BEFORE: Let's call this the halfway point in this year's Doc Block chain, so I deserve a break, just a small little friendly concert, I don't have to learn anything, I don't have to figure out where I've seen all these actors before, I can just relax and enjoy the music. And these concert films are usually short, so I can get a break and go to bed early. Wait, it's TWO AND A HALF HOURS long?
Another unintended chain coincidence, it's been one year exactly (OK, a year and a day) since the real absolute final Elton John concert, July 8, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. And if it seems like Elton's Farewell Tour went on for a long time, that's only because it did, it lasted five years and well, you just don't want to rush those things, I guess, if it's really the LAST ONE you kind of probably want to hit as many stadiums as possible, because that's the end, unless he decides to un-retire.
Elton John carries over from "LennoNYC".
THE PLOT: A live stream of Elton John's last concert at Dodget Stadium in Los Angeles, the final North American stop of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour".
AFTER: Sure, I could have watched a standard Elton John documentary, with a bunch of talking heads saying how great he is and what his music has meant to the world. And maybe I should have, because there's one airing on some weird cable channel I have that seems to specialize in rock docs (make a note, check that channel frequently before next year's chain) but then this one would still be on my list, wouldn't it? I've watched concert films before, they count as "movies" under my rules even when they're TWO AND A HALF HOURS long, mostly it's been the Rolling Stones in concert here at the Movie Year, and that's evergreen material too, isn't it?
This kind of had to go between two films with Elton John in them, with a very limited cast and only a few celebs spotted in the crowd at Dodger Stadium, where else could this have gone? But still it's nice that yesterday's film "LennoNYC" talked about the 1974 Elton John concert at MSG near Thanksgiving, and now here's a full-on Elton John concert, 50 years later. We've kind of come full circle in just 2 days, or something.
This is all thriller, no filler - there's no interview segment where famous people talk about Elton's music or what he meant to their lives, there's not even that much discussion of Elton's career from Elton himself (OK, there's a little) it's really hit after hit after hit, and I finally get to learn what some of the lyrics to Elton John's songs are. No, no, not "burning out his fuse out there alone", I got that one long ago, but some of the other songs have always been hard for me to understand, either he slurs his words or it's the accent, or something. Or Taupin's lyrics are complex and obscure sometimes, maybe, I don't know. but OK, the lyrics to "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" really contain "Sugar Bear", I thought maybe I was hearing that one wrong, over and over. But "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" has always been a tricky one for me - I think I learned most of the tricky lyrics watching the "Rocket Man" movie. "Get about as oiled as a diesel train"? Well, OK, but we need to talk about spelling "alright" properly in the title. It's not a word.
There are two exceptions, though, songs on the set list that just really didn't need to be there. One is called "Have Mercy on the Criminal", and I've never heard of that one before. Throw in a deep album cut, sure, but is this some kind of fan favorite or something? There's 24 songs in the set list, and surely Elton's got more than 24 chart hits, really anything else could have gone here and been better. Since this concert live-streamed on Disney Plus, I'm really surprised that DisneyCorp didn't apply pressure to have cross-promotion, but you know it was KILLING the execs that he didn't perform "Circle of Life" or "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". And then there's "Cold Cold Heart", which isn't really a song at all, it's just a couple of lines of random nonsense in a duet with Dua Lipa - there's no verse, there's no chorus, it just goes around and around a few times and then stops. That's not a song, I get that Dua Lipa steals some lyrics from "Rocket Man" but come on, I need more than that. She can't even hit the high notes on "Oh, no, no, no", she's off-key every single time.
Elton can't hit the high notes either, any more, he found alternate singing arrangements whenever the chorus was high-pitched, like in "Tiny Dancer" or "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". Well, you see this a lot on the nostalgia circuit, we saw Meat Loaf in concert a couple years before he passed, and he could still belt out the songs but he couldn't go very high any more. Something about being in your 70's, the vocal cords can't work they way they used to, so the band either has to drop the song down a few keys, or another vocal path needs to be taken. Yeah, it's probably time to retire, now that Elton has all the money, all of it - you wonder why people are finding it hard to make a living these days, it might be because they spent all their money on concert tickets - prices for general seating on his last tour were up to $250, but there were also VIP tickets available for up to $2,000 each.
Look, I'm not an expert on rock concerts, we've been known to spend up to $50 each for tickets at Jones Beach, and sometimes we've had floor seats and sometimes we've been in the upper deck, but if you're going to have Elton John perform at Dodger Stadium, why is the stage way out in center field? I mean, sure, I get that there were floor seats on the whole infield, and those probably went for a premium, but that also meant that to everyone in the stands, Elton was just this tiny dot out by the warning track. Any seat that would have been GREAT during a baseball was probably terrible during this concert. Again, what do I know but if I were attending a rock concert at a baseball stadium I'd expect to see the headliner right where the pitchers mound would be. I would never pay $250 to be a half-mile away from the stage - why would I, when I can watch the concert on Disney Plus with close-up footage from the piano cam?
Anyway, let me just take this as a win tonight, no heavy lifting, I'll just enjoy the music, rock out with my Doc out and finally figure out what the lyrics to "Philadelphia Freedom" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" are (something about horny toads?), plus there's a reunion with Kiki Dee on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" that absolutely nobody was clamoring for, except maybe Kiki Dee. Just pick up on that rock concert vibe and don't think too much about it - it's way too hot to go to a real concert anyway, better to stay home with the A/C on and attend a concert virtually, it's a win-win. Plus I'm finally kicking off Pride Week in the Doc Block, and yes, I know I'm a few weeks late, deal with it, we're gonna get there when we get there.
Also starring Brandi Carlisle, Kiki Dee, Dua Lipa, Matt Bissonette, Kim Bullard, Ray Cooper, Davey Johnstone, John Mahon, Nigel Olsson,
with cameos from David Burtka, Taron Egerton (last heard in "Sing 2"), David Furnish, Neil Patrick Harris (last seen in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent"), Bernie Taupin and archive footage of Marilyn Monroe (last seen in "Under the Silver Lake").
RATING: 6 out of 10 aerial crane shots of the piano Roomba
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