April 9th, 2008...What an incredible night! I had the privilege of
attending
Elton's benefit concert for Hillary Clinton at Radio City Music Hall in
New
York City.. The night started with Hillary's campaign manager giving a
rousing speach that really got the sold out crowd going. I expected
Hillary
to be there, but to my surprise and pleasure, he introduced "The Clinton
Family"! Out walked Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton! What a thrill to
be
in the same room with the last great President of the US, and the next
President of the United States! Both Bill and Hillary gave short speaches.
I
was especially impressed when both Bill and Hillary thanked Elton for his
humanitarianism and the incredible difference he has made in the fight
against HIV and AIDS. Hillary also thanked "Elton's partner, David" for
all
of his help with her campaign.
Then the incredible moment came when Hillary introduced Sir Elton John!!!
All 6000 (give or take) of us were on our feet screaming. Elton hugged the
Clintons and then sat at the piano as the Clintons took their seats. He
also
said a few words about how Hillary is the only candidate that he would
support, and what a great president she will be.
He was resplendant in a bright red shirt, black pants with a red stripe
down
each side to match the shirt, and bright red shoes to match! His long
black
jacket had an intricate sequined design on the right sleeve in beautiful
shades of red, yellow, gold, and blue. On the back of his jacket was an
even
more intricate design of a rocket with much decoration around it, also in
beautiful bright colors. This red tinted glasses with "EJ" in diamond-like
cristals on them completed his outfit.
I was wearing David's Versace pants and beautiful Versace suede coat and
the
EJAF Rocket Man tie! The pants and tie I bought at "Out Of The Closet 4"
in
London, 2002.
For those of you who have never been to Radio City Music Hall, let me tell
you that it is not only a beautiful art deco theater, but it was built to
be
acoustically as perfect as possible at the time. The only theaters I've
been
to with better accoustics are Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera
House
in New York, and the Sidney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. So not only
was Elton in great voice, but the sound was phenominal!
This was a solo show. A shorter version of his usual solo shows, but
incredible from beginning to end. His voice was as stong as ever, and his
piano technique was, as always, flawless. He started the show with "Your
Song", followed by "Border Song". He went on to play hits and non-hits
(but
great songs, such as Ticking, Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes,
Carla/Etude into Tonight). During Levon, he got the lyrics just slightly
wrong ...instead of singing "Levon, Levon likes his money"... he sang,
"Jesus, Jesus likes his money"! I don't know if the Hillary supporters who
are not diehard Elton fans even noticed, but it was pretty funny. A very
sight mistake on the piano Carla. Highly unusual for Elton. During
Crocodile
Rock, he sang "I remember when rock was young, Me and Hillary had so much
fun"! By this time (toward the end of the show) the crowd was on its feet
and going wild!
His last number, dedicated to Hillary, was I'm Still Standing, and we all
were! It was quite a finish to an amazing show.
The Clinton's took the stage again, and Hillary said what we were all
feeling..."WOW!!!" She thanked Elton again for sharing his enormous talent
and for helping her raise $2.3 MILLION dollars in one night! She shook
hands
with about half of the first row, and then left the stage.
I have seen Elton somewhere between 50 and 60 times live in concert, but
this was one concert that I will never forget. A thrilling night, and a
piece of history.
Radio City has a very cool website. Go to:
http://www.radiocity.com/seating/index.html
click on "Lower Mezzanine" and
then click on seat E203 (toward the bottom left). It will show you the
view
from my seat as a real photo that is also moveable if you scroll or move
left or right.
The ticket prices ranged from $125 (what I paid) to $2300! As Hillary put
it, "It sold out in a nanosecond"!
While I realize that everybody has their own political point of view, and
will vote as they choose, I'd just like to add that especially after
seeing
Hillary in person, and seeing Elton's support for her, I believe that she
is
absolutely the candidate that this country needs to be the next president
of
the United States. If you are an undecided voter, please at least visit
www.hillaryclinton.com and see what she has to say. Especially if you live
in a state or territory with an upcoming primary. PLEASE get out and
VOTE!!!
Tell your friends to vote. Drive neighbors to the polls. Encourage
everyone
you know to vote. And hopefully for Hillary Clinton. She's an amazing
woman.
Elton's support is just one more reason to vote for her.
The political arguements here are, of course, my own opinion. I'm not
trying
to start a political discussion., but I'm just so excited about the
concert
that I couldn't help sharing my feelings about the entire night.
Oh, and Elton really seems to like the name, "One Night Only". That was
the
title of this concert! And even though the DVD release of his Greatest
Hits
Live was also called "One Night Only", it was actually recorded during 2
back to back concerts at Madison Square Garden in NY! Most of the footage
was from the 2nd night.
I've seen Elton somewhere between 50 and 60 times in concert (I've lost
count). This concert will stand out as one of his best, and one of the
best
nights of my life.
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