I was 20 years old the first time I heard a song by Elton John.
“It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside …”
It was one of the worst autumns of my life. My first real girlfriend had returned from a summer at home in New England. to say she still loved me only to break up with me a week later. From “Your Song” that fall to “Tiny Dancer” and “Rocket Man” in 1971 to “Crocodile Rock” in 1972 and on from there, Elton John’s music brought me so much happiness in the difficult time that was my early 20s.
There are so many memories we connect with different songs. My most vivid memory of “Crocodile Rock” was a double-date with my friend Chris. Elton was singing on the car radio, and Chris’s date was the girl who would become my first wife in 1975.
Elton had so many wonderful songs. “Crocodile Rock” was his first No. 1 hit in the U.S., and he would have eight more by 1997. His last one and the biggest seller he ever had was his reworking of “Candle in the Wind” for Princess Diana’s funeral.
So 52 years after “Your Song” — and at the age of 75 — Elton John is still going strong. One great irony is that in half a century of being a fan, this was the first opportunity I ever had to buy tickets to see him in concert.
So Thursday night, 16 months after buying the tickets, I made my first visit ever to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to see Elton John perform.
When I saw Brian Wilson in Florida seven years ago, I recorded seven songs on my iPhone 7. I was much closer to the stage at that concert. As you can see from the video above, I was a long way off this time, even though my tickets were more than $200 each. The front rows just below the stage sold for about $4,500 per seat.
Yeah, you saw that right. A guy and a date, $9,000 to sit in the front row.
Anyway, I was only able to record two songs, largely because seven years after Brian Wilson, I have fairly bad arthritis in the hand that holds the video camera. Another problem for me was the audience, which was full of what comedian Craig Shoemaker calls the “Woo people..”
These are people constantly jumping up and expressing their delight by shouting “Woo!”
Boy, do I feel old. I remember people expressing their delight at concerts back when I was younger. But one thing I seem to recall from those concerts was that people made noise before and after songs but basically sat back and listened while the performer was active.
Not this time. Particularly during the upbeat songs, folks were expressing themselves with loud woos while Elton John was signing.
In a massive stadium with a capacity of 71,000 for American football, with a retractable roof that was closed for the evening, it would have been quieter to go to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and sit beside a runway listening to jets take off.
As loud as it was, it was still quite a show for a 75-year old man who has been performing since the late 1960s, a man who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 28 years ago, part of a class that included the Grateful Dead and John Lennon.
There were some great moments, an extended version of “Rocket Man” and a lovely multimedia version of “Candle in the Wind.” “Crocodile Rock” is still as catchy a song as it was 50 years ago.
One thing I didn’t know was that Elton John lives in Atlanta at least part-time. Of course it’s in the ritzy Buckhead section, so my chances of running into him on the street or in a restaurant are slim.
Still, I’m very glad I did finally get to see him perform.
It was an unforgettable experience.