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Carole R.
Higher and Higher
United Kingdom
13640 Posts |
 Posted - 26/03/2007 : 18:33:54
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Lets not leave out Sir Elton whilst Birthday Wishes are being bandied about!
He was Sixty yesterday...and I heard he had a small get together at... Madison Square Gardens!... 
Elton...Never knowingly understated.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR YESTERDAY, ROCKET MAN!
Cxx
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Mark
Sweet Inspiration
United Kingdom
2729 Posts |
Posted - 26/03/2007 : 18:39:43
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Happy Birthday Elton!
Mark |
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treking
Wasn't Born To Follow
United Kingdom
5663 Posts |
Posted - 26/03/2007 : 21:47:21
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Well he never was going to celebrate quietly.
What a party! Happy Birthday EJ.
Trek
We are here for Dusty. |
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Carole R.
Higher and Higher
United Kingdom
13640 Posts |
Posted - 27/03/2007 : 22:17:38
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I gather we're not Fans of Elton?...
And he purports to be Dusty's Number One Fan!..
He inducted her into the American Hall Of Fame!..
I thought that, at least, would have endeared him to some of us.
Well Elton, I think Your'e OKAY!..and I intend to be at your party when its on the TV at9pm Thursday night.
So there.
Carole xx
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Sara
Higher and Higher
United Kingdom
9288 Posts |
Posted - 27/03/2007 : 22:43:56
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I like Elton! Happy Birthday Elton!
He's a great writer, I saw him once on Parky and he was just making up songs on the spot, it was amazing
I love that he wants Goin' Back at his funeral too
Sara x |
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treking
Wasn't Born To Follow
United Kingdom
5663 Posts |
Posted - 27/03/2007 : 23:29:49
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I like him too--he's great live!
Trek
We are here for Dusty. |
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Carole R.
Higher and Higher
United Kingdom
13640 Posts |
Posted - 28/03/2007 : 12:58:04
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Elton John has never seemed like the kind of guy to shrug off a big occasion. So it was natural, perhaps even inevitable, that he would celebrate his 60th birthday at Madison Square Garden. His sprawling concert on Sunday night featured no onstage candles — not even “Candle in the Wind” — but felt ceremonial enough without them. There were dedications, recollections and a shower of confetti. A banner was unfurled from the rafters, bearing a giant number 60 under his name.
That last flourish actually commemorated something other than a birthday: Mr. John’s 60th performance in this arena. That’s more than any other single artist, as the finer print under the numeral made clear. Small wonder that he wanted to spend his birthday at the Garden: it’s obviously a place where he feels at home.
The concert’s opening salvo was “Sixty Years On,” a conveniently titled song from one of his first albums. Immediately there was the ominous threat of showbiz bloat: Las Vegas-style lighting, ponderous synthesizers and cosmic graphics on an oversize screen. It was looking to be a big night, and not just in the festive sense.
Fortunately, things got better, and not too much bigger: the concert gathered strength as it steamrolled along, covering a wide range of material from an expansive career. Mr. John’s regular five-piece backing band, augmented by the cellist Martin Tillman, sounded crisp and engaged, only occasionally succumbing to pomp. And the Brooklyn Youth Chorus managed to bring a sense of uplift, along with some raw power.
Singing in an unfaltering voice, and projecting an exuberant air, Mr. John behaved more like a master of ceremonies than a guest of honor. His patter between songs was affable enough to defy the dimensions of the arena.
“We haven’t played this song in maybe 30 years,” he mused before starting into “Ballad of a Well-Known Gun,” the first of many gospel-inflected romps. He introduced “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” as “one of my all-time favorites,” almost as if he had nothing to do with writing it.
Of course, flamboyance has always suited Mr. John better than modesty. (Robin Williams, briefly taking the stage with Whoopi Goldberg, toasted him as “a man who used to make Liberace look Amish.”)
But he was understated on Sunday: black coat, white shirt. And though he struck one puckish pose atop the piano and took multiple victory laps across the stage, his performance was relatively subdued. Even on “Empty Garden,” his tribute to John Lennon, he conveyed a plainly mournful feeling, stripped of melodrama.
The evening’s biggest guest was a nonperformer: Bernie Taupin, Mr. John’s lyricist and creative partner of 40 years. Emerging on the heels of Mr. Williams — and upstaging him in the only possible setting where he could — Mr. Taupin led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday.”
Mr. John reciprocated by giving credit where it’s due: “Without Bernie Taupin, none of us would be here tonight. ***Because the words have always come first.”***
Then came “Daniel,” one of the pair’s many successful collaborations, and the beginning of the concert’s stronger midsection. The band caromed through a number of the well-worn hits found on “Rocket Man — No. 1’s,” a compilation released today by Island/UMe, along with lesser-known fare like “All the Young Girls Love Alice.”
Mr. John and his cohorts kept getting lighter and leaner, sounding best during the last few songs before the encore: “The Bitch Is Back,” “Crocodile Rock” and “Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting),” each more emphatic than the last.
The song preceding that finish-line sprint was more telling, though. It was “I’m Still Standing,” accompanied by a video montage of album covers and outlandish old photographs. The song’s lyrics amount to a bitter reprisal, but Mr. John made them sound more jubilant than angry.
“Don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did,” he sang. “Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid.”
*** Elton going against The majority DSN opinion that melody comes
first***
Cxx |
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jonathan
Wishing And Hoping
United Kingdom
483 Posts |
Posted - 28/03/2007 : 14:23:46
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But I think he means that he has to have the words before he can compose a tune round them, which is very common in song writing so that there is a meter for the rhythm of the song........if you see what I mean!
Love Jonathan |
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Carole R.
Higher and Higher
United Kingdom
13640 Posts |
Posted - 28/03/2007 : 14:29:49
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Yes, I do Jonathan...Thanks.
He is commenting from a Writers point of view,
...and WE are commenting from a listeners standpoint.
Correctamondo?
Cxx |
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jonathan
Wishing And Hoping
United Kingdom
483 Posts |
Posted - 28/03/2007 : 14:38:02
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Precisely. Looking forward to meeting you at last at DD!!
Love Jonathan |
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Lindakron
Sweet Inspiration
Canada
2700 Posts |
Posted - 30/03/2007 : 15:37:18
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Yay Elton! I am a big fan. In fact, this morning I was pleasantly surprised to turn on my TV to find a live video of Elton and George Michael performing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me". Mmmmmmm yeah, incredible performance and great voices. A great way to start the day.
~Linda~ |
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