Elton John and his piano are all you need to please your sentimental sister for her birthday

kevin statham photo

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 25, 1999

By Steve Newton

Boy, that Elton John sure knows how to make a buck. Last Saturday (November 20) at GM Place he got some 18,000 people to happily fork over upwards of $90 each to see him sing and play piano. That’s all–just see him sing and play piano. There was no band, no elaborate staging or lights, not even a costume change, which–considering John’s penchant for campy outfits–was particularly shocking.

But even more unbelievable, perhaps, was the fact that, by the time his economical concert ended, the British pop idol had actually given everyone more than their money’s worth.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t rush out to buy his entire CD catalogue after the show. Although I used to think he was pretty righteous back in the ’70s–“Love Lies Bleeding” still ranks as one of my fave tunes of the flared jeans ‘n’ 8-tracks era–his more recent slide into Hollywood sentimentality (“The Circle of Life”) has left me feeling somewhat cynical about his artistic intentions.

But after being forced to sit through Saturday’s three-hour performance–I took my sensitive older sister for her birthday, and couldn’t very well just leave her there, all teary-eyed over “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”–I had to admit that, by golly, that funny-lookin’ guy can sing! And he comes across with so much emotion that it’s hard to believe the words aren’t even his own. Armed with the finest lines of lyricist Bernie Taupin, there are few pop singers who can touch Elton John, sappiness be damned.

One of those who could, John Lennon, was eulogized in the touching “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)”, made even more heart-wrenching by accompanying footage of Lennon fawning over his infant son Sean. Those sights and sounds choked me up, so much so that by the time John encored with the despised “The Circle of Life”, even clips from The Lion King of big-eyed lion cubs being hoisted by beaming elders had me wistfully pondering how sad and beautiful life is.

Yikes! I hope this doesn’t mean I’m on the road to becoming a Michael Bolton fan.