Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Or, more correctly, “Farewell Yellow Brick Road”
In November 2018 I booked tickets to see Elton John at the Liverpool Arena in November 2020 as part of his final, farewell tour. Gosh, I thought, that’s a long time to wait to see the show, let’s hope nothing happens in the meantime…
One global pandemic and an invasion of Ukraine later, tonight was finally the night for the concert and, by some miracle, both me and Elton are still standing (not always a given, especially back in 2020). When Liverpool got to host Eurovision on behalf of Ukraine there was a rumour that the concert would be postponed again but, in actual fact, it’s now taking place one month earlier than the last scheduled date. We have seen Elton before - in Kendal of all places - but that was at a chilly outdoor concert eight years ago, and this was the first time (and almost certainly the last time!) we’d seen him at an indoor concert.
And what a concert it was - well worth the almost five year wait. The set list was not just a lazy run through of greatest hits - though many of those certainly featured - but we also heard some less well known album tracks from his long career. It was great to see long time band members Nigel Ollson and Davey Johnstone on stage as well. They were there at the beginning, so it is fitting they are here at the end. Elton had also persuaded Ray Cooper to join the band for this tour, on percussion, and his playing - like all the musicians - was excellent. And there was certainly nothing wrong with Elton’s voice. Considering all their ages and physical infirmities it was quite remarkable that we got a two and a half hour concert with no interval!
Highlight of the concert for me was “Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding”, a superb extended rendition of that particular classic.