Fan Report by Tanya.

On the first of June my husband Ronnie and I, along with our friend Carola, traveled from Stockholm to Karlstad to once again experience an amazing show with Elton John. For the past two years he’s been giving concerts in relatively small cities. And this time he performed in a town with the population of only 50,000 people. 7,800 attended the solo concert that night at Löfbergs Lila Arena in the north of Karlstad. It was an unforgettable evening.

We arrived in Karlstad after travelling for almost four and a half hours by bus, checked in at the hotel and headed for the show. On our way we stopped at a local flower shop and purchased some pretty white roses for Elton. For some unknown reason we had all assumed that Elton would perform at an outdoor arena, and having had some unfortunate experiences of seeing Elton in heavy rain last year we equipped ourselves with umbrellas, sweaters and coats. To our great surprise the arena was indoors and the weather was superb anyway – hot and sunny.

After purchasing a new tour book and a T-shirt we all sat down in the 10th row. However, the seats weren’t as great as one could wish, because we sat at the extreme right. But on the other hand that enabled us to quickly run to the stage during certain parts of the show without trampling on other people’s feet.

Just a few minutes after 7:30 p.m. the lights dimmed, the "Aida Overture" music began and our hearts started thumping happily. We were about to see Elton. And when he did come on stage, our joy could not be measured. Being as shy as I am, it makes me wonder every time what powers this pianist has over me! I find myself simply jumping on my chair and rising above the crowd, while I hold my poster which says “Elton, You’re the One” and I scream “Elton! We love you!” It gives me a thrill every time Elton notices me and points at me standing there on the chair. Emotions escape my body and soul every single moment. All I know is that I do get crazy for about two and a half hours, enjoying each and every sound Elton produces, concentrating all my attention on that man behind the piano whose feet are happily stomping to each melody.

Elton was dressed in a black suit with red stripes on the sides. He wore a bright red shirt underneath and had dark glasses. Shining from his right ear was a beautiful star-shaped earring. Sometimes he would take off his glasses and gaze at the cheering audience. The show was excellent. Elton greeted the crowd saying how nice it was to be in “this beautiful country,” and then added, “with the weather like this!” Although Elton himself complained about a bad cough later on during the show, we all thought that he sounded brilliant and clear. Some of the highlights of the show were "I Need You to Turn To", which we had never heard live in person before, "Rocket Man" with a fantastic light show which one could not possibly observe from the first row as well as from the tenth row, as the lights seemed to spin and fly and cause Elton to look as if he really were taking off into space, "Tiny Dancer" with all the string sounds triggered by the midi on Elton's piano, "Carla/Etude/Tonight" and "Ticking", which all moved me deeply by their melodic profoundness and sincerity. Several songs had slightly altered endings, including "Candle in the Wind", "Sacrifice", and "Original Sin".

Swedish crowds are known for their calmness. And once again Swedes proved themselves to be very reluctant to express their emotions. Everybody was cheering and clapping, yet people were sitting on their seats even during such up-tempo songs as "Philadelphia Freedom", "Bennie and the Jets" and "I’m Still Standing". One could easily notice the songs Swedes preferred over others. When Elton performed "Candle in the Wind", "Nikita" and "Sacrifice" they were met by massive clapping and loud whistles.

After "Honky Cat", Carola and I ran up to the stage and handed Elton our flowers. What a great experience it was to shake Elton’s soft hand and hear him say, “Thank you.” And of course, after "Bennie and the Jets" we ran to the stage for good, “hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock.” I didn’t get a very nice spot from the start, as I was standing a little too far to the right (kind of under the piano) only seeing Elton’s feet. Nothing wrong with Elton’s feet and pretty red and white shoes, but I had to jump up high, pretty much every 5 seconds during "Crocodile Rock" to catch a glimpse of Elton’s head above the piano. In the end I could hardly move and I somehow got a bruise on my right elbow. Finally, when the song was over, Elton signed some autographs. I got a "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" vinyl signed, whereas Ronnie got his rare "Dear God" single signed. Too good to be true.

After I got an autograph, I didn’t really need to be right at the stage looking at Elton’s shoes anymore. I moved to the left, and with some people in front of me enjoyed the rest of the show which unfortunately contained only one encore "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me". By then Elton had already changed into his sweat suit. And it was so sad when he hit the final notes, bowed and disappeared in a silver Mercedes. We’ve never witnessed that before: the car was waiting for Elton backstage and was visible to the public. Elton was driven away, the show was over and it felt as if Elton took with him our whole hearts full of love and endless gratitude for his great talent.

And it does feel sad when the show you’ve been waiting for for six months is over. However, it’s not a disappointing kind of sadness. It’s more of a wish to see Elton John again and again. I don’t think one can ever get enough of that wonderful feeling of seeing one’s idol perform all those fantastic, moving and touching songs, of getting yet another autograph and giving Elton flowers, which in my experience is always followed by a handshake.

What it feels like to see Elton with orchestra, we’ll find out next month in London! Thank you for everything, Elton.

Following is the complete set list of the show in Karlstad on June 1, 2004:

• Your Song
  
• The Greatest Discovery
  
• Border Song
  
• I Need You to Turn To
  
• The One
  
• Someone Saved My Life Tonight
  
• Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes
  
• Honky Cat
  
• Daniel
  
• Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
  
• Rocket Man
  
• I’m Still Standing
  
• Ticking
  
• Tiny Dancer
  
• Blue Eyes
  
• Sacrifice
  
• Philadelphia Freedom
  
• Nikita
  
• Candle in the Wind
  
• Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
  
• I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues
  
• Original Sin
  
• Carla Etude
  
• Tonight
  
• Bennie and the Jets
  
• Crocodile Rock
  
  
• Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me

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