Elton John Newcastle City Hall A Single Man 1979
This tour saw Elton playing solo, without his band, and accompanied by percussionist Ray Cooper during the second half of the show. I hadn’t been aware of Ray Cooper before this show, but for me, and the rest of the City Hall crowd that night, he was the star of the show. Ray used an array of percussion instruments in such a unique and charming way that he stole the show that night. The tour called at the City Hall for two nights. From Wiki:”Cooper absorbed the influence of rock drummers from the 1960s and 1970s such as Ginger Baker, Carmine Appice, and John Bonham. Incorporation of unusual instruments (for rock drummers of the time) such as cowbells, glockenspiel, and tubular bells, along with several standard kit elements, helped create a highly varied setup. 
Continually modified to this day, Cooper’s percussion set offers an enormous array of percussion instruments for sonic diversity such as the tambourine, congas, crash cymbals, cowbells, roto toms, tubular bells, the gong, snare and timpani.” Setlist: Elton solo: Your Song; Sixty Years On; Daniel; Skyline Pigeon; Take Me to the Pilot; Rocket Man; Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Roy Rogers; Candle in the Wind; Where to Now St. Peter?; I Heard It Through the Grapevine. Elton with Ray Cooper: Funeral for a Friend / Tonight; Better Off Dead; I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself; Crazy Water; Bennie and the Jets; Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word; Part-Time Love; Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting; Pinball Wizard; Get Back; Song for Guy
Archive for the ‘Elton John’ Category
26 Jun
Elton John Newcastle City Hall A Single Man 1979
25 Jun
Elton John Newcastle City Hall 1976
Elton John Newcastle City Hall 1976
Support Murray Head 
By 1976 Elton John had a batch of hits behind him and was a major rock star in the UK and across the world. Elton toured the UK and called at Newcastle City Hall where demand for tickets was mega. A mate and I got up early (ie 6am) on the day the tickets went on sale and went through to the City Hall to queue for our seats. The queue was pretty large by the time we arrived, but we still managed to score some seats, although we were upstairs at the side, and by no means in good seats. 
The tour was called “louder than Concorde” although I’m not sure why, as Elton John was hardly what I would call a loud act at the time. The programme has a silver cover which didn’t scan well! The back cover incorporates a push out paper Concorde, which I restrained myself from making and flying. Support for this tour came from Murray Head who had hit the charts with Say It Ain’t So. Elton put on his usual high energy show to a rapturous reception from the Newcastle crowd. Typical setlist from 1976: Skyline Pigeon; I Need You to Turn To; Sixty Years On; Border Song; Daniel; Love Song; Bennie and the Jets; The Greatest Discovery; Candle in the Wind; Rocket Man; Tonight; I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself; Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me; Better Off Dead; Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word; Someone Saved My Life Tonight; Sweet Painted Lady; Your Song; Island Girl; Don’t Go Breaking My Heart; Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting
24 Jun
Elton John, Beach Boys, Eagles Wembley Stadium June 1975
Elton John, Beach Boys, Eagles Wembley Stadium June 1975 
Line-up (pretty great actually): Elton John, The Beach Boys, Eagles, Joe Walsh, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Stackridge, DJ and compere Johnnie Walker. This was a big gig for Elton John. He had just changed his band, with only Davey Johnstone remained from the previous line-up, and was about to release a new album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. I went down to London with a couple of mates and we stayed at a friend’s flat in Acton. We spent a couple of days in the capital before the concert and went to see Ducks Deluxe at the Marquee club, which was pretty good fun, except one of our party took ill and we spent half the night in hospital. The Wembley concert had an amazing line-up with Stackridge opening the day, Mutter Slater on his usual top form. Next up were Rufus who featured Chaka Khan, and delivered some funky soul rhythms. The rest of the bill featured Joe Walsh (Rocky Mountain Way was a big crowd favourite) and then the Eagles who performed all their hits and were joined by Jackson Brown on piano for Take it Easy. But the day belonged to one band: the Beach Boys who transformed the London stadium into sunny California and had us singing along to endless hit after hit. They went down a storm and Elton had a lot to live up to. 
