Elton John - Live In Columbia - 9/13/1988
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Because @EthanThompson-Murray is extremely lazy and cannot be bothered to put full concerts onto UA-cam, he decided to ask me to do a favour and upload from one of his all-time favourite Elton tours - The Reg Strikes Back tour! The show in question already has been previewed on the channel so here's the full Columbia 1988 which combines two sources. One an excellent audience tape courtesy of @EltonStuff (thanks for the photo as well!) and an inferior copy that helps to fill in anything missing (the pre-amble before the show and a good chunk of Burn Down The Mission).
The fourth show of the tour sees Elton John getting back into touring for the first time in 21 months after going through the process of vocal surgery in January 1987, with this tour leg being a test to see whether the voice could go through the rigorous process of being on the road once again. While the tour ultimately proved to be hit and miss with regards the voice due to reduced vocal stamina not helping his cause, this particular show mostly avoids the negative aspects with Elton sounding fresh and ready to go after a night off. The deliveries on most songs from these early gigs would sound the closest you'll get to his old voice in terms of band performances (Grosvenor 1990/Rainforest 91 would boast similar qualities within a solo environment) and although the voice doesn't completely hold out for the whole evening, it's a far cry to what comes up, even as soon as three/four days later.
The other key change would be the new band, barring Davey Johnstone and Fred Mandel, with a new R'n'B style rhythm section headed by Romeo Williams on bass guitar and Jonathan 'Sugarfoot' Moffett on drums. They were also joined by a key fixture in Elton's music in Guy Babylon on keyboards and a trio of backing singers consisting of Natalie Jackson, Alex Brown & Marlene Jeter. With this being one of the earliest shows, it's fascinating to see how the arrangements compare from here to later on during this leg and to the following year with the Euro leg of RSB & Sleeping With The Past back in America, especially with this having a more straightforward approach. This show is dedicated to @GregsynthWizard and to Jacob, who I'm sure will enjoy this listening experience! To the performances....
Sixty Years On would be one of the stronger versions on the tour with mostly clean vocals, I Need You To Turn To is excellent with Elton's tone being the highlight, The King Must Die has a couple of questionable moments but is overall a really good performance, Burn Down The Mission sees Elton deliver the song a lot better than the majority of upcoming gigs, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word has a juicy moment similar to 1st Chicago after the solo, Have Mercy On The Criminal is one of the go-to renditions from the era with some fine guitar work from both Davey Johnstone and Fred Mandel and the vocal delivery not being as potent as later versions. Love Lies Bleeding, a performance already featured on the channel, features a first-class vocal performance and a wonderful band effort, Tiny Dancer has Elton's soft tone shining, The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (1909-34) is one of the definitive performances of the song with a super vocal, I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues has Elton flubbing the lyrics in the first verse but the vocal control on display is fantastic and Philadelphia Freedom is one of the best on the tour with the 'shine the light' notes sounding particularly strong.
The Bitch Is Back is a fine example of Jonathan 'Sugarfoot' Moffett's drumming, Nikita sounds close to versions from the previous tour throughout the verses, Sad Songs (Say So Much) has a simple yet effective intro and Elton delivering the song close to the record, A Word In Spanish boasts fantastic vocals and Elton forgetting the words, Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters Part 1 showcases the strong dynamics of Elton's voice & Part 2 features some of Elton's best vocals on the song, a terrific band performance and a catchy solo from the star attraction showing off the Roland's capabilities, Daniel has a mixture of super tone and Prime Live phrasing to boot and I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That ends the main part of the set with a fine example of how it should have sounded for the entire tour.
Candle In The Wind shows signs of Elton's voice tiring but the overall performance is still very nice, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting further showcases the voice getting tired but to his credit there isn't any drop phrasing, the C5 in the third chorus is hit and Elton attempts some of the A4 'Saturday' notes. Fred Mandel's guitar efforts also don't go unnoticed. Your Song includes a nice embellish before the final chorus and the 'quite simple' line being delivered much better than usual and I'm Still Standing has questionable Ab4's in the choruses.
ENJOY!
Note - The audience members around the taper seem to be having fun with some amusing remarks throughout!
0:00:00 - Sixty Years On
0:06:51 - I Need You To Turn To
0:09:29 - The King Must Die
0:15:19 - Burn Down The Mission
0:21:33 - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
0:25:44 - Have Mercy On The Criminal
0:31:30 - Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
0:42:56 - Tiny Dancer
0:49:57 - The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (1909-34)
0:54:36 - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
0:59:36 - Philadelphia Freedom
1:05:32 - The Bitch Is Back
1:09:55 - Nikita
1:16:01 - Sad Songs (Say So Much)/Band Introduction
1:24:11 - A Word In Spanish
1:29:34 - Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters Parts 1 & 2
1:37:14 - Daniel
1:41:38 - I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That
1:48:20 - Candle In The Wind
1:52:57 - Saturday Night's (Alright For Fighting)
2:00:00 - Your Song
2:04:37 - I'm Still Standing
I'm still standing is played really well I just say that because it my most favorite song
Such an incredible concert, especially for reg tour standards
I wish the whole tour followed in this vein
Would have been one of his best tours!
Sound quality: A-
I'd say the main source used is at least an A (if not an A+ with how brilliant the equipment used is in picking everything up).
@@theeltonbootlegs5281I guess I’m a little strict with my ratings then. I’d give it a low A at most.