Elton John – “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” Tour
April 5, 2022
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Sir Elton John (a.k.a. Reginald Dwight) is truly a legend and an icon. Having been a performer for over 50 years, he has amassed a massive collection of hit songs, many familiar to even the most casual music fan. We’ve all heard the hits: “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”, “Bennie and The Jets”, “Candle In The Wind”, “Your Song”, “Rocket Man”, “Crocodile Rock”, etc., etc. There was even the 2019 semi-autobiographical movie “Rocketman”. But, getting a chance to see the performance in person is always a treat.

I had the chance to first see Elton on stage around 10 years ago. At the time, we thought it would likely be the last chance to see him in person. At the time, it was almost a 3 hour performance hitting all the main points of his career. However, he has continued performing and chances continued to come up. In 2018, Elton embarked on his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, touted as his last major tour. I skipped the first stop of the tour in Grand Rapids, but a second leg of the tour in 2020 was to include a stop in Grand Rapids. A family member was able to get us tickets to join them for the show, so why not? We got tickets in 2019, and then COVID hit in early 2020. The April 2020 shows was moved to 2021, which was then again moved to 2022. Third time was the charm, and it was a pleasure to see Elton John again on stage.

The opening of the show was exactly as previous dates, with Sir Elton opening with the intro chords for “Bennie and The Jets”. Elton and band were sounds great, and everyone appeared to be in good spirits. The hits continued on for another 2.5 hours. While not as long as the previous Elton concert, I did think this show had a more interesting set of songs. I also felt Elton sounded better vocally than last time, and his piano playing is always top notch. He frequently will extend instrumental sections of songs, allowing for improvisation and jamming. As far as I’m concerned, Elton is a better piano player than singer, and wonder why he never released an instrument piano record. His band is full of amazing talent. Guitarist Davey Johnstone has been with him for decades, as has drummer Nigel Olsson and keyboardist Kim Bullard. Percussionist Ray Cooper has also been a regular with Elton, as well as also know for his work with Eric Clapton – among others. Bass guitar role is now filled by Matt Bissonette, who has been with Elton for years now but is also a well known player in his own right. Picking a setlist from such a massive catalog of hits has to be a challenge, so there are bound to be songs fans will miss not hearing. But, I thought he hit on most of what was expected, and even tossed in a surprise here and there.

After ending the regular set of songs, Elton came back out and sat alone at his piano to sing along to a taped track of a current pop hit based on his “Rocketman” song. The hit is “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)” from the UK artist Dua Lipa. Elton thanked Dua for helping to give him his first hit since 2005, and that he never expected to still be on the charts after over 50 years of making music.

As with previous tour shows, the concert ended with “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, and Elton exited via his “escalator” type device at the back of the stage. This exit does seem to make a nice ending, and I’m sure it sounded great on paper, but “in person” it seems a bit odd to just watch him ride up a mini-escalator while waving to the crowd and finally entering a door at the back of the main stage backdrop. Even so, the entire performance was a nice way to encapsule a long career of well known music.

The sold out show at Van Andel Arena proved to be the antithesis of a pandemic crowd. At approximately 12,000 people, it was wall-to-wall everywhere we went. We skipped out on waiting for any food or beverages, and the merchandise booths were backed up with dozens waiting to spend money on Elton gear. We eventually snuck out to get my wife a T-shirt about mid-way through the show.

Here is some live video I shot of the intro to “Funeral For A Friend” – one of my favorites. I apologize for the person walking past towards the end, but I chose to keep “rolling video” anyway.

Setlist below courtesy of Setlist.fm:

Tape intro: Pinball Wizard (The Who song)
Bennie and the Jets
Philadelphia Freedom
I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues
Border Song
Tiny Dancer
Have Mercy on the Criminal
Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)
Take Me to the Pilot
Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Levon
Candle in the Wind
Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Burn Down the Mission
Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
The Bitch Is Back
I’m Still Standing
Crocodile Rock
Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

Encore:
Cold Heart
Your Song
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
From tape: Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (Elton John & Kiki Dee song)