Conquest of the piano man

Sometimes, getting back to basics is the best thing a musician can do. The Elton John show in Bangalore proved that yet again. With no orchestral backing, just the pure and perfectly matched sound of the pop star's voice and his piano left the audience mesmerised. C.K. MEENA comes away convinced of the unfailing quality of his music.

Photos: K. Bhagya Prakash

Elton's voice was deep and seasoned, his piano a thing of joy.

FROM PIANO he came, and to piano hath he returned. And aren't we lucky he has? "For two years I've been doing piano and voice shows, solo shows," Elton John has said in a recent interview. "Two years of getting my piano-playing and my singing really, really good... I don't think I'm a great synthesiser player, I'm not really interested in it. I'm a much better piano player - and in the end, I had to go back to doing what I do best of all."

Elton John's "One Night Only" concert at the Bangalore Palace Grounds on November 2 proved the truth of these words, and showed that, sometimes, getting back to the basics is the best thing a musician can do. No orchestral backing, just the pure sound of voice and instrument, both in fine form, perfectly matched, neither drowning out the other.

Elton put all his abundant energy into his music and delivered unfailing quality for a continuous 150 minutes, only getting up to take a quick refreshing sip or to bow impartially to every section of the audience.

None but the VIPs would have caught the faintest glimpse of the performer's face, were it not for the giant screens. Talking of VIPs, the sponsors had neatly created a caste system among the press reporters, reserving the most expensive seats for business journalists and literally sidelining the rest. To most of the audience, the pop star was a mere flash of kingfisher blue in the distant horizon, until the magnified images began to appear. But they heard him all right.

His voice was deep and seasoned, his piano a thing of joy. Technology did play its part - the piano had been souped up to suit concert specifications - but the overall effect was a rare combination of power and simplicity. Beginning with his first hit single, the romantic "Your Song", he zigzagged through his vast repertoire, non-chronologically, thus maintaining an element of surprise. There was just one sop for kids - the final number, "Circle of Life" from The Lion King. "Candle in the Wind" (thankfully the original Marilyn version) and "Sacrifice" were the most widely known and hence raised huge cheers. But the bulk of the concert was dedicated to fans who had followed every step of his 34-year career; who were as familiar with his Captain Fantastic... and Fox albums as with his latest Songs from the West Coast; with "Monalisas and Mad Hatters" (his tribute to New York) as with the MTV hit "I'm still Standing".

Occasionally, the overhead screens would show a close-up of Elton's fingers racing smoothly over the keys. He made that piano all but jump through hoops. It thundered as it launched into "Someone Saved my Life Tonight", it went tripping through "Honky Cat", it rollicked to "Philadelphia Freedom" and tinkled along to "Tiny Dancer". Voice and piano soared to the rousing "Border Song", one of his earliest, and dipped to the melancholy flow of "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". The instrumental numbers, "Colour" followed by "Etude", harked back to his early training in classical music. There were delicious moments, in the middle of "Bennie and the Jets", when the Piano Man was suddenly "In the Mood" for jazz! At the end of "Rocket Man", he freaked out - there's no other word for it. Turning on the echo, he improvised for a few minutes, caught up in the moment.

Namaskara, Bangalore!

Elton played four songs from his latest album - "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes", "Original Sin", "I Want Love", and "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore", which were less familiar though no less appealing than the others.

Of course he played the old favourites "Daniel" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". He broke off during "Crocodile Rock" - the part where the wailing begins - and turned to the audience to fill in the pause. Naturally, everyone began to "Waa, lalalala-laa" away. Four numbers short of the promised 28 songs, he scuttled offstage, leaving everyone rather puzzled. When he returned he had changed into a yellow-and-blue tracksuit.

He sang a couple of songs and jogged away.

That was it. No elaborate leave-taking ritual. A non-fussy ending to an immortal evening. As we trooped out into the clear night, "He sang only 26; he should have sung two more," said a listener who had kept count. Which two would I choose, I wondered. "Goodbye Yellow Brickroad", certainly. "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting"? He used to end most of his concerts with it in the past - or so I remembered reading in an old JS magazine. It's a real rocker, like "The Bitch is Back" - now how about that? Or perhaps the more melodious "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" - but that was a duet, with Kiki Dee. Maybe one of the new ones, the bluesy "Wasteland". Or... I'm still wondering.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu