Location: Ljubljana / Arena Stožice / Slovenia
Date: Friday, 11.11.2011
A lot has been written and said about the Elton John concert, which finally went down on Friday, on the catchy date of 11.11.11. When the Greatest Hits Tour 2011 was cancelled for good in Izola 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 concerts on Slovenian soil are still very much alive and sore, and the skepticism of would-be concertgoers was still very much in the air. As it turned out, the big show was a bullseye after all, because besides the great musical creator and exceptional piano virtuoso Sir Elton John, the Arena also hosted around 8,500 people hungry for a good concert vibe.
At 9:00 PM sharp, while a fair chunk of the crowd was still looking for their seats, the opening act stepped up: 2Cellos, a duo of two top-notch cellists, Luka Šulić, born in Maribor, and Stjepan Hauser from Zagreb. They kicked off their set in grand style with a 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) too, and they earned a thunderous round of applause from a crowd that was still a bit reserved (maybe also out of fear of another acoustic blunder from the hall), but was slowly starting to warm up for the star of the night.
With no break, at the opening bars of Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting), the rest of the band joined the cellists on stage, along with Sir Elton John himself, who sat down confidently at his piano. It wasn’t the famous million-dollar piano he plays in Las Vegas, but his own lovingly polished-to-perfection Winifred.
For this tour, Elton put together a nice selection of songs from his vast musical repertoire. He does swap in the odd song here and there, but the core set stays the same and clearly shows the full breadth of his songwriting, from blues, rock’n’roll and pop to tender ballads and film music, which he used to close out this nearly three-hour performance.
He first addressed the audience before the third song, Levon, and used the moment to single out the brilliance of the two cellists, who played on more than half the songs. Elton’s decision to invite them on tour was without a doubt a bullseye, because the sound of the cello gave the songs extra warmth and fullness, and at times it even felt 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 also remember him as a drummer in the Uriah Heep lineup), guitarist Davey Johnston (he and Elton have been working together since the early seventies), bassist Bob Birch, percussionist John Mahon, keyboardist Kim Bullard and four Black backing vocalists. The crowd got properly fired up for the first time during Madman Across the Water, where Elton treated himself to a creative piano jam, perfectly tied into the back-and-forth with the rest of the band, who followed him without a single slip. Elton’s fingers danced soulfully across the black and white keys, and the subtle sounds of guitar, percussion and of course cellos answered him. That’s where the creativity and genius of someone of Elton’s caliber shines in all its glory, and it becomes crystal clear why he’s such a giant in musical terms.
The second high point of the night was of course Candle In The Wind. Who doesn’t know this song? The original was dedicated to Marilyn Monroe and was first meant to be a single’s B-side, but the reworked version of the same song, which Elton played at Princess Diana’s funeral, became the best-selling single of all time. Elton no longer plays that version, but we were more than happy with the original too. The next long jam came with Rocket Man, which he also stretched out to more than 10 minutes. Somewhere in the middle of the show we also got three songs from the new album The Union, which Elton recorded together 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 crowd on the floor, at first maybe a little timid, reserved, even 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 begin. Elton of course couldn’t help himself and, at the venerable age of 64, climbed up on the piano and sat on it for a bit. Crocodile Rock wrapped up 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 farewell he played one of his first big hits, Your Song, followed by two songs from the movie 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 enjoys making music like crazy and for whom live shows mean far more than just routine. In that respect he gives the crowd a ton. The energy coming off the stage is magical, warm, playful, easygoing, you could even say loving. A simple stage is enough, with the piano reigning over it of course and simple seventies-style animations rolling in the background. Everything else is Elton and the musicians, who effortlessly conjure up an extraordinary musical experience. That’s also why songs written thirty, even forty years ago could sound surprisingly fresh and relevant, even more so than a lot of what’s been written lately. Besides his exceptional command of the black and white keys, Elton also has a voice that the years haven’t caught up with. Across 26 songs he didn’t falter once, not for a second. Impressive!
Last but not least, the reborn Arena Stožice deserves a mention. We were very happy 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 spot 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 musical giants to the acoustically polished Ljubljana beauty.
author: Urban Bolta
photos: Nina Grad
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
—encore—
25. Your Song
26. Circle of Life/Can You Feel The Love Tonight
