Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Eritent; r ^ >233 *K 3 By James Rokosny When Elton John's classic double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released, rumor had it that it was his farewell statement and he was retiring. Many believe this was the end of Elton's high-quality song writing period. Judging from the number of songs Elton performed from that album and previous albums Friday night at the Coliseum, jf appears John believes it himself. To a large but mellow audience, Ellon John and his band ran through a song list that could be made into a greatest hits album. Giving npu/ lift* trt tnnCt (hot kaiio been destroyed by the radio, like "Philadelphia Freedom," Elton John proved he is a superb musician, song-writer and performer. ainment mtj pS^\ mV ( revisit A good bit over-weight and ? minus his famous extravagant spectacles, Elton ( looked like an over-the-hill t rock star trying to make a ? L 1- r?. .a * uumuoacK. dui once nis t fingers hit his white grand i Once his fingers hi grand piano and thrnuah thf* Cnlicf>i appearance was fore; piano and his voice rang I through the Coliseum, his awkward appearance was i forgotten. \ Opening the show on a smoke-filled stage with a i dynamic version of I ???.-? l n ' ' r uuerai r or a r riena/i>ove i Lies Bleeding," John and Co. I gave the audience an in- 1 dication that he was going to C ^lh ite ^ 7. ? ^jon &o> rf J r; "ef -J rrf~? <\7^ 1 1 f?J jive them a great concert. Of the first four songs John >erformed, three were from he Yellow Brick Road ilbum. A high point in the ;vening was a stunning /ersion of the title track 't his pure white his voice rang \m, his awkward wtten. from that album, with Elton proving he is one of the best male vocalists in contemporary music. The show was an interesting blend of old, new, fast and slow compositions from "Captain Fantastic" himself. It was a real treat to hear songs like "Rocket Man" and "A11 the Young I mmmmmmmm iff ISSfiiSIlMHLrfgf i fc- ^ pjggllp " '-'Aw. - Mtii m n , ncert Girls love Alice" and h remember the good old k days when Elton was at his li prime. But hearing his new songs like "Little Jeannie" c (which surprisingly got one tl of the loudest reactions from f< the crowd) made one wonder F what happened to the Elton h jonnoioia. a Elton proved he can still play high energy rock 'n' roll v with exciting renditions of t "Saturday Night's Alright 2 For Fighting" and "Bennie I and the Jets". "Saturday F Night's Alright" was the r hottest song of the show, c with John breaking into a c few lines from "Good Golly Miss Molly." Because of his v hefty condition, Elton looked c completely out of place when s he left his piano to travel s across the stage. His most \ impressive theatrics came ? frnm hphinH Ihp IrouKAnrHo t ? V - m-m-msj WVM * j 1 occasionally tossing aside p 7*v_- ~ *3 j?, V-^ - - -, - ??? - - - ' pjij ; ' . >; Photos Rarr\t A/ * J * rick F is stool and dropping to his e nees to play the piano, "just " ke rinoina a h*?ll " r 0 v. ?v?. *The lighting for the con- J ert was complimentary to v tie music; with yellow lights g sr "Goodbye Yellow Brick v toad" and other tunes ighlighted by a blue or red '* tmosphere. ? Elton's band was blessed 1 *i * * vitu me presence oi iwo Old- | imers, Dee Murray on bass j ind Nigel Olsson on drums. { n the middle of the show, 1 Clton left the stage to let the , est of the band perform a 1 :ouple of Nigel's solo 1 impositions. I The best part of the show vas when John said "Oc- < :asionally I like to perform ongs by other people, this is i i song by a friend of mine 1 tiiu ia wuiMii^ on a new ( ilbum. You'll know the song 1 vhen you hear it." At this i >oint I was anticipating j , , te;g(faaMa&.ssJa:. r jgrM by Kim Newman and owman Load' ither "Pinball Wizard" or 'Lucy in The Sky with )iamonds" but instead lohn broke into an excellent ersion of "Imagine" by the 'rpflt ^Antpmnnrarv cnnC writer John Lennon. After treating the crowd to ipproximately two hours of ion-stop music, John placed limself behind his piano and serformed possibly his greatest composition, "Your Song." Sporting a cowboy lat with a Gamecock on it and making reference to the USC football game .Elton let his fans know he cares and rittokfoH f?mntinn ir?tr? tho linPfi "My gift is my song/And this one's for you." After wailing through an action filled version of "Bite if our Lip," Elton John said iOOd-bve to rnlnmhin ?nd eft no doubts in the minds of ill present that he is a great performer.