concerts. The Australian dates are tacked on at the end of a tour and then often mysteriously cancelled due to logistics, recording schedules or the like. Little Mix did this just recently and I think Madonna has done it.

I wonder if Elton's close friendship with the legendary Molly Meldrum has something to do with his many Australian tours over the years?

 

It wouldn’t surprise me! God, there must be some pretty fantastic stories there! We are often tacked on down here at the ‘**** end of the world’ but Elton, to his credit, has always been prepared to travel the length and breadth of Australia. It’s so nice not to always feel like an ‘after thought’!

I know it must be expensive to tour here (at least that’s the story we’ve always been told) but come on, artists like Madonna et al. can certainly afford it and over time recoup the costs and more.

 

I don't really believe he's done touring, but even if he is, I still don't really get why he wouldn't just do the shorter tours!

 

How does not touring at all show "more respect for fans" than doing short tours?

You are right that Elton stands virtually alone among superstar artists in that he will apparently play anywhere that has a 10,000-seat arena. He does towns you never see other artists of his stature play, and that's awesome.

But I don't see how the cessation of all touring is better than shorter tours...

 

I wasn't suggesting that. I was comparing the suggestion by someone else that he do shorter tours and more of them, with what he is currently doing - one big tour, which takes in lots of places that he could not do on shorter tours.

Clearly when he eventually stops touring altogether, there are going to be some fans who are not pleased - but I hope you are not suggesting that he has some kind of obligation to the fans to keep on performing until he collapses onstage.

 

Yes - that's exactly what I'm saying. Sing 'til ya croak, old man!

My argument:

Elton claims he's retiring from touring to spend time with his family. Admirable if true - still seems odd he'd then commit to a 3-year tour rather than just say "see ya!" right away, but admirable.

My thought: if he still wants to play, he shouldn't quit touring altogether. He should just do shorter tours and spread them out.

He can still play those off the beaten path places if he wants. Sure, it's less likely, but it's his choice.

Point remains that 30 Elton dates/year is better than 0, wherever he plays!

 

Not if he has lost enthusiasm and was just going through the motions.

It still amazes me that people are so ready to say what they think their favourite musicians should do, as though they knew better that the artist themselves what's going on in their lives and what keeps them fulfilled.

 

Hopefully, after he retires, he can still do a run of 5 RAH's and 5 MSG's every year.
I think that's what he wants, tbh. I can't Elton going from 300 shows a year to none.

 

You're really Straw Manning me here.

One more time:

Elton claims he's not gonna tour because he wants to spend time with family. Not because he doesn't wanna play.

If that's the case, I espouse the mini-tours I mentioned.

I don't claim Elton must tour until he dies or he must play even if he hates it or he must perform if he's in pain or whatever counter you wanna throw my way.

Taking him at his word based on what he tells us, he loves to play but he wants to devote his time to family.

I mentioned a way he could do both.

That's it.

 

Speaking of that, anyone knows where his MSG count is at the moment?

Edit: It's 70.
Concert Review: Elton John Dazzles at 70th Madison Square Garden Show

 

I assume that's 2nd to Billy Joel - Joel is at something like 115 MSG shows by now!

 

The impression I got was he was finished touring, but would continue one off gigs.

 

I imagine that would a question to ask of his doctor.

 

I think he's chasing the U2/Sheeran record of highest grossing tour of all time. USD$775mil

300+ shows at USD$2+mil gross each will get him there as long as he shows up and reviews are decent enough to keep ticket sales going. Different than Kiss claiming they will do 300 farewell shows.

 

That's awesome !!! any idea roughly how much those tix were ?

 

Elton's done the same in the US (Dylan, too). They've both played 3rd and 4th tier cities that many other artists would've passed on.

Just randomly glancing at a Wikipedia entry for EJ's 2011-2012 tour, he played:

• Eugene, OR
• Reno, NV
• Bismarck, ND
• Spokane, WA
• Boise, ID
• Duluth, MN
• Billings, MT
• Kalamazoo, MI
• Madison, WI
• Grand Forks, ND
• Fort Wayne, IN
• Mankato, MN

and so on. There's no Portland/Seattle/Vegas/Detroit/Minneapolis in the mix, either. Obviously, he's played those cities plenty of times, but he made a point to visit a lot of lesser-known ones from time-to-time....

 

Elton's the Krusty the Clown of rock: anything for a buck!

 

He HAS said he'll make new music.