Elton John Friday Night In Baton Rouge

I returned home from the gym Friday  to get a phone call from an old friend with an offer I couldn't refuse. He had two tickets second row center for Elton John at the River Center. He ask me if I wanted to go. That was a silly question.

So I threw a few things in a bag and hit the road. He also had set up a room at L'Auberge in Baton Rouge for the night. We first went and checked in. L'Auberge in Baton Rouge is on the river south of the LSU Campus. It still was only a ten minute drive from the River Center where the concert was. Our seats were incredible.

I was very happy when a short lady and her even shorter daughter sat in front of us. There was absolutely nothing blocking our view of the stage. We were not there long before Elton Took the stage in a purple Tux with the Captain Fantastic logo on the back. The rest of the band wore jackets and ties. The original drummer (Nigel Olson) and guitarist Davey Johnson were with Elton. Also on stage were four background singers, two drummers, a keyboardist, a bass player and of course Elton on Piano. He set the mood with his first song ... "The Bitch is Back!"

The band was incredible, the sound was perfect and Elton was fired up! He is so amazing on piano. He did some incredibly long runs. The most amazing thing is that he does it with short stubby fingers. His vocals were perfect and his "I came to rock" attitude was infectious. We did see something that reminded us that these guys are not spring chickens anymore. I saw Nigel breathing oxygen between songs and my friend saw Elton doing the same thing.

He performed several songs from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" including "Bennie and the Jets", "All the young girls Love Alice" and "Funeral for a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding". Then he reached way back for  "Levon" and Grey Seal." Elton even went back to "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano {Player for "Rocket Man." HE signed autographs from the front of the stage before performing "Your Song" as the encore. It was a great show in a sold out River Center.