DESCRIPTION:
Now for one of my favorite years when it comes to Elton John concerts: 1979. And this show is the first of two shows from Sydney and was played the 25th of November. The reason why I love this year so much is both Elton's improved vocals (after he took lessons) and the piano and high energy onstage. The songs are mostly performed with piano only, but Ray Cooper accompanies Elton on several songs. The recording itself is in an awesome quality despite being an audience recording.

Elton starts off with a great version of Your Song. Elton shows on this show that his vocals are in top form and it's a pleasure to hear. Elton does for the most part keep the songs at a reasonable tempo, but especially Take Me To The Pilot is very fast and I think it kind of destroy the song a bit, but it is still good as he is very creative and he doesn't save the falsettos -- on any song!
On Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Elton makes up some different lyrics to be funny (I'm not sure about what he is saying), but throughout the show Elton is in a great mood and he talks a lot to the audience and makes jokes. Before Roy Rogers Elton is having a speech for 2 minutes where this is expressed. I mentioned above that some songs are very fast and also Ego is very fast, but I don't think it makes the song worse. I Heard It Through The Grapevine is a top 3 version. The version is really impressive and Elton really experiments with his voice and makes nice phrasings! Fantastic version of Better Off Dead with nice percussion from Ray Cooper. Before Idol Elton shows off that he indeed can speak English with a German accent. I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself is awesome as well -- I love that song. Strong version of Bennie And The Jets, with the audience being very responsive on the BENNIE parts. The Rock n Roll medley rocks totally! It is really a blast and a great ending for a fantastic show!

- Enjoy!