View Full Version : Spoilt By A Showman
I must get this moan off of my chest and hopefully my friends here on the forum will appreciate where I'm coming from.
Last night 5/12/02 I took my wife to see Elton John,although it wouldn't be my first choice of a concert I thought he might win me over with his show, how wrong could I get, Elton John could of been sitting in his lounge or a studio. Don't get me wrong when he played the classics everyone sang along and got involved but when he played any new songs his band was so loud you couldn't make out any lyrics,and there was no act/fans chat/banter etc.
I feel I put everyone in the same catogory as Meat,Axl Rose even Robbie Williams who have the crowd in the palm of their hands from the opening chord,Its a shame Elton John doesn't take a leaf out of their book.
I feel better now, thank you
Rob The Badger
06 Dec 2003, 12:41
[/RANT]
Scotty - you aint alone with that one hun - i won tickets a year or two ago and went to see him and there was no audience interaction at all - he just sat there, sang his songs, then left in a helicopter. I was really dissapointed with it.
Thanks heat,I'm glad it wasn't just me.
Thanks heat,I'm glad it wasn't just me.
No, it's not just you - to be honest i found him boring and arrogant - i mean he's made his money - what on earth does he want to sing songs to us mere mortals for??
Thank god Meat's not like that at all...
Scotty - I totally agree Elton John lacks people skills, doesn't have a clue how to interact with the audience
what do you expect from a man called reg dwight
marvin lee aday has got class written allover it
I saw Elton in concert the year before last .. he sat and played the piano and sang .. which is what he does :) I thought he was great .. the audience sang along .. he did a wonderful tribute to John Lennon .. chatted a bit .. came to the front for photographs (which was quite brave as he told us just before he left he was suffering from the squits and he'd do his encore without leaving the stage because as soon as he was off he'd be on the loo!!
He didn't have a band .. it was open air on a summer night, and a pretty magical evening ..
A big chunk of the proceeds from that tour went to his AIDS charity .. as have the proceeds of all his single releases for the last 10 years I believe .. apart from the one from which all proceeds went to the Diana Trust.
tukayaway
07 Dec 2003, 03:49
And to top it off, he supports Watford!
Sorry had to say that as a Luton fan.
Scotty - I totally agree Elton John lacks people skills, doesn't have a clue how to interact with the audience
the question is, what is "artist audience interaction" :??: :D
not a hard question i know. i like when the artist puts some actions into his songs, :great example would be Paradise, hehe :lol: . also when the band puts you in that special place where you cry or ROCK your heart out, baby :!: :P :great examle: Did I Say That? & Love You Out Loud!.
What drives you into the show? I hate it when the band just performs as if you are not even there. Meat and his band are totally the oppisote, like the record it really makes you wanna rock! and that's what meat does, he really wants you to have fun, and makes the best of what he can. :) And for that sir, I admire you. :mrgreen:
PSS, elton john has some good songs, but i never really heard him live.
Meat says he is an actor rather than a singer. There is no-one imo who stages and performs their songs in quite the same way. His style is unique, each song being a piece of theatre, so each reaches out and touches us in a special way, makes us feel part of the theatre that is going on. I happen to think he has a wonderful voice .. always did, still has :) He loves theatrical improvisation, and few match his interaction with his audience when he does this.
Elton is a piano player and composer who started singing to get his compositions played. He's also been quite the showman in terms of dress in his time :) He doesn't perform his songs in the same way as Meat does .. he sits at the piano and plays and sings. He doesn't imo have a particularly special voice, and I know he would agree. It's enough to deliver the many memorable songs he has written with BernieT. He's a fast and gifted composer (Tim Rice was dumbfounded at the speed with which he composed the music for the Lion King lyrics, which he had not even seen until the day the two of them met for Elton to put music to Tim Rice's words) and imo the songs reach out to his audience. The most "interactive" I've seen him was during his TV "audience with", although he does usually have a bit of banter with the crowd. To me he's an extraordinarily talented man, and I've never been disappointed in a performance.
Freddie Mercury was a superb showman with a great voice. He held an audience mesmerised as he stalked around the stage, and put great passion into the songs, although there was not for me the quite same sense of theatre Meat delivers. He was dramatic and made a stunning impact, but I didn't sense mini "plays" being acted out on stage.
The most surprising performance I have seen recently was Bob Dylan, who came on stage, sat at the keyboard, and barely moved an inch, apart from standing once to go into the wings, and at the end to come to the front of the stage to take his bow. I know just how stationary he was because the audience stood and rushed the stage the moment he came on. I was in the 4th row. I am short and can't stand for long periods, but I was able to see the top of his head throughout the performance without needing to move my own very much :) His voice was imo shot, if I hadn't known the words to the songs I don't believe I would have made them out, but he had two of the best guitar players I have even heard, and the arena rocked! I'd never seen him in concert, and was surprised he didn't touch a guitar and barely moved .. but wouldn't have missed it for the world. He's a part of my musical "epiphany" in much the same way as the Beatles :)
For me no-one does it better than Meat .. there has been no other performer I would choose to see rather than him; I don't believe there ever will be. But I don't use him as a yardstick .. he's in a class of his own :) And I consider myself lucky to have seen these others, and more, live on stage doing what they do so well.
Rob The Badger
07 Dec 2003, 13:08
Nobody does a live show better than Beck. This guy is absoloutely electrifying on stage.
Elton John, props to him, I've no beef with him, probably released 60-80% of the best pop of the 70's, the rest was ABBA.
As i put in the original post,When Elton John done his old catologue he was very good and he had the audience participating but he chose not to continue with that where as someone like Meat,Axl Rose,Robbie Williams would thrive on.
This post is not a personal attack on Elton John or his music just the way he chose to perform his show and (my opinion)his lack of respect for his fans.
Rob The Badger
08 Dec 2003, 19:01
As i put in the original post,When Elton John done his old catologue he was very good and he had the audience participating but he chose not to continue with that where as someone like Meat,Axl Rose,Robbie Williams would thrive on.
This post is not a personal attack on Elton John or his music just the way he chose to perform his show and (my opinion)his lack of respect for his fans.
My mistake. . .But I think Axl Rose is a w****r. . .sorry.
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