This was one day when Elton made the wrong call. He decided to devote the majority of the set to playing the new Captain Fantastic album in its entirety. Now remember the album had only just been released and most of the crowd won’t have known any of the track. This didn’t go down well with the crowd, who were up for a greatest hit set, particularly after the Fun Fun Fun of the Beach Boys. People started to leave the stadium in their droves, including us. We made our way back to Acton where a couple of the flatmates were having a domestic. We decided to avoid that and set off on our 250 mile drive home, getting back in the early hours of the next morning. Setlist: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding; Rocket Man; Candle in the Wind; The Bitch Is Back; Dixie Lily; Philadelphia Freedom; Chameleon; Bennie and the Jets; Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds; I Saw Her Standing There; Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy; Tower of Babel; Bitter Fingers; Tell Me When the Whistle Blows; Someone Saved My Life Tonight; (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket; Better Off Dead; Writing; We All Fall in Love Sometimes; Curtains; Pinball Wizard; Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting
23 Jun
Elton John Newcastle City Hall 31st August 1972
Elton John Newcastle City Hall 31st August 1972
I first saw Elton John in concert at Newcastle City Hall on 31st August 1972. Support came from Linda Lewis. Elton had already had big success that year with Rocket Man which reached No 2 in the charts. Crocodile Rock was soon to be released and would be another major hit for him. Elton was just great that night with his usual mixture of piano-based ballads, and full-on band rockers. Favourites of mine at the time were Rocket Man, Your Song, and Border Song. I first remember hearing Elton when Lady Samantha was played a lot on the radio in 1969. That song remains a favourite of mine to this day and really deserved to be a hit at the time. I’ve followed Elton John ever since those days, not making absolutely ever tour, but he is someone I have always returned to. I’ve seen him 14 times over the years and will reflect on those concerts over the next week or so. Support Linda Lewis is worth a mention too. She supported a lot of acts in the early 70s, and played at the Reading festival. She was building up a following, and hit the charts the following year with “Rock-a-Doodle-Doo”.
10 Aug
Elton John Darlington
Elton John Darlington Stadium Sat 5 July 2008
I have been to see Elton John many times over the years; the first being at shows in Newcastle City Hall in the 1970s. In recent years I’ve seen him at several local venues; Carlisle Football Ground, Durham Cricket Ground; Newcastle Arena, Raby Castle and this year at Darlington Stadium.
Laura and I bought tickets at below face value on eBay for this concert. Our seats were at the back of the stadium, but given the price we paid for them this was fine with us. We drove down to Darlington, getting a little lost in the centre of town trying to find the way to the stadium; which is out of town. When we reached the stadium we parked the car in a makeshift car park that a local farmer had set up in a field quite close to the stadium. Laura was quite amused by having to walk past lost of chickens and pigs on the way out of the car park.
We found our way into the stadium, and met up with Paul from work who had bought a ticket outside. We missed the support act (Richard Fleashman) and went to our seats just before Elton was due to take the stage. Elton came on stage and started with Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding and then straight into The Bitch Is Back and a couple of songs from Madman Across The Water. This was a very similar set list to that which we had seen last year in Carlisle. He played all the well known ones including Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Daniel, Rocket Man and others.
The security in the stadium wasn’t very tight at all and Laura and I were able to walk around, sit in various parts of the stands, and get down onto the pitch. We ended up right at the front during the last few songs. Elton finished with the customary Saturday Night’s Alright and returned for encores, signing load of fans programmes and other items from the front of the stage. The encores were Pinball Wizard and the usual closer Your Song. The rain held off (it had been pouring earlier in the day) and Elton and the Band played well. I would rate this as a very good, but not great Elton concert. The crowd didn’t really seem to be into it until towards the end; it did seem that many people had just come along for the sake of it; without having a great interest in Elton or his music. This is in stark contrast to the last time we saw him in Carlisle, where the audience reaction was the best that I have ever seen at an Elton concert.
PS I have tired Laura of seeing Elton and she is now declaring herself a non-fan, and vowing not to see him again ( we will see about that : wait till next year)
my ticket
the programme
Set list
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
The Bitch Is Back
Madman Across The Water
Tiny Dancer
Levon
Believe
Take Me To The Pilot
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Daniel
Rocket Man
Honky Cat
Sacrifice
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Candle In The Wind
Bennie And The Jets
Philadelphia Freedom
Are You Ready For Love
I’m Still Standing
Crocodile Rock
Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)
Encores:
Pinball Wizard
Your Song
Elton John site: http://www.eltonjohn.com/
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