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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