25. Daniel (Elton John - Live In New York: 9/14/1986)

Due to an upcoming TierMaker about the North American and Australian legs of Elton John’s 1986 tour, I am forced to listen to the final New York show from September 1986 and to upload it. This was one of the worst listening experiences I have ever had while listening to an Elton show. The excellent recording quality along with the complete show being featured is almost always a positive feature - but not for this show...
…OH LAWD HE SINGIN’
Elton is in terrible vocal shape at this show with this ranking among his worst-ever vocal shows to date (with only a small select few other shows being in the same ballpark). A number of performances from this show are notoriously awful and are among Elton’s worst live vocal performances caught on recording. As good as the band are on this night, even they can’t save this show from being a disaster. Now… time to punish myself with the review…
“Tonight” features piano clunkers and Elton’s voice faltering right off the bat with several painful moments. He shockingly still goes for both falsetto notes in the choruses which is mind-boggling. “One Horse Town” has Elton giving a noble vocal effort to keep his voice stable. “Better Off Dead” highlights just how fragile and torn up Elton’s voice is as his tone sounds quite thin in his “upper” range with a large amount of strain present. “Rocket Man” contains Elton trying to play around with a voice that is ill-functioning. The musicianship saves the day as everybody steps up to try and make up for the awful vocals. “Philadelphia Freedom” features one of the worst versions from the year as Elton’s voice can barely keep up and it’s a painful reminder of just how trashed his voice had gotten over the last four weeks of touring. “Burn Down The Mission” highlights why swallowing a flame torch isn’t great for the voice as Elton has a tough time singing the entire song. “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” ranks among Elton’s worst live performances of his entire career as he can barely get through the song without something going wrong with his vocals (intonation, tone, note choices, phrasing choices, etc). “The Bitch Is Back” is full of terrible intonation and Elton’s disintegrating voice doesn’t help matters. “Song For You” showcases why having Leon Russell’s beard down one’s throat doesn’t help vocal problems as there are some painful moments throughout. “Blue Eyes” has a really strained and faltering tone throughout as the nodules have rendered Elton’s soft tone and dynamic control extinct. “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” features Elton trying his hardest with his extremely compromised voice. “Levon” sounds awful with the vocals in the pre-choruses being particularly terrible with poor intonation and with his voice giving out several times throughout, this ranks among Elton’s worst-ever live performances. “Paris” almost sounds passable as Elton mostly keeps his beaten-up voice under control (although the performance still has a few awful moments). Concluding this section, “Restless” is full of awful and underwhelming singing as Elton sounds like a wounded animal when attempting to deliver the song. In contrast, the musicianship is full of life and Davey’s guitar solo is among his best for the song live.
“Bennie And The Jets” is the highlight of the evening as the improvisation section and the workhorse nature of the band helps you to forget about all of the rancid vocals that plague the show. “Love Song” contains one of the “better” performances on the vocal side of things at this show (although Elton foolishly attempts the higher embellishment in the second verse). “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” has the worst-sounding vocal introduction from the tour with Rod Stewart’s influence being all over it and the main song is diabolical with absolutely nothing redeeming about Elton’s vocals. “This Town” contains some half-decent vocals in the lower register, but when Elton starts singing into the fourth octave, things start falling apart as his voice can’t handle the strain. “I’m Still Standing” features one of Elton’s most infamous and worst live performances of his career as he cannot sing the song properly. The choruses are full of out-of-tune and horrendous phrasing that have such a ragged edge, that his voice somehow manages to get even worse as the performance progresses. “Nikita” has vocal struggles throughout despite the fact that most of the song highlights Elton’s lower and middle registers. “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” is full of terrible vocal moments that range from off notes to badly growled sections. “Candle In The Wind” features Elton’s voice being under unbearable strain and having virtually no vocal quality to it. “Daniel” contains painful singing that the band try their best to cover up with strong backing vocals and first class musicianship. Mercifully, to end the show, “Your Song” ranks among the worst live renditions as Elton has a ton of trouble navigating through the classic hit single.
AWFUL!!!

[@theeltonbootlegs5281]

2:36 - One of the worst notes I've ever heard Elton sing

[@Bruh1986.]

I think Daniel still feels the pain after this number

[@jaggass]

And those scars will never heal