Fan report and photos by Pierre Raiche.

Important Fact: Elton John was only supposed to play one night in Johannesburg, seeing how much people wanted to see him, they had a second night where they set up chairs on the floor. The day the tickets went on sale, I was at the door and bought two tickets, the best ones I could possibly find. The man there asked me if I wanted to be on the left side or the right side of the stage. I thought to myself “What a silly question?” Elton’s piano is always on the left side of the stage facing the audience. So I bought two tickets, left side, 13th row!

I still cannot believe that I had the chance to see two Elton John concerts. But yes, it’s true. My first impression of the second concert is that the sound was much better than the previous night. Elton’s voice was much clearer and the piano as well. For some reasons, the set list was the exact same one as the night before but the show finished about 30 minutes earlier. For the second show, we bought tickets to be sitting on the floor. The first night was only standing but for the second night, they installed chairs so that people can sit. We were on the left side of the stage in the 13th row, seat 12 and 13. We had a giant screen right in front of us and Elton on our right.

Elton was wearing a Vegas outfit and was wearing different glasses than the night before. As I wrote earlier, the songs were the same but for some reasons, the people, the atmosphere and even the sound was better. Elton’s voice was very powerful and made us get up of our seats many times.

The show started a few minutes before 8:00 PM and "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" was there again. It was magical!

It then went on with "The Bitch is Back". I couldn’t stay sitting, I danced and screamed “Bitch” as loud as I could. I had in mind Tina Turner singing the song with Elton in 1999 during the Divas live show in New York.

Then, Elton welcomed us and told us that the next three song would be from three old albums that he recorded many years ago. He went on with "Madman Across the Water", "Tiny Dancer", that he dedicated to all the ladies in the house, and finally "Levon". "Levon" was done differently than the night before. A little bit more jazzy I would say, just like the concert at the Madison Square Garden for his 60th Birthday. And finally, my favorite song of all time, "Believe". The CD version is wonderful, the live version is 10 times better!

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was next with "Take me to the Pilot". He all made us laugh towards the end of the song when he stood up and pretended to direct the melody of the song with his two hand by making big moves in the air.

And "Rocket Man" ... then followed by "Honky Cat" which was very powerful with the band. For the past decade, Elton usually sings that song only with the piano. It was a pleasure to hear it again with the band. He then went on with "I Guess That’s Why They Call it The Blues" and finally "Candle in the Wind". Elton dedicated the next song to a certain Luke in the audience and sang "Circle of Life" to him. Being in Africa, people seemed to really enjoy that song since the Lion King takes place in Africa.

Before the show started, we talked to a security guard on the left side of the stage who explained us that towards the end of the show, usually the last 6 songs, Elton allows people to come next to the stage and dance. Since I knew the set list by heart, I knew that the 6th song before the end was "Bennie and the Jets". We sat through the entire concert and when the first notes of the song stared we rushed to the stage. I realized that we were the only ones so we waited on the side of the stage. The following song was "Philadelphia Freedom" and two guys from backstage appeared from nowhere telling people of the first few rows to come up to the stage. As soon as I saw them telling the crowd, I ran to the stage and got right in front of Elton. The man was about one meter from us. As soon as we got there, we showed him a banner that we made him earlier that day and he immediately read it while he was playing piano. The banner was basically a gigantic crocodile for Crocodile Rock saying “We love U”. It was a nice feeling to see him looking at us so close.

During "I’m Still Standing", Elton pointed at us and smiled. I also got a picture of Davey Johnstone smiling for my camera during his solo for "Saturday Night's Alright". There is only one way of seeing Elton John live which is 1st row. Now I know!

Elton went backstage for few seconds to give a chance to the band members to change and he came back on his piano finishing the show with "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and "Your Song". Before leaving the stage, Elton looked at us and said 'Thank you' with his lips. Big smiles were on our faces. Next to us, there was a little girl, I would say 7 or 8 years old. Her father sat her on top of the gate and she was admired Elton with her big eyes through the last few songs. I doubted she really knew who was on stage, but I think her father was smart to initiate her to real great music.

This was definitely the best concert of my life. I have seen many performers on stage but Elton is the top. To think that he is 60 years old, I got tired of dancing on six songs and I was not even on stage! I don’t think it really gets better than this.

Sir Elton John, you are wonderful and you made me feel like I can do anything I want in life. Thank you! I will certainly see you in concert again somewhere else in the world!

>> Click here for photos from this show.

Following is the complete set list of the Johannesburg show on January 19, 2008:

• Funeral For A Friend
  
• Love Lies Bleeding
  
• The Bitch Is Back
  
• Madman Across The Water
  
• Tiny Dancer
  
• Levon
  
• Believe
  
• Take Me To The Pilot
  
• Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
  
• Daniel
  
• Rocket Man
  
• Honky Cat
  
• Sacrifice
  
• Someone Saved My Life Tonight
  
• I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
  
• Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
  
• Candle In The Wind
  
• Circle Of Life
  
• Benny And The Jets
  
• Philadelphia Freedom
  
• Sad Songs (Say So Much)
  
• I'm Still Standing
  
• Crockodile Rock
  
• Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
  
  
• Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
  
• Your Song

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