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TORONTO - The last time I saw Elton John perform, scantily-clad B.C. babe Pamela Anderson was twirling around a stripper's pole in a filmed segment while he played The Bitch Is Back.
The occasion was his naughty, fun, Las Vegas show The Red Piano last fall at Caesars Palace.
But last night, in front of 16,000 fans during the first of two sold-out shows at the Air Canada Centre, the 58-year-old British singer-pianist served up a more serious evening of music.
At least, initially.
It seems, like most of us, the massive, life-altering destruction of Hurricane Katrina was on his mind, especially since he does have a home in Atlanta -- a city that has taken in many of the evacuees -- and recorded his latest album, Peachtree Road, at a studio nearby.
Thus John dedicated his second song of the night, the new tune, Porch Swing In Tupelo, which is about Elvis Presley, to "the people of the Gulf coast."
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John wasn't shy about offering up material from Peachtree Road. In fact, the first 40 minutes of his marathon two-hour-and-45-minute show was made up of eight new songs -- starting with Weight Of The World and ending with All That I'm Allowed.
And even if the audience might not have been familiar with the material, the new tunes were given a nice gospel feel by the soulful, healing voices of an eight-person choir from Atlanta that John brought on the road with him along with his five-man band including long-time drummer Nigel Olsson and guitarist Davey Johnstone.
"It's great to be back in what I call partly a hometown," said John, who is engaged to Torontonian David Furnish.
The singer-pianist took the opportunity to talk about Furnish at length when introducing My Elusive Drug,
"When I got sober, funnily enough, somebody walked into my life," he explained. "This song is about David. We've been together nearly 12 years. He's been the best thing that's ever happened to me. We're tying the knot on the 21st of December." (In London, England, for those who care.)
Playing on a streamlined stage with an impressive LED screen on a sparkly backdrop and two large video screens on either side of him, John was dressed quite formally in a long, elaborately decorated coat, a gold-ribbon tie and matching gold shoes, striped pants and sported purple-tinted glasses.
It's similar attire to what he's been favouring for The Red Piano show and while it's a far cry from the platform shoes, oversized glasses and crazy outfits he used to wear in the '70s and '80s, it seems to suit John now.
And even if his stage movements these days consist mainly of getting up from his piano stool to wave, take a bow or a swig of water -- he did offer up a Pete Townshend windmill guitar move during Pinball Wizard and straddled his piano stool and piano top during The Bitch Is Back -- John was always generous in spirit and chatted easily with the crowd.
Before the encore, he even spent several minutes signing autographs for fans at the front of the stage.
The mood changed dramatically after the Peachtree Road segment, with one enduring hit after the other trotted out in glorious succession. It was a reminder of both the artist John was back then and continues to be now.
If I had to name a half-dozen highlights they would be: Take Me To The Pilot, featuring John at his most accomplished on piano; Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, which John recalled re-recording with a very frail Ray Charles before his death for Charles' Grammy winning duets album -- "It was one of the highlights of my life," he said; a downright dazzling version of Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding; the near-religious Levon and Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, both bolstered by the welcome return of the Atlanta choir members and the anthemic Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting).
SET LIST:
Weight Of The World
Porch Swing In Tupelo
Answer In The Sky
Turn The Lights Out When You Leave
My Elusive Drug
They Call Her The Cat
Freaks In Love
All That I'm Allowed
Pinball Wizard
Bennie And The Jets
Daniel
Take Me To The Pilot
Rocket Man
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
Tiny Dancer
Sorry Seems To Be
The Hardest Word
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Are You Ready For Love
Philadelphia Freedom
Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Levon
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
I'm Still Standing
The Bitch Is Back
Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
ENCORE:
Crocodile Rock
SECOND ENCORE:
Your Song