Elton John
AAMI Park
Melbourne, Australia
Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country
Friday 13 January 2023
Recorded by eckythump
Source: Nokia Lumia 930 (called Lumia Icon in North America) w/built-in HAAC mics > Audio Recorder Pro app > 16bit/48 KHz PCM/WAV -> iZotope RX10 Advanced -> Ozone 10 -> Audacity 3.2.3 (split tracks and FLAC Level 8) -> Foobar 1.6.16 (Files tagged) -> Traders Little Helper 2.8.4
Track List:
00 - Intro
01 - Bennie and the Jets
02 - Philadelphia Freedom
03 - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
04 - Elton talks
05 - Border Song
06 - Tiny Dancer
07 - Have Mercy On The Criminal
08 - Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
09 - Take Me To The Pilot
10 - Someone Saved My Life Tonight
11 - Levon
12 - Candle In The Wind
13 - Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding
14 - Burn Down The Mission
15 - Sad Songs (Say So Much)
16 - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
17 - Elton talks / Band Introductions
18 - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
19 - The Bitch Is Back*
20 - I'm Still Standing
21 - Crocodile Rock
22 - Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
23 - Encore Break
24 - Cold Heart
25 - Your Song
26 - Elton talks
27 - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John – Piano, vocals
Matt Bissonette – Bass guitar, backing vocals
Kim Bullard – Keyboards
Ray Cooper – Percussion
Davey Johnstone – Guitar, backing vocals
John Mahon – Percussion, backing vocals
Nigel Olsson – Drums, backing vocals
* Molly Meldrum's bare arse
Show Notes: Elton's Australian tour in 2019/20 was meant to be his farewell to this part of the world, but the pandemic interrupted the NZ leg of the tour, and so to make amends to NZ Elton decided to give Australia another run too (ironically flooding in Auckland meant his planned shows there didn't happen yet again - maybe a 2025 return then?). This is the second to last Melbourne show, the final show happening the next night (not recorded, sorry one show was expensive enough). The most bizarre moment of the night occurred during The Bitch Is Back, when Molly Meldrum, Australian music icon and Elton's friend who 2 songs prior had just called a national treasure, decided to climb onto the stage and then proceed to drop his pants and expose himself. It was certainly not planned, and Elton handled it pretty well, and you'll hear quite a bit of commotion during the song. It's a well documented news story if you google it and you can find the incident on Youtube, though be warned you may see 80 year old flabby arse skin if you do. View at your own risk!
Anyway a very fine and enjoyable show. Farewell Elton, until the next finale!
Recording Notes: I had seats up in the stands of AAMI Park, not an ideal place to record from, but it came out pretty well, though Elton's vocals do sound a little echoey, the pitfalls of being in the seats in a venue designed for sport not music. I had a very quiet crowd around me (even better 2 people in the row in front of me didn't show up - $700 down the drain), though the man next to me enjoyed clapping loudly after every song, but if it means being quiet during the songs I'll take it. Enjoy!