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| - Recommend you see him now, while his show goes on (he's returning in October 2016). He has made himself accessible by performing solely in Las Vegas, so you don't have to check tour schedules and chase him down. The Colosseum serves him well and overall, it's a solid show.
This review sort of takes you through the show. So uh, spoiler alert, I guess.
Obviously, with this show being "The Million Dollar Piano" (literally, it apparently cost Yamaha that much), you should expect a heavy dose of piano. I thought perhaps his age was finally catching up to him, particularly with song #2 in the setlist, 'Bennie and the Jets'. He didn't carry it the way you're used to hearing it, particularly by not hitting the high notes or by not carrying the notes very long. Instead of the classic "BENNYYYY, BENNNYYYYYAAAYYYY AND THE JEEEEEYETTTTS", he abruptly cuts the note and doesn't go high. That's partly what made the song so great, and it was lacking here. Later, however, the "too-old-for-this-s***" theory gets blown out the window. See below.
He moves on to 'Rocket Man', which he sadly sort of breezes through until he hits a very lengthy piano solo. The piano on this particular song wasn't very melodic, and disappointed. However, he comes back with 'Levon' and shreds it on piano with another lengthy (but very impressive) rapid sequence of notes, with mild theatrics to boot. This was a good one.
He moves in to what is probably the best part of the concert, from an objective performance standpoint. The emphasis is on John, with not so much band. 'Your Song' and 'Tiny Dancer' are very well done; 'Your Song' might be the best one in the setlist. He then enters into a section of songs that were something less than the classics. Songs you probably won't know well unless you're a fan. 'Mona Lisa' is preceded by a tidbit about Elton John's performance of it after 9/11, then a 'People of New York' style video plays during the song. It helps ramp it up a little bit and again, these middle songs are very solidly sung by him. He really seemed to belt them out. He tells brief tidbits before most of these songs, including a cool moment about his escapades with John Lennon.
He comes back around with a few classics, including 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'. Again, this song felt extremely rushed, and he needed significant backup on vocals to get through this one. I'm probably expecting too much considering it's been decades since these songs were first released, just don't expect the same thing as the master track. 'I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues' suffered the same fate.
The show then receives a sudden injection of life beginning with 'Philadelphia Freedom'. From here on out, it's very upbeat and will probably be most people's favorite part. The last handful of songs here everyone will know. 'I'm Still Standing' is particularly cool, with generations of John depicted across the video backdrop. He encores with 'Circle of Life', an odd choice. It's played decently, though, and sounds much like the way you heard it back in the 1990s.
Overall, it's recommended, if for no other reason than John's star power and generational prestige. The unfortunate part of the show is the classics all feel pretty rushed and we don't receive any factoid or backstory on them. I'm sure he's at least a little tired of performing them, but them's the breaks if you're making millions of dollars doing what you love. Considering how good some of the songs are vocally, though, it just left me craving a little more on those classics. The piano and band are top notch, to boot. See him while you have the chance, as it is a fun show overall. Run time is right at around 2 hours, convenient for both early-to-bedders and night-is-just-getting-started peeps.
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