Elton John @ Hope EstateWinery (3/12/2011)

Tue 6th Dec, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Winery gigs are usually a pleasure for their outdoor setting, a gathering of your friends, some good food, some well deserved (and dearly missed) sunshine, wine (of course) and the music that can get 15,000 or so people singing and dancing. Elton John at The Hope Estate met all of the aforementioned needs.

Kicking off earlier than anticipated (after a stunning set by 2 Cellos, a duo of dynamic musicians playing covers of U2 and AC/DC amongst other songs) Elton and his touring band (with no introduction) sauntered onto the stage and took over. It was Saturday, so the appropriate Saturday Night’s Alright got the assembled masses moving and shaking right away.

With a band that included Rose Stone (Sly and The Family Stone) amidst the backup vocals and his long time band mates Davey Johnstone on all things with strings and Nigel Olsson on drums, the sound was smooth and slick and professional from beginning to end. As this is part of his Greatest Hits Tour that has been going on for close to a year, we were given the songs that everyone could join in on. Levon, Holiday Inn, Tiny Dancer and the title track from Madman Across The Water were all featured early in the set and even though all of these tracks are nearing 40 years of age there was no dust on them at all. Elton, losing a bit in the high register and fighting off his recent bout with bronchitis, sounded fine.

With the warmth of the sun and the grapes making everyone a bit loose the crowd was there for whatever Elton wanted to play. The Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album was featured with a standard version of I’m Still Standing, Candle In The Wind, the title track and a well received Bennie And The Jets. The middle of his 25 song set featured songs from The Union, his collaborative release with Leon Russell, but although the songs sounded brilliant the assembly of fans wanted him to get back to the hits.

Of course Elton did get back to the hits with Crocodile Rock, Bitch, and a long jamming Take Me To The Pilot where he showcased his excellent piano playing skills. At times he could have broken into some Ray Charles or some New Orleans jazz and taken us on another journey, but he stayed true to his songs and never branched into any cover material. The one glaring omission through this lengthy set was not one song was played from his 1970 classic, Tumbleweed Connection. True, no singles were released from this album, but an appearance of Burn Down The Mission would have fit well.

Elton, at 64, is a showman. Numerous times he got up from his bench to urge the crowd to get up and move and even signed autographs and accepted flowers prior to his encore. He finished with one of his oldest and most well known songs, Your Song, from 1970. This capped a very professional concert and as people folded up their blankets and drained their glasses we were treated to some fireworks and Elton rocketed off in his chopper (and back to his son and partner in Sydney) before the sweat had dried on his piano.