Editorial
Front Page - Friday, December 3, 2010
River City Roundabout
The Piano Men
Erica Tuggle
Elton John played to a packed house at the McKenzie Arena show on Nov. 19. Tickets for this show in his Greatest Hits Tour sold out in only four hours, and featured opening and duet numbers with Leon Russell.
- Erica Tuggle
Music is a rapidly evolving life form, and brings with it a bevy of changing sounds, fashion styles and sometimes “what was I thinking?” moments upon looking back at a previous era of musical influence. While it’s uncertain now if Justin Bieber will rack up as many awards in 20 years as he does these days, the musical world knows that some artists will consistently provide the goods year after year no matter what hair “do’s” are happening at the time.
Elton John is undoubtedly an artist that is well loved both here and across the pond and brings to the table a catalog of hits that keep our love strong for this wildly bespectacled music legend. Who knew that an artist of such world renown would decide to make a stop in Chattanooga?
Yet, John did just this with a one-night performance of all his greatest hits in a sold-out show at the McKenzie arena. The hype for the show was swelling out upon Chattanooga long before John’s bus arrived in town, as the tickets for the event sold out in only four hours.
As if John and his array of one-of-a-kind fashion numbers wasn’t enough of a draw for the crowd, Leon Russell also joined this show as an opening act and a duet partner for several numbers the pair played off their album, “The Union.” These two piano players were sure hitting all the right notes and appealing to the massive audience that included all ages of John and Russell fans.
Russell has played in the spotlight for over 50 years, and began playing the piano when he was only four years old. His sounds have ranged from pop, rock, blues, country, bluegrass and gospel, and he has worn the various hats of producer, singer, songwriter, pianist, guitarist, record company owner, bandleader and touring musician. He’s also played alongside some of the biggest names in the business from Edgar Winter, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Steve Winwood, Aretha Franklin and so many more.
Russell proved that despite his long white hair and the cane he used to assist his walk across the stage, he still had the magic fingers that could dance up and down the keys to produce the sweet sounds we identify his music with. Also with Russell’s performance here he introduced himself to a whole new generation of listeners.
After this stop, John and Russell played only two more shows together for this leg of John’s tour in America. Together the pair of piano gurus played many songs off their album including, my favorite, “Monkey Suit.” The only problem with shows that feature pianos is that it is sometimes difficult to get the acoustics right in such a large auditorium. As such, I felt that Russell’s lyrics came out a bit garbled, and true fans would benefit from hearing the album in its entirety from the studio recording before they decide if the John and Russell duets are for them.
Since John’s career began in 1969, he has played almost 3,000 concerts worldwide, so it’s no surprise he knew how to put on a classy and well-rounded show. John played all the songs his fans were certainly clamoring for and this international singer/songwriter and performer for five decades wore a traditionally “Elton John-esque” attire of a long trench coat decorated with music notes and the sparkly “Music Magic” title on the back.
John is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, with 35 gold and 25 platinum albums, 29 consecutive Top 40 hits and more than 250 million records sold worldwide. He holds the record for the biggest selling single of all time, “Candle in the Wind,” which sold 37 million copies.
At this performance, he played classic songs like “Benny and the Jets,” “Daniel” and an extended dance worthy “Rocket Man,” as well a mix of earlier hits like “Burn Down the Mission,” “Levon,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me,” and others.
My only wish was that John would have played my favorite little ditty, “Crocodile Rock.” The show ran almost three hours, though, so it would be hard to complain of not getting one’s money’s worth in sheer song volume.
The band with John included Davey Johnstone on guitar, Bob Birch on bass, John Mahon on percussion, Nigel Olsson on drums and Kim Bullard on keyboards, and all provided great backup for the songs and made this a live performance not soon to be repeated.
With the massive turnout on this event like it was, the good news for the future of the Chattanooga major concert scene is that show bookers will be keeping an eye on us and sending more spectacular acts our way.
Contact Erica Tuggle at reporter@hamiltoncountyherald.com.
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