Sunrise, Florida (March 9, 2012) – And so the Pilgrimage Part Deux begins. I’ve waited almost a year and a half for this moment, and now I get to see EJ 3 times in 5 days! My husband says that I have a sickness, but oh well, I am in groupie heaven (and, apparently, denial).
Thanks to my friend Gary (who saw him in Augusta two nights prior), I knew that the 2Cellos were opening for Elton and his Band – and that the concert would start promptly at 8:00 pm.
True to form, they did…and what a beginning it was! THE.2CELLOS.ARE.AMAZING. I would never have believed that one could play “Highway to Hell” and other rock music with just two cellos, but boy, they sure can. What talent these two young men have! They brought the crowd to a frenzy. (More details to come. I shall have to dedicate a special blog post to them).
Four songs later, and enter stage left. The crowd goes wild! And let’s just say I want that jacket!
Opening with Saturday Night, I must say this was one of the most high-intensity concerts I’ve seen Elton and his Band put on. It was a wonderful mix of popular, familiar and beloved tunes, with a few semi-obscure and one very obscure song thrown in for us long-time Eltonites.
Just to make you jealous, here’s the set list:
- Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting
- Bennie and the Jets
- Grey Seal
- Levon
- Madman Across the Water
- Tiny Dancer
- Holiday Inn
- Philadelphia Freedom
- All the Young Girls Love Alice
- Harmony
- Candle in the Wind
- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Rocket Man
- I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues
- Hey Ahab
- Gone to Shiloh
- Monkey Suit
- Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
- Believe
- Someone Saved My Life Tonight
- Honky Cat
- Sad Songs
- I’m Going To Be a Teenage Idol
- Daniel
- Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
- Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
- I’m Still Standing
- The Bitch is Back
- Crocodile Rock
- Your Song
Love, love, love the choice of Holiday Inn (with the 2Cellos especially), All the Young Girls Love Alice and Teenage Idol. And the rendition of Madman Across the Water had to be the longest – and best – I’ve ever seen live. The 2Cellos lend a musical depth that you don’t normally get in a live version, and the piano interludes were beautiful. (Was that Fur Elise I heard amidst Elton’s virtuoso ad libbing)?
A special shout out to Shaq (probably misspelled, sorry!) – my new friend who flew all the way from Detroit to see Elton on her birthday. It was an honor and a pleasure sitting next to you and sharing our mutual EJ fascination and admiration. And sorry the Fort Lauderdale crowd was not as friendly as they should have been. Come on, people, you’re at a rock concert for god’s sake…people (bite their lip and) get up and dance!
When all was said and done, the show was over 3 hours in length – never long enough for me. Exhausted, parched, and hoarse, yet exhilarated. And I get to do this all over again the following night in Orlando!
The Captain and the Kim 
