DON'T watch him on television, don't read about him, don't even listen to him being interviewed, for none of these will inform and excite you as much as two minutes in the presence of Elton John live on stage. Try as he might with his baffling coiffure and his collection of designer clothing, there is no fooling the public into regarding him as an old struggling has-been. Elton rocks. Not only does he rock, he gospels, honky tonks, boogies and woogies, ballads, and, through it all, we are invited to participate. It's a measure of Elton's maturity that through any song, he can open it out to all. I'd never realised it before but this is why so many love him. That and the fact that live he kicks it with the best. Each song ends with Elton pouncing to his feet for a tour of the stage, a quick wipe of the brow, a hitch of the breeks, and then off we go again.
The show is also simple, no crazy back projections, no sweeping staircase backdrops, just the band, Elton, and his piano, which takes an astonishing amount of punishment during the night. There's no tickling of ivories when Elton is in town; why use a finger when a fist will do? He says he'll be back soon, which in the words of my favourite presenter of daytime TV is ''rocking good news''.
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