Elton John
Allianz Stadium
Sydney, Australia
17 January 2023
One does neither have to be a card carrying glam pop aficionado nor a connoisseur of mournful ballads to find the setlist at an Elton John incarnation to appear extremely familiar.
While on paper it might not sound like an overly exciting exercise, backed by a well-oiled machine of a tight and joyfully interacting seasoned band, the delivery of the Sydney stop of Sir John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour infused the myriad of hits with a refreshed facet of fieriness.
With his mighty, resonant baritone intact and vocally nowhere near a state that would suggest being nigh retirement, the over two hour long set saw the man in vigorous form. Unapologetically revelling in his legacy with conviction as the numerous infectious crowd-pleasers effortlessly elicited giddy singalongs from the dance happy generation spanning crowd, deeper cuts, e.g. “Have Mercy on the Criminal”, found themselves alongside tracks that appear to have been curated as they hold a specific, contemporary relevance for him.
With an unfailing feel for expanding arrangements of the tried and tested, ballads like “Rocket Man” are propelled into prog-rock territory, while others feel robust yet free flowing with each of his band’s constituents getting ample opportunities to shine with accentuated solo bits.
The grandeur, eccentricity and jocular gesturing peppered in between songs paired with the fact that an array of his billboard topping hits have been left of the set list without making a dent, are testament to how much of a glittery unicorn the man at the rock’n roll piano is.
Framed and elevated by the chemistry of his backing band the performance never ran danger of being jarring and culminated in a crescendo of classic encores, flanked by the recent collaboration with PNAU.
A majestic performance with a sense of finality to it that formidably celebrated a lifetime’s worth of entertainment of a fixture of popular culture.
