Post by valerie davenport on Oct 14, 2007 12:16:19 GMT -5
The Kansas City Star
Sir Elton performed 26 songs in nearly two hours and 45 minutes, and did so with plenty of power in his voice.
More at the music blog: Back to Rockville
The song that officially opened the Sprint Center downtown was a rock instrumental called “Funeral for a Friend.”
Unless that “friend” was by inference Kemper Arena, don’t read anything into it. For years, Elton John has been opening shows like this: with “Funeral” and following it with its lifelong companion, “Love Lies Bleeding.”
Saturday night, an enthusiastic crowd filled nearly every spanking new seat in the place, including the upholstered folding chairs on the floor. Most were there to check out the building as much as they were to hear one of the most successful pop artists of the past 40 years. Opening night was as much about the performance of the Sprint Center as it was about John and his band.
The headliner was splendid. So how’d the building do?
It was like the first day of school at a new building where the students, teachers, staff and bus drivers were all new, too. There was some chaos before showtime, and it wasn’t hard to get lost or confused getting from one level of the arena to another. There were some long lines before the show, too, just like there are/were at Kemper.
But all those kinks and wrinkles will work themselves out as everyone gets into a good routine.
The sound? It was fine, I guess. I listened from two locales. One was a seat off to the side even with the front of the stage; the other was in the fifth row, far left.
The place is a sports arena, so it’s not going to host “La Boheme” or “The Nutcracker.” The adult-contemporary Elton John band sounded fine on Saturday, although at times the instrumentals felt too dynamic. The acoustics will get a tougher test later this month when Van Halen throws thunderbolts and lightning around the place.
The show itself was highly entertaining. When your catalog comprises as many hits as Sir Elton’s, picking a blockbuster set list is like harthingying whales in a catfish pond. But this list was especially stellar and relentless: 26 songs in nearly two hours and 45 minutes. I don’t think even Springsteen surpasses those numbers these days.
I was most impressed with how strong John’s voice sounded. He is 60 now, so his register sure isn’t what it used to be, but he can still muster plenty of power to roar through those rock/boogie-blues numbers, like “Honky Cat,” “Take Me to the Pilot” and “Burn Down the Mission,” one of several standout numbers. Another highlight: “Rocket Man,” which ended with a long, thunderous rock-soul rave-up.
He back-loaded the show with fireworks: “Bennie and the Jets,” “Saturday Night’s Alright” and “Crocodile Rock,” which gave him the chance to conduct about 18,000 people in a monsoon of “la-la-la-la-las.”
Before his encore, he went from one end of the stage to the other, signing whatever was waved in front of him (and he nearly signed a cell phone in all the confusion). He closed the show with two ballads, including one of his oldest and most tender love songs, “Your Song.” He earnestly dedicated that one to Kansas City for being such a receptive town for so many years.
This evening, it was a different town, at least a different downtown: Restaurants were packed, bars were bustling, pedestrians filled the sidewalks.
Meanwhile, over in the West Bottoms, love lies weeping.
Set list: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding; The pregnant dog is Back; Madman Across the Water; Tiny Dancer; Levon; Believe; Take Me to the Pilot; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Daniel; Rocket Man; Honky Cat; Someone Saved My Life Tonight; I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues; Burn Down the Mission; The Bridge; Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word; Candle in the Wind; Bennie and the Jets; Philadelphia Freedom; Sad Songs Say So Much; I’m Still Standing; Crocodile Rock; Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting). Encore: Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me; Your Song.
Sir Elton performed 26 songs in nearly two hours and 45 minutes, and did so with plenty of power in his voice.
More at the music blog: Back to Rockville
The song that officially opened the Sprint Center downtown was a rock instrumental called “Funeral for a Friend.”
Unless that “friend” was by inference Kemper Arena, don’t read anything into it. For years, Elton John has been opening shows like this: with “Funeral” and following it with its lifelong companion, “Love Lies Bleeding.”
Saturday night, an enthusiastic crowd filled nearly every spanking new seat in the place, including the upholstered folding chairs on the floor. Most were there to check out the building as much as they were to hear one of the most successful pop artists of the past 40 years. Opening night was as much about the performance of the Sprint Center as it was about John and his band.
The headliner was splendid. So how’d the building do?
It was like the first day of school at a new building where the students, teachers, staff and bus drivers were all new, too. There was some chaos before showtime, and it wasn’t hard to get lost or confused getting from one level of the arena to another. There were some long lines before the show, too, just like there are/were at Kemper.
But all those kinks and wrinkles will work themselves out as everyone gets into a good routine.
The sound? It was fine, I guess. I listened from two locales. One was a seat off to the side even with the front of the stage; the other was in the fifth row, far left.
The place is a sports arena, so it’s not going to host “La Boheme” or “The Nutcracker.” The adult-contemporary Elton John band sounded fine on Saturday, although at times the instrumentals felt too dynamic. The acoustics will get a tougher test later this month when Van Halen throws thunderbolts and lightning around the place.
The show itself was highly entertaining. When your catalog comprises as many hits as Sir Elton’s, picking a blockbuster set list is like harthingying whales in a catfish pond. But this list was especially stellar and relentless: 26 songs in nearly two hours and 45 minutes. I don’t think even Springsteen surpasses those numbers these days.
I was most impressed with how strong John’s voice sounded. He is 60 now, so his register sure isn’t what it used to be, but he can still muster plenty of power to roar through those rock/boogie-blues numbers, like “Honky Cat,” “Take Me to the Pilot” and “Burn Down the Mission,” one of several standout numbers. Another highlight: “Rocket Man,” which ended with a long, thunderous rock-soul rave-up.
He back-loaded the show with fireworks: “Bennie and the Jets,” “Saturday Night’s Alright” and “Crocodile Rock,” which gave him the chance to conduct about 18,000 people in a monsoon of “la-la-la-la-las.”
Before his encore, he went from one end of the stage to the other, signing whatever was waved in front of him (and he nearly signed a cell phone in all the confusion). He closed the show with two ballads, including one of his oldest and most tender love songs, “Your Song.” He earnestly dedicated that one to Kansas City for being such a receptive town for so many years.
This evening, it was a different town, at least a different downtown: Restaurants were packed, bars were bustling, pedestrians filled the sidewalks.
Meanwhile, over in the West Bottoms, love lies weeping.
Set list: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding; The pregnant dog is Back; Madman Across the Water; Tiny Dancer; Levon; Believe; Take Me to the Pilot; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Daniel; Rocket Man; Honky Cat; Someone Saved My Life Tonight; I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues; Burn Down the Mission; The Bridge; Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word; Candle in the Wind; Bennie and the Jets; Philadelphia Freedom; Sad Songs Say So Much; I’m Still Standing; Crocodile Rock; Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting). Encore: Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me; Your Song.
