The incomparable Sir Elton John brought 11,000 concert goers dancing on their feet for a straight 2 ½ hours of pure feet-tapping and arms swaying at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, where he held his 1-night only sell-out Rocket Man concert on May 7.
Right from the minute he stepped on stage, Sir Elton, in a coloured coat that read “Town of Plenty”, accessorised with a huge shiny crucifix hanging down his neck- one of his trademark flamboyant outfits, was bursting with energy.
With 1 foot on his piano stool and another on top of his black Yamaha grand piano, he led the crowd to clapping in sync before jumping back down and continuing to attack the ivories frenziedly. The sight of a robust 60-year-old man leaping off a piano is definitely not one you see everyday.
With nimble fingers skilfully hammering away on their many instruments, the quirky-looking 6-men band played songs from Elton’s latest album Rocket Man and also the crowd’s all-time favourites, “Crocodile Rock”, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me”, “Daniel” and “Tiny Dancer”.
The crowd consisting mainly of middle aged Caucasians, simply couldn’t get enough. Many gathered at the foot of the stage, just metres from Elton and started to dance the night away. Being fans, they mustn’t have minded when their idol called them his “tiny dancers”.
Advanced LED stage curtains that formed images as the stage backdrop, created a huge moving silhouette of a dancing girl along with splashes of psychedelic neon colours and even a giant singing red lip. Together with the excellent laser stage lighting, these equipments really played a big role in bringing up the concert’s atmosphere, energy level and also setting the right mood for both performer and audience. Not to be outdone, the outstanding sound system ensured that Sir Elton could be heard clearly even when UrbanWire decided to take a short break, and to check out the snack stand outside the hall in the middle of his performance.
Playing to nearly a full house, save for the few seats with an obstructed view behind the screen, Sir Elton and his band exhibited great showmanship. From the dramatic flicking of his coattails, to the tossing of drumsticks, tambourines and the insane plucking of the guitar and mandolin, Sir Elton and his band never once neglected a section of the audience, even the ones seated behind the screen. Simply a flawless performance despite the montage of cheesy planet images (very 1980s) that appeared on the screen while “Rocket Man” was being played.
The blazing concert came to a close with an encore of “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” and a very apt “Your Song”. Before taking his last bow for the night, the multi-veteran performer told the standing crowd, “We flew a very long journey to get here, but it was worth every minute. You were great, Singapore!”