Concert review: If Elton John was in a hurry to say goodbye to Charlotte, it didn’t show
During his concert at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Sunday night, Elton John didn’t tell as many stories during breaks between songs as he did the last time he was here, in November 2019.
In fact, he really only told one of any significance. But it was a doozy.
John was explaining that he came to the U.S. in 1970; which led to him mentioning that year’s star-making Troubadour shows in L.A.; which led to him talking about how “Border Song” was in the setlist; which led to him referring to the cover Aretha Franklin did a couple years later; which opened the door for him to pay tribute to the Queen of Soul.
“She did her last ever show for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City,” John told the crowd, his voice echoing throughout uptown. “And she was extremely ill. It was about six months before she passed away. She was this thin. ...
“She came on stage and sat at a piano exactly like this one, with a band, and for an hour and 20 minutes, ripped the roof off St. John the Divine Theater. It was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in my whole life. Everyone who was there knew that they would never see her again live. And we were all crying because it was such an incredible moment.”
It’s just very hard not to be struck by the parallels here. No, John is not ill (to the best of our knowledge, at least) and odds are he’ll still be quite alive and well by springtime.
But otherwise, hmm: Last show ever for Charlotte, came on stage and sat at a piano, with a band, and for — in this case — 2 hours and 25 minutes he ... well, I mean, let’s just say that if BofA Stadium did have any sort of roof, John could have made a pretty good run at ripping it off.
As for whether it was, for those in attendance, one of the greatest things they’ve ever seen in their whole lives? To each their own.
I’ll bet everyone in attendance, though, felt pretty sure they would never get to see him live again after this. And I certainly am aware of people who were, at some point in the concert, so deeply moved that they started crying.
For Vannessa Blais, I can only imagine, the moment came during John’s 1975 hit “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”; before the show, she told me she planned to use a stethoscope to listen to her late brother Daniel’s heart, which is now beating in the chest of Steve Hilfiker of Fort Myers, Florida.
For my wife, it was 1983 pop anthem “I’m Still Standing,” which always reminds her of a friend who loved, loved, LOVED Elton John right up until the day she died of breast cancer.
And if there wasn’t someone out there tearing up during “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” I’ll eat a pair of Elton John light-up glasses.
Those props, by the way, were everywhere on Sunday night; but when it came to truly looking the part for the show, they were literally the least you could do. For real fans, the dress code was something that at minimum had a maximum number of sequins and sparkles on it.
“Thank you all for ... putting on the fabulous clothes you’ve put on,” John told the crowd late in the concert, at which point he was wearing an electric-blue silk robe adorned with pink flowers, and heart-shaped eyeglasses. (Earlier in the evening, he’d donned two different ostentatiously designed suit coats, the latter a pale-pink one with pale-green lapels covered with, uh, yeah, more than a few sequins.)
In terms of the quality of his performance, not much was different from the scaled-down incarnation of the show John brought to Spectrum Center three years ago.
At 75 years old (!), he still has impressive power, solid control, and astonishing endurance when it comes to his voice. (As a point of comparison, my dad is about the same age and can barely get through three sentences without needing to clear his throat or brush aside a coughing fit.)
John definitely can’t hit the falsetto parts in songs like “Tiny Dancer” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” anymore — or “Crocodile Rock,” which saw the crowd responsible for the Laa, la-la-la-la-laa / La-la-la-la-laa / La-la-la-la-laa — but a huge cache of sweet spots remain in his lower register.
For instance: During the grand finale of “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” he sent fans into a frenzy by crooning, “Guess that’s whyyYYYY they caa-aaaal it — that’swhythey caaahhh-a-aaahhh-a-aaahhh-a-aaahhh-a-aaahhh-a-aaahhh-a-aaahhhl it — the bluuuues, yeahhhh. Oh-oh-yeah.” (Sorry, you’re probably just gonna have to take my word for it that this sounded terrific.)
As you know if you saw the 2019 concert, aside from being a remarkably fleet-fingered piano player, John doesn’t really do much up on stage anymore — unless you consider standing up and smiling and bowing and waving and blowing kisses and mouthing the words “Oh, yeah!” and “Thank you!” count as heavy lifting.
