Elton John

Bradley Center
24-April-1998
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

A couple more nights like the one he had Friday at the Bradley Center and poor Elton John may have to rename his Big Picture Tour the Big Croak. Serious throat problems clearly had the Rocket Man in low orbit.

After every song, Elton was swigging from a can of diet Coke behind the piano. The opening notes of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" came out somewhere between a bark and a rasp. The set was cut short by several songs, and the veteran superstar repeatedly extended regrets for his subpar condition.

"I've got to apologize for this," he said. "I'm so bummed out. You don't deserve this kind of a voice."

As it was, Elton was a real trouper, playing for 2 1/2 hours under what had to be trying circumstances.

At 51, Captain Fantastic is definitely not in one of his svelte periods. The jaw line is as puffy as it's ever been. On the other hand, aside from the voice problems, Elton did not seem at a loss for energy.

During a grueling finish of "Philadelphia Freedom," "Bennie and the Jets," "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," "The Bitch Is Back" and "Great Balls of Fire," Sir Elton indulged in Jerry Lee-style stunts, kicking the piano bench away, playing on his knees and eventually lying beneath the piano and playing with one hand extended backward over and behind his head.

Voice issues aside, the Big Picture is a muddled landscape. Any performer with a career as long and storied as Elton John's has certain songs that are all but obligatory. That said, one of the advantages of a large career is that the hit box has plenty of expansive corners to rummage around in.

For $43.50 a pop, don't folks have the right to expect a fresh reworking of the past? When Elton got around to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" the projection TV screens ran the same footage from "The Lion King" that we saw on the Piano Men tour with Billy Joel. If I'm not mistaken, that run of rockers at the end is the identical series of tunes they finished with last time. Even the one cover, "Great Balls of Fire," is recycled from Piano Men.

To be fair, there were touches of imagination. Although most of the hits were Polaroid duplicates of the originals, a few got reworked. "Honky Cat" and "Bennie and the Jets" both got extended workouts that allowed Elton to display his sometimes overlooked skills at the keyboard.

And some of the oldies were from paths less traveled, such as "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" from "Reg Strikes Back" and "Grey Seal" from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." There was also the tender celebration of new life, "Blessed," from "Made in England." It's not so much that they didn't have the right idea, but that they didn't go quite far enough with it.

That said, the 30- and 40-somethings in the crowd didn't seem to mind anything Elton did all night. The front rows were on their feet most of the night, and by the time the singer got to "Bennie and the Jets" all 19,000 seemed to be on their feet. There's no denying that when 19,000 people get pumped up about anything, it creates its own energy wave.

If anything, Elton seemed more aware of the show's shortcomings than the crowd did. Perhaps there will be a pot of gold at the end of the frog-infested road. Near the end, Elton said something about coming back and doing it right.


Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
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
Daniel
Rocket Man
Mona Lisas and Madhatters
Crocodile Rock
Blessed
The Last Song
Recover Your Soul
Simple Life/
The One
Take Me To The Pilot
Something About The Way You Look Tonight
Philadelphia Freedom
Bennie And The Jets
Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting
The Bitch Is Back
Great Balls Of Fire
Your Song

Concert review by Dave Tianen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal Newspaper