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TORONTO - Captain Fantastic earned his nickname last night.
That would be British singer-songwriter-pianist Elton John, whose latest tour stop at the Air Canada Centre proved to be a triumphant homecoming for the 59-year-old pop star.
You may recall that John wed Toronto native and filmmaker David Furnish (Tantrums and Tiaras) last December in a civil union ceremony in John's native England after 12 years as a couple.
"I'm half-Canadian, as you know, and I'm very happy about that," John said early in the show to big cheers.
When John later introduced the love song Believe, he added that it was also about "bigotry, hatred and intolerance.
"And having just come from the United States of America, I can tell you there's a lot of that going around there."
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Still, he did voice concerns about Stephen Harper's government.
"The Conservatives might try and overturn the gay marriage thing, which would be such a shame," John said. "Canada is such a leader in the world, of tolerance. This is a great country. I just hope they don't do that."
Politics aside, it's work that brought John to T.O.
He's got a new album in stores, The Captain & The Kid, the sequel to 1975's Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy. The latter, by the way, was represented last night by the joyous Philadelphia Freedom and the equally evocative Someone Saved My Life Tonight, which was dedicated to Toronto singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith.
But John delayed playing material from The Captain & The Kid until the middle of his two-hour, 40-minute set -- which slowed down the proceedings except for the gorgeous, harmony-heavy The Bridge.
John choose instead to kick off the concert with such dramatic crowd-pleasers as Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding and Bennie And The Jets, both from his seminal 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The title track from GYBR was also played in what was a rare occurrence.
Dressed in a striking blue shirt and black beaded-adorned suit, John displayed thundering piano moves on a black grand alongside his five-piece band that included longtime drummer Nigel Olsson and guitarist Davey Johnstone, who had "fantastic" emblazoned on is instrument.
For a guy who used to dress up in platform shoes, chicken outfits and even dresses in his spectacle-prone '70s heyday, it was all about the music last night with the bells and whistle kept to a minimum via flashy video backdrop.
Tiny Dancer, which was given new life in the Cameron Crowe movie Almost Famous, was another highlight along with I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, Take Me To The Pilot (preceded by a long, beautiful introduction that got the crowd clapping), Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Rocket Man, Daniel, Levon, Crocodile Rock, The Bitch Is Back, Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting), Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, and Your Song.
Let's face it, John's 35-year-plus catalogue is astonishing and in the hits department, he didn't disappoint.
And even if he doesn't move around his piano and the stage like he used to -- right before The Bitch Is Back, he stood with one leg on top of his piano and the other on his stool before he kicked out both legs to sit down again -- John makes every effort to connect with fans.
About an hour into the show, he did a lap along the front of the stage to hi-five ecstatic audience members, and before the first encore he even signed autographs.