I finally saw Elton John in concert!

Last night I went to my first and only Elton John concert.

Check THIS out: My ticket!



That's my ticket, my friends! That's my ticket to Elton John...Last night. Finally, after all these years. Wow.


That's my teen-age idol out there!


I mean -- his play list was almost too much to take it in. You have to understand, he was my idol, but I had never once made it to an Elton John Concert.



Here he is striking a pose.


Let me backtrack; If you knew me growing up, (say, anytime between 1970 and 1982) you would know what a huge, major, big deal going to an Elton John concert for the first time really would be.



What can I say? I was an only child living in a somewhat rural part of New England with what can only be described as astonishingly un-hip parents. This meant nobody took me to a rock concert or even drove me into the next town to buy anyone's latest album, either. I was on my own...However, I learned to be very resourceful that way. I was a dedicated fan who became very creative about getting my "elton" fixes.


So in light all this, imagine my shock two weeks ago when I learned that my husband had two tickets to review the Elton John concert at the Honda Center. I was stunned.

Then I started asking myself questions like:

"Is this my "make a wish" moment?"

"What if seeing him really sucks. What will that say about all those wasted years?"

"What if I get all weepy in front of my husband and he just makes fun of me?"

I have to admit I had some other thoughts which exposes what a not very nice person I can be. I thought;

"Why do YOU get to review Elton John?! What makes you so qualified to review him? Huh? All my life people like you get to review people like Elton John, and people like me only get to read about it! That's so not fair, because clearly I loved him much more than you ever did.

Which, naturally, is not a nice or rational or grown up reaction, but there you are. I'm being honest.

So, you can see that I was having very mixed feelings about going to this one and only concert.

Almost the second the lights dimmed; There was the familiar whistle-y wind sound that I recognized immediately: I called out triumphantly! "FUNERAL FOR FRIEND!" My husband and our friends stared at me with a startled confused look on their face. I think they thought I was channeling something, the sound was so faint at that time. The lights not quite on yet... and I said louder, "The concert! It's starting and the first song will be Funeral For a Friend."

I felt vindicated.

And I was right. It was his first song of the night. It was going to be perfect. It was. He didn't stop pounding out the hits for over two hours. Just song after song. Perfect.

Naturally, I wish I'd seen him in the early days back when he was, well, far from sober and let's just say, on fire.

It must have been amazing to see him on a smaller stage; lit by one or two simple spots and ricocheting off the walls. Who wouldn't have wanted to be there for that. But, you can't go home, right? Be here now.

I think what I would have to say struck me the most out there on the stage was his sense of humility. It was not what I'd call an "open book" performance. He was reserved; professional. Polite. Not quite like the old days, but that's okay. Almost. And that doesn't mean it was worse, not at all...He was just different, than I imagine it was earlier on. Duh. Right?







For the record; I didn't cry (I teared up a little at the beginning.). I did scream like a kid, and I did sing along with all the words...but my husband didn't laugh at me...too much