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It was one of my biggest wishes to once see an Elton John concert in England.
When on 26th November 2003 two extraordinary shows for next year where announced on eltonjohn.com: "Elton, the band and the Royal Academy of Music Orchestra and Choir are to play two unique concerts in England next summer. Elton and the band will perform with the 108-piece orchestra and 50-voice choir, conducted by the acclaimed film composer, James Newton Howard. The concerts will take place on June 29, 2004 at the NEC, Birmingham and July 1, 2004 at Wembley Arena, London", it was clear for me I had to go.
More than a good reason to see Elton John at last in his home country and town, plus it would be twice as unique because of the Orchestra and Choir.
On Thursday, November 27, 2003 I was lucky enough to obtain two tickets for the Wembley Arena in London through eltonjohn.com. I planned for an extended weekend in London after the concert and was eagerly awaiting the day.
We flew to London the day of the concert checked into our hotel and had a nice day in London. For the concert we started early using the subway out to Wembly, been there way before the concert started. We had to wait, patiently and could picked up the tickets an hour before the doors opened, nervously awaiting where the seats would be. They were good seats on the left side of the stage on the floor a 11 rows away from the stage.
Elton came on stage with no introductory music, sitting down at the piano, addressed the audience, introduced the concert and started the show. It was fabulous, the sound of the orchestra and the choir these young musicians during such a great job. The harpist, Angharad Jones, who was featured during the opening of the show with the on Sixty Years On made me shiver. All the songs sounding so great the way they were played. Not only the audience was having fun also the guys on stage seemed to be having a great time. Elton revealed that he regards the arrangement to Philadelphia Freedom as the best ever to grace any pop record. Elton himself seemed to be having a tremendous time performing in this context, despite apparently battling against less than satisfactory monitoring levels. He was jovial and funny, while at the same time elegant and informative. After Levon he introduced the band, which was as always superb.
Elton was wearing a black Yohji Yamamoto suit with colorful flowers stitched on his arm, a black shirt, a silver cross and dark frames less glasses.
After Take me to the Pilot the run to the stage started and I got a good place in front of Elton that made the rest of the show more enjoyable as now we could move to the great music.
As usual when Elton disappeared from the stage before the encores, he checked for the football score from Euro 2004 and was clearly delighted to be able to report the semi final score 'Greece 1 - The Czech Republic 0'. He suggested, to the crowd's amusement, that George Michael should get along to cheer on the Greeks in the final against Portugal!
It was a memorable show and it was sad to be over so quick. Thanks for having had the chance to bee there.
Sixty Years On
The Greatest Discovery
I Need You To Turn To
Border Song
The King Must Die
Burn Down The Mission
Believe
Come Down In Time
Tell Me When The Whistle Blows
Tiny Dancer
Madman Across the Water
Holiday Inn
Levon
Sorry Seems to be The Hardest Word
This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
Philadelphia Freedom
Have Mercy on the Criminal
Carla/Etude
Tonight
Take Me to the Pilot
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
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Don't Let The Sun go Down on Me
Your Song
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