What we learned from Elton John’s final American concert
Earlier this week, Elton John completed the final American leg of his ongoing retirement tour ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ at Dodger Stadium. John had plenty of history with the venue: he had played multiple-night stands at the baseball park twice before, including a legendary pair of 1975 concerts that subsequently be seen as the height of his fame. It only stands to reason that John would say his final goodbyes to the US at one of his most iconic stomping grounds.
And what a goodbye it was: nearly three hours of classic songs, massive sing-alongs, and poignant moments. John managed to condense his 50-year career into a lean 23-song setlist that covered all of his most important guises and eras. Throughout it all, John managed to show the resilience of the songs that he and lyricist Bernie Taupin composed together by getting audience members from seven to 70 to holler out each word and musical cue.
It was a massive celebration, one that fans could watch at home thanks to a live stream on Disney Plus. John isn’t finished with touring – the final legs of the ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour will keep the pianist travelling around the world until July of 2023. But touring America is now a past-tense concern for John after five decades of visits and six decades of music.
Here are some of the most important things we learned from Elton John’s final American concert.
The voice is different, but the man is the same
John’s voice has been on a major alternative trajectory since a 1987 surgery that essentially retired his famous upper register. But John and his fans have had 35 years to get used to his new voice, and even at 75, John still knows how to find new angles on it.
Whether it was infusing songs like ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight’ with a bluesier low end or rocking up the ballad arrangement of ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’, John seems to have found the perfect way to frame his classic songs with his new vocal range. It’s a shame he’s stopping so soon – John is just getting comfortable with that voice.
It’s important to keep it in the family
One of the more touching moments of the concert involved John giving a shout-out to some of his current and former bandmates. Three of the four core members of the classic Elton John Band lineup are still around: drummer Nigel Olsson (who played with John in his first trio lineup in 1970), longtime guitarist Davey Johnstone, and frequent collaborator Ray Cooper.
Throughout the tour, John has used ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ as a tribute to some recently departed figures, including Mac Miller, Taylor Hawkins, and Queen Elizabeth II. At Dodger Stadium, John used the slot to pay tribute to four departed members of his backing band: original bassist Dee Murray, drummer Roger Pope, keyboardist Guy Babylon, and bassist Bob Birch.
Sharing is Caring
While John could have simply played the entire concert by himself, that wouldn’t have been a very celebratory atmosphere. A party only starts once you have some guests, and John checked all the boxes with his relatively modest collection of guest stars.
First up was modern folk icon Brandi Carlile, who dueted with John on ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’. Carlile clearly knows how to bolster a legend (thanks to her close work with Joni Mitchell) and helped to carry on the LGBTQ+ torch that John had been carrying for nearly all of his professional life. Kiki Dee was a necessary throwback addition for ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, and John even got to dip his toe into the modern music scene with Dua Lipa on their massive hit, ‘Cold Hearts’.
Some songs just didn’t make the cut
‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ is meant to be a full encapsulation of John’s 50-year career. Some songs you just can’t leave on the cutting room floor, and we got pretty much every classic John song from ‘Rocket Man’ to ‘Bennie and the Jets’ to ‘Candle in the Wind’, plus great deeper cuts like ‘Take Me to the Pilot’ and the epic ‘Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding’.
But there were some songs that sadly had to be left off the setlist. ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters’, ‘Honky Cat’, ‘Daniel’, and ‘Madman Across the Water’ all had to be sacrificed for other, bigger songs. It would have been pretty cool to hear John bust out his classic love theme from The Lion King, ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’, but that wasn’t to be either.
Comfort above all else
During his encores nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see John return to the stage wearing something a lot comfier than what he initially wore for the beginning of the show. Flashy fashion was always a signature for the musician, and a tailor-bedazzled suit carried John through most of the concert. But any time he got up from his piano, John could be seen messing with the outfit and just generally appearing rather uncomfortable.
That changed when he took the stage for the encore. Dressed in a jewelled robe that harkened back to his outfit at the original 1975 Dodger Stadium concert, John was in a complete “give-no-shits” attitude. The 75-year-old has certainly earned the right to wear whatever he wants, but it was extra comical to see the ultra-chic Dua Lipa sing ‘Cold Hearts’ next to a man who looked ready for bed.
Elton John was always meant for the biggest stages
There’s no need to mince words: Elton John is an old man who can’t sing or get around like he used to. The famously flamboyant singer is now anchored by the setbacks of age and road wear. If you tuned into the concert hoping to hear the high falsetto of ‘Crocodile Rock’ or the indefatigable energy of ’70s-era John, then you were destined to be disappointed.
But the truth is that John commanded the massive stage with his gigantic personality. Every vocal run, hand flick, and piano solo was met with an enthusiastic response, and John made sure to call out to the audience after nearly every song. Those songs are custom-built to be played in the biggest possible venues, and John still has the goods to be a magnetic presence on stage well over 50 years since he first arrived in America.
