Fan report and photos by Stephan Heimbecher.

I was wondering the other day when putting together the review for the Bakersfield show why this tour is being advertised as "Rocket Man - Number Ones Tour". After tonight's show in Anaheim, which featured the exact same set list, I realized that he is in fact performing 12 out of 17 tracks from that compilation album (but then again, he plays those 12 songs at almost every show). At the same time, what still makes the set list kind of weird is the fact that there are no less than four tracks from "Madman Across The Water", and the newest song he performs is "Believe" from 1995 - so even that one is 13 years old!

Not far from where Disney is doing its magic to visitors of all ages and from around the world, Elton kicked off his "Music Magic" (according to the imprint on the back of his coat) in the Honda Center at 8.15 pm for antother show that lastet almost exactly 2 1/2 hours. Just like the night before a lot of the songs where spiced up with new and extended intros and/or piano solos - like a long instrumental during "Madman Across The Water".

But tonight there were some technial glitches, one of which seemed almost like choreographed when Elton's left monitor speaker was swaped during "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" just as he was singing "maybe you'll get a replacement". Too funny. Appareantly, that speaker broke during just a little bit too much of "Choc Ice Goes Mental" when he did the intro to "Take Me To The Pilot".

The 12 minutes version of "Rocket Man" started off on the wrong foot with Elton forgetting some of the lyrics at the beginning, and also "Honky Cat" and "Holidayy Inn" kind of were a little off beat during the first few bars. During "Crocodile Rock" John Mahon had to come forward to Bob Birch's microphone as there seemed to be a problem with his and all of the band members got a good laugh ot of that.

But all of these tiny problems didn't stop the crowd from having a good time. They rushed the stage during "Pinball Wizard" and rocked with Elton until the very end of the show. Before "Your Song" Elton mentioned how he had started his US career in California at the Troubadour back in 1970. He thanked the audience for their support throughout the years and then ended what was my 112th Elton show since 1984.

Following is the complete set list of the Anaheim show on April 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
  
• Holiday Inn
  
• All The Girls Love Alice
  
• I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
  
• Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
  
• Candle In The Wind
  
• Pinball Wizard
  
• Bennie And The Jets
  
• Philadelphia Freedom
  
• I'm Still Standing
  
• Crocodile Rock
  
• Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
  
  
• Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
  
• Your Song

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