Elton John

The Forum
20-February-1998
Los Angeles, CA

Elton and his band played the Great Western Forum for two sold out nights here in Los Angeles and even though I may be a bit biased due to certain circumstances, I would say it was likely his best performance here in LA with the band since the 70's show at Dodger Stadium. The 1994 Greek Theater shows were special and an honor to attend, but I personally have never seen Elton so energetic or heard his band play so well.
For the Friday night show, my mom and I were attending but our seats were separated so we did something we felt somewhat awkward about: we searched out the tour representative who goes around the arena before the show giving out front row tickets. Neither one of us has ever sat even remotely close to the front, and besides the obvious viewing advantage, it may be the only place left where people don't talk the entire show!!
Well, at about 7:50 pm we were just about to give up our search for this mystery ticket man when we walked right by a gentleman dressed in a TBP tour shirt. I turned, and what was resting in his back pocket? A pile of tickets!! We had decided that even though it was rude to walk up to him and ask, we would do it anyway. We wore official tour shirts from the last two concert stands in LA and explained all of the usual stuff about us as longtime fans: that we would dance and sing, that we have all of the albums, that we went to the record signing at Tower, etc? Well after looking at us skeptically and making sure to let us know he normally doesn't give tickets to those who approach him (probably figuring I would tell this to all of the 22nd Row!), the gentleman gave us two tickets on the aisle of Row 2, section B! Needless to say we were extremely excited and when he saw that our original seats were apart, he seemed much more relieved to be giving us tickets up front.
We arrived down in our new front stage seats to find mostly a younger crowd that the ticket man had been targeting, all of who were extremely pumped as well. Before we could really believe where we were sitting, the lights went out and a really cool light show played out until the band broke into Simple Life at about 8:20. As soon as the angel decorated curtains rose, everyone in the first two rows rushed the stage, and we joined in, standing about 8 feet from the piano, just out of Elton's immediate sight. To this day, I still can't believe I was that close!
But I have to say that Elton and the band seem to really respond to having fans right up front and it is a worthwhile investment for Elton to keep those tickets for his purposes. The last time he was at the Forum in 1992, Elton was extremely frustrated with the crowd's lack of energy and he subsequently cut the set short. LA crowds on the whole are mostly music and movie business types who just go to say they went, but for these shows the audience appeared to be much more diverse, with a large number of younger fans. The new stage design is remarkable in that I would imagine it gives Elton and the band the feeling of playing in a club. There are people on top of you all the way around the stage and it really adds to the atmosphere. Why someone hasn't thought of this before is beyond me, because it adds to the number of tickets they can sell as well!
The set list was identical both nights with Sad Songs bumping Love's Got A Lot To Answer For (I really think LGALTAF is brilliant, and I'm surprised at the lack of interest in it by 22nd rowers?). I can see why John Jorgenson likes the flow of the set better with Sad Songs, but the only disappointment of the show is that Elton does only two songs off of TBP. Fortunately, Recover Your Soul will be added soon so that should help and it would fit nicely in the Sad Songs slot. Elton's comments between songs were basically the same as they have been, only he remembered to dedicate Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me to Carl Wilson on Friday night. Normally, I prefer when he talks between songs, but this time out I prefer the way the set flows with very little talking. Of course, sitting up front you tend to appreciate it more because it means more high-fives and handshakes from Elton!!!
Other show highlights are Grey Seal, Honky Cat (such a different song live!), Take Me To The Pilot (the intro was very different each night and even better than the Greek opening!), Made In England, Philadelphia Freedom (miss the bluesy opening though) and Great Balls of Fire (didn't think I would like this but Elton was just meant to perform this one!).
For Saturday's show, my mom and I had third row seats in section C (the far right of the floor - from Ticketmaster if you can believe it!) but we knew the routine so we rushed the stage earlier this time and found ourselves standing in the same place again! Elton and Davey and John J clearly recognized us again which was cool, and my mom received her second guitar pic from Davey on Saturday (Davey's are green, with "THE BIG PIC" on one side, and "DJ" on the other, John J's are maroon). Now, during Friday's show, Elton saw that I was dancing and singing extra hard and that I knew the songs well, and a few times he looked and pointed right at us right after upbeat songs, which was cool. But after Philadelphia Freedom on Saturday, he jumped up from the piano and pointed at me, then to my mom, and mouthed the words "Your mom" to me! Why he did this, I do not know, probably just the heat of the moment! But in 1995 when he and Bernie were signing Made In England at Tower Records on Sunset, my mom had to embarrass me by telling Elton how she was nine months pregnant with me when he was playing the Greek in 1971 and here I was now, to which Elton replied in typical Reg fashion, "I hate you!" Well, my mom thinks he remembered us, but I'm skeptical, but then again he is very close to his mother as we saw on Tantrums And Tiaras, so you never know! After all, the man is a genius! Either way, it was really cool to have him appreciate our excitement for his music and for Elton to give so much to the people up front who were really getting into the show.
On Saturday night, my mom and I saw the "ticket man" and thanked him again for giving us such a great opportunity to sit up front. He smiled and said thanks because he got a compliment from Elton who told him that it was a "great row tonight." That got us even more pumped up for the Saturday show of course!!
On the merchandise side, the program is awesome, continuing the album design. The shirts are really dull, and one of the "bootleg" shirts they were selling outside the arena even had a better reproduction of the album cover than the official shirts! The hats are cool though, and for the first time ever, they are not black!!
As for the concert reviews, the Hollywood Reporter gave Elton's band a poor review and the reviewer made sure to mention how much he hated the album one more time. He specifically criticized Guy Babylon and Charlie Morgan but lost all credibility when he got Bennie mixed up with Take Me To The Pilot.
L.A. Times pop critic Robert Hilburn's review captures the power and poignancy of Elton and The Big Picture Tour much better than I ever could. A few samples of Hilburn's review in the Monday, February 23 review from the Calendar section:
"Elton John has received so much attention over the last three decades for his songwriting that it's easy to overlook the other qualities that have contributed to his remarkable success - namely his singing and piano playing ? John, the vocalist, injects virtually each song with a sense of freshness, though he prizes subtle changes rather than the sometimes extreme redesign of Bob Dylan. John generally honors a song's basic framework, simply adding a slight twist of phrasing to remind us we are sharing a new moment, rather than just reliving an old one. . . But even these skills don't explain the full appeal of a pop figure who has recorded more Top 40 hits in the U.S. than anyone other than Elvis Presley. The intangible that has both kept him competitive as an artist and winning as stage performer is his spirit. From his enthusiasm and attention to detail, you'd have thought this was someone trying to prove his worth to an audience in his first visit to the 18,000 seat Forum rather than someone who has headlined similarly sized venues hundreds of times since the early 70's." Do check out the L.A. Times Web site for the complete Hilburn review and his feature with Elton from the 18th of February discussing his ten most memorable LA performances. It will cost you $1.50 each, but its well worth it. And to all of you who get to see Elton on his upcoming solo dates or with Billy Joel on the World Tour, you will have a great time. I know I won't forget The Big Picture tour for a long while!


Simple Life
The One
Grey Seal
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Honky Cat
Can You Feel The Love Tonight
Tiny Dancer
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
If The River Can Bend
I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
The Last Song
Daniel
Sad Songs
Take Me To The Pilot
Something About The Way You Look Tonight
Made In England
Believe
Philadelphia Freedom
Bennie And The Jets
Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
Great Balls Of Fire
The Bitch Is Back
Your Song

Concert review by Geoff