DESCRIPTION:
New uploads from me and another great Elton John/Ray Cooper that I adore: Fort Lauderdale, 1st of Octo-ber 1993. Elton John and Ray Cooper decided to go on tour in late 1993 and this is the second show from the tour, and the second show from their 3-day-stay in Fort Lauderdale. The quality of the recording is quite good, though rather bass heavy, but a clear sound still remains. The show is quite long and contains some more obscure songs. So if you are a fan that likes Elton's more rare material, this show is dedicated to you!

After The One tour Elton quitted the Roland Electric Piano (which I personally don't like! The piano did not fit into the most of Elton's songs, though it did actually work on some songs) Elton signed with Yamaha. The result of this is the great grand disklavier piano with that very characteristic sound which I love. It is very unique and very crispy and it is a great piano for Elton's songs.
Elton starts off with the highly beloved Your Song. Elton's voice sounds, from the beginning of this show, very strong and clear and he sings a great version of this song with his deeper and more soulful voice. Though the year is 1993 Elton still is able to hit falsetto notes, but he doesn't use them too much even though he is capable to hit them. However, he does use them on several songs! Skyline Pigeon is great with the fantastic crowd giving several rounds of applauses during the song! I must praise the audience for being nothing less than excellent! They are very responsive and they applaud Elton and Ray very much during the show. Stunning! During Sixty Years On, the microphones makes interference with the speakers and the electronics on stage which gives some high frequency sounds which squeals in the ears! The song itself is performed quite alternative as Elton plays some different chords than usual. Wonderful perfor-mance of I Need You To Turn To which reminds me of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra versions. Very stable rendition of The Greatest Discovery with Elton feeling steady on the keys. Talking Old Soldiers is alright with alternative phrasing -- I prefer the 1999 versions! Again, the audience is awesome during this song too! Sacrifice is a sweet moment during the show and the audience seems to love it as well.

After the first seven ballads Elton is ready to rock the venue with I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That. I have always loved the song solo and these versions from this tour are among the best ever played! Elton hits the first A4's of the night (both with and without falsetto!) and plays a fantastic solo and the audience goes nuts! Great version of Mona Lisa's & Mad Hatters, though it seems to me it is a bit conservative compared to later versions which I prefer.
A Woman's Needs which is from the current album Duets which is an album I love. And this song has to be a top 3 from the album which originally is a duet between Elton and Tammy Wynette. What is worth of notice is that Elton has transposed the song 5 keys down and he has made the arrangement much more country like, but it still sounds wonderful and is one of the highlights from the concert! Another song Elton has transposed is Where To Now St. Peter which is transposed two keys down which he wouldn't usually do. He did even perform the song in its original key in 2007, but the transposition allows him to use more of the album phrasing and to hit a couple of falsettos which in its own way is great! The North which is rarely performed (actually it was only performed during this tour and during a memorial concert in Nashville in 1992 for Dee Murray -- that concert can be found on my channel!) is performed at this show and it is a strong performance of the great song! Decent version of The One with few alternative phrasings and some conservative phrasing -- present versions are better!

Ray Cooper joins the stage during Funeral For A Friend and Elton gives a great version of Tonight. Good version of Better Off Dead with great drums from Ray Cooper. Ray Cooper also gives amazing percussion on Idol on the vibraphones and together they give a wonderful performance of one of Elton's greater songs! Levon is also fantastic with plenty of falsettos. Indian Sunset is amazing, and so is I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself with Elton hitting the falsettos before the chorus just as clean as in the 70's! Take Me To The Pilot is another highlight of the evening with great energies. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me is popular in the audience and Crazy Water is awesome! We All Fall In Love Sometimes/Curtains is unique since these versions are the only ones performed solo (with percussion!). Crocodile Rock which is performed as a ballad which sounds strange, but works, and Bennie And The Jets which is superb and Pinball Wizard is just amazing solo! A beautiful rendition of Candle In The Wind ends the show that are among my favorites of all time!

- Enjoy!