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Concert Review: Elton John, on his own, performs brilliantly
Saturday, June 12, 1999 By Ed Masley, Post-Gazette Pop Music Critic
Somehow, it all seemed so natural -- Elton John, a piano, the stage of the Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheatre otherwise free of musicianly interference.
And yet, the tour that delivered the rock 'n' roll legend to Burgettstown last night is the first he's ever done without a band.
In 30 years of rock.
He didn't appear to be suffering any from lack of accompaniment. And neither, to his credit, did the songs.
The understated backing lent a poignancy to the ballads, of which there were many, while on tunes like "Honky Cat" he proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that you don't need a drummer to pound out a rock 'n' roll beat.
Without a band to share the spotlight, the crowd got more bang for its buck on piano. And John made the most of his Burgettstown freedom, adding lengthy instrumental passages everywhere -- as intros, solos, endings, between individual lines of particular verses.
The playing was rarely, if ever, anything less than inspired, and as such, inspiring -- proof with every flourish that John remains the greatest rock 'n' roll piano man of his or any generation.
If "Rocket Man" seemed lost in orbit by the time he gave new meaning to the line, "I think it's gonna be long, long time," it proved the only tune that may have been better left unstretched.
The years have been kind to his vocals as well, although he did back down from the high notes on "Daniel," and wisely let the audience have its day in the sun on the "Crocodile Rock" falsetto.
He opened with "Your Song," as gorgeous as ever, and followed it up with a series of lesser-known album cuts -- "Skyline Pigeon," "The Greatest Discovery" and "Talking Old Soldier," its lyrics on aging more poignant with age.
The hits kept coming, though, from "Daniel," "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man" to "Take Me to the Pilot," "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word," an amazingly soulful "Levon," "Crocodile Rock," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and a final encore, "Candle in the Wind," that thankfully gave the lyrics back to Marilyn.
His later hits, in particular, seemed to benefit from the lack of slick accompaniment. Without all the '80s production, "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" could have passed for an outtake from "Honky Chateau," especially when he rocked it at the end.
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