But there’s a certain charm to the wrinkles he enjoys adding when he sees fit; like when he picked up and slammed down the lid of his Yamaha grand for dramatic effect after finishing “Bennie and the Jets,” “Take Me to the Pilot” and “The Bitch Is Back”; or when he stood up and crumpled over the top of his instrument in faux exhaustion at the end of “Levon,” before quickly shaking his head as if he’d just downed a double-shot of tequila.
Meanwhile, threatening to steal John’s thunder, at times, was his goofy but mesmerizing percussionist Ray Cooper. To remind those who were there, he was the bald guy in the white shirt and black suspenders who made playing the tambourine look like a TikTok-ready hand jive.
When John finally introduced his band late in the evening, Cooper received a 32-second ovation.
He was, for me, among the concert’s biggest surprises. Another was how many concertgoers either headed for the beer and bathroom line or simply plopped down in their seat and checked their phones when John sang deep cut “Have Mercy On the Criminal.” Also surprising? That, in a final show, you wouldn’t want to ditch a song like that for something like “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” or “Island Girl,” or “Daniel,” or “Nikita,” or “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart,” or ... I mean, take your pick from his laundry list of hits.
Then there’s the biggest and most pleasant surprise of not just the night, but the entire week.
When I saw John perform his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour” at Spectrum Center in November 2019, I had a sneaking suspicion he’d be back.
I even had a name for it, and I put it in my review the next day: “Farewell Yellow Brick Road: No, Really This Time!”
Lo and behold, in June 2021, the legendary musician pulled a bit of a Tom Brady when he announced that he would in fact be coming back for ooooone more final show here — in September 2022, on the biggest stage the city has to offer.
It became the hottest ticket in Charlotte since ... well, since The Rolling Stones sold out the same venue just shy of a year ago.
But I can’t be the only one who worried last week that we weren’t going to get John’s North Carolina swansong after all. Because, unless you live under a feathered boa, you know that Queen Elizabeth II died a week ago Thursday. You also probably know her funeral is Monday morning, and probably know there are good reasons John would want to be there, them both being famous Brits and QEII having knighted him and all.
As such, last week, there was a feeling among fans that he might cancel. Which would most likely have robbed Charlotte of one final Elton John concert.
The news some of us had feared never came, though, and if he was in a hurry to get Sunday night’s concert over with so he could hop a private jet back to London in time for the 11 a.m. BST (6 a.m. EST!) royal services, he didn’t show it.
He came out to kick off the set at roughly the same time he has in every city he’s visited on the tour this summer. He played all 23 of the same songs, with the same gusto, stretching “Rocket Man” into a pensive 10-minute opus and preserving “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding’s” epic running time of 11-plus minutes.
And John didn’t rush his so-long, either.
“Tonight is the 252nd show of ‘The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour,’” he announced during his encore. “And it’s my 14th concert here in Charlotte. My first concert here was on November the 16th ... in 1972, at the Charlotte Coliseum. And tonight is my 36th — and my last concert — in North Carolina.”
“Throughout my career, America’s treated me so kindly,” he continued. “This is where I first became successful. And so I owe this country so much, and I love this country so much.
“But it’s time next year, when I finish, for me to spend time with my family — which I’m so looking forward to do. But I will take you with me, in my heart and my soul and my head, and I will never forget you. So, take care of yourself, be kind to each other, love each other. I wish you health, prosperity and a very, very happy life. OK?
“Goodbye from me. Love ya.”
I think both the queen of England and the Queen of Soul would have approved.
I’m sure the Queen City is grateful.
Elton John’s setlist
1. “Bennie and the Jets”
2. “Philadelphia Freedom”
3. “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues”
4. “Border Song”
5. “Tiny Dancer”
6. “Have Mercy on the Criminal”
7. “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)“
8. “Take Me to the Pilot”
9. “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”
10. “Levon”
11. “Candle in the Wind”
12. “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”
13. “Burn Down the Mission”
14. “Sad Songs (Say So Much)“
15. “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”
16. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
17. “The Bitch Is Back”
18. “I’m Still Standing”
19. “Crocodile Rock”
20. “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”
Encore:
21. “Cold Heart”
22. “Your Song”
23. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
This story was originally published September 19, 2022 at 4:40 AM.
