Elton John has performed with some big names — Cher, Billy Joel, Eminem — and at some big places — Westminster Abbey, Central Park, Caesars Palace — in his lengthy career.
But never before had John appeared with a full symphony orchestra in North America, or at Radio City Music Hall. During a concert Tuesday night, he did both.
John wowed the crowd — which was a little Metropolitan Opera and a little Madison Square Garden — with gigantic hits such as “Tiny Dancer” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me.” Favorites “Bennie and the Jets” and “Rocket Man” were absent, though, with John opting strictly for orchestration-friendly fare.
James Newton Howard conducted the fresh-faced ensemble, comprised of handpicked students from the Julliard School and London’s Royal Academy of Music, which John once attended.
At 8 p.m., the singer-songwriter trotted onto the stage clad in a full-length black blazer embroidered with floral accents. Much of the audience hadn’t taken their seats yet. While the crowd shuffled, John and the orchestra found their rhythm during “60 Years On” and “Greatest Discovery.” Three songs in, the audience was comfy and John was joined by his rock band and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus for a towering rendition of “Border Song.”
Enormous video monitors on the sides of the stage displayed on-stage close-ups, including images from a piano cam, which captured John’s fingers flying across the keys. Halfway through the concert, John introduced a new midtempo song, “Freaks in Love,” from his upcoming studio album, “Peachtree Road.”
Ecclectic crowd for ecclectic performance
The audience was indicative of John’s musical style. There was a mix of glitterati, clad in suits and gowns, and die-hard John fans, sporting jeans and polo tees. Attire didn’t matter. The people, including Barbara Walters, John McEnroe, Candace Bergen, Evelyn Lauder and Deborah Norville, were there for the music.
“It was marvelous what he did with the orchestra,” Walters, who gave three standing ovations during the show, told The Associated Press post-concert.
Despite the massive on-stage population — a 99-piece orchestra, 62-person choir, five-man band, and John himself — the performance felt intimate.
John, 57, even conversed with the crowd from his piano bench. After “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” a fan in the balcony screamed, “Play ‘Freedom!”’ John spiritedly told the fan he’d have to wait. Ouch!
But one song later, John and the orchestra broke into a striking version of “Philadelphia Freedom.”
The two-hour concert, the first of five at Radio City, finished with a duet of “Your Song” with opera diva Renee Fleming. After the show, the glitterati filed into the Rainbow Room for what John described as a “gay-la” dinner. The proceeds from the opening night concert and gala will benefit the Julliard School and the Royal Academy of Music.