Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: Arena Stožice / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: November 10, 2011
Attendance: 7,000
Ticket price: €43.00 / €85.00
A lot has been written and said about the Elton John show, which finally went ahead on Friday, on the curious date of 11.11.11. When the Greatest Hits Tour 2011 date in Izola was cancelled for good in July and moved to Ljubljana’s Arena Stožice, plenty of us probably had at least a little doubt that this big event would ever actually happen. The bitter wounds of cancelled big shows on Slovenian soil are still raw and painful, and the doubt among would-be ticket buyers was still very much there. As it turned out, the big show was a bullseye after all, because besides the great songwriter and phenomenal piano virtuoso Sir Elton John, the Arena also hosted around 8,500 people hungry for a good concert vibe.
Right at 9 p.m., while a fair share of the crowd was still looking for their seats, the opening act took the stage: 2Cellos, a duo of two top-notch cellists, Maribor-born Luka Šulić and Zagreb native Stjepan Hauser. They kicked off in grand style with their cover of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, the one that made them world-famous overnight via YouTube. They proved they’re true masters of their instruments with covers of With Or Without You (U2), Welcome To the Jungle (Guns N’Roses) and Smels Like Ten Spirits (Nirvana), and won a huge round of applause from a crowd that was a bit reserved at first (maybe out of fear of another acoustic blunder from the hall), but was finally starting to warm up for the star of the night.
With no break, the rest of the band joined the cellists on stage at the opening bars of Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting), and of course so did Sir Elton John, who sat down confidently at his piano. It wasn’t the famous million-dollar piano he plays in Las Vegas, but his wickedly perfect Winifred.
For this tour, Elton put together a lovely selection of songs from his vast repertoire. He swaps a track or two now and then, but the core set stays the same and shows the full breadth of his songwriting very clearly: blues, rock’n’roll, pop, tender ballads, all the way to the film music he used to close out this nearly three-hour show.
He first addressed the audience before the third song, Levon, and used the moment to highlight the brilliance of the two cellists, who played on more than half of the songs. Elton’s decision to invite them on tour was without doubt a bullseye, because the sound of the cellos gave the songs extra warmth and fullness, and at times it even seemed like there had to be an orchestra hidden somewhere. Besides the two cellists, the band was made up of nothing but top-class musicians: drummer Nigel Olsson (some of you may remember him as the drummer in Uriah Heep), guitarist Davey Johnston (he and Elton have worked together since the early seventies), bassist Bob Birch, percussionist John Mahon, keyboardist Kim Bullard and four black female backing vocalists. The first real wave of excitement from the crowd came with Madman Across the Water, in which Elton treated himself to a creative piano jam, perfectly locked in with the rest of the band, who followed him without a single slip. Elton’s fingers danced sensuously over the black and white keys, answered by subtle sounds of guitar, percussion and, of course, cellos. That’s the creativity and genius of someone of Elton’s caliber in all its glory, and it becomes crystal clear why he’s such a giant in musical terms.
The second peak of the night was, of course, Candle In The Wind. Who doesn’t know that song? The original was dedicated to Marilyn Monroe and was first meant as a B-side, but the rewrite Elton played at Princess Diana’s funeral became the best-selling single of all time. He no longer plays that version, but we were more than happy with the original. The next longer jam came with Rocket Man, which he also stretched out to more than 10 minutes. Around the middle of the show we also got three songs from the new album The Union, which Elton recorded with Leon Russell: Hey Ahab, Gone To Shiloh and Monkey Suit. Then came an interesting take on Sacrifice, with the crowd singing along loudly. The audience on the floor, a bit timid at first, reserved and almost chamber-like, literally catapulted out of their seats at the rhythms of Are You Ready For Love and surged right up to the stage, where they danced along to Bennie And the Jets and The Bitch Is Back, and the party could finally start. Elton, of course, couldn’t resist being Elton and, at a venerable 64 years old, climbed up on the piano and sat on it for a bit. Crocodile Rock closed the official part of the night, and Elton wouldn’t be Elton if he didn’t take some time for his fans, signing autographs from the stage for almost 10 minutes.
For the send-off he played one more of his first big hits, Your Song, and then two songs from the film The Lion King, Circle of Life/Can You Feel the Love Tonight. The latter also won him an Oscar for best original song.
Elton John is one of those performers who absolutely loves making music and for whom playing live is far more than routine. In that respect he gives the crowd a huge amount. The energy coming off the stage is magical, warm, playful, easygoing, you could even say loving. A simple stage is enough, where the piano naturally reigns and simple seventies-style animations loop in the background. Everything else is Elton and his musicians, who effortlessly conjure up an extraordinary musical experience. That’s also why songs written thirty or even forty years ago can sound surprisingly fresh and relevant, even more so than a lot of what’s been written lately. Besides his phenomenal command of the black and white keys, Elton also has a voice that the years haven’t caught up with. Over 26 songs he didn’t falter once, not for a second. Impressive!
Last but not least, a word about the reborn Arena Stožice. We were delighted to see it pass its baptism by fire with flying colors after the acoustic fixes. We can finally write without worry that it has earned its place on the map of mid-sized music venues. That’s also thanks to the concert’s promoter, Simple Events, who stuck to their guns and pulled the event off in grand style. We just hope they’ll have the guts in the future to bring more of the world’s music giants to the acoustically spruced-up Ljubljana beauty.
Setlist
1. Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)
2. I’m Still Standing
3. Levon
4. Madman Across the Water
5. Holiday Inn
6. Tiny Dancer
7. Philadelphia Freedom
8. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
9. Candle In the Wind
10. Rocket Man
11. I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues
12. Hey Ahab
13. Gone To Shiloh
14. Monkey Suit
15. Sacrifice
16. Honky Cat
17. Sad Songs (Say So Much)
18. Daniel
19. Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word
20. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
21. Are You Ready For Love
22. Bennie And the Jets
23. The Bitch Is Back
24. Crocodile Rock
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Encore:
25. Your Song
26. Circle of Life/Can You Feel The Love Tonight
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