Goodbuy yellow brick road

I have not yet written about my Elton John day on Saturday. I got tickets for his farewell tour in Wiesbaden. But first we went to see the film Rocketman.

The film is very different from the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody. It has a focus on the addictions of Elton John and how he finally overcame the addictions. Then the film ends. So it leaves out the last 28 years. It also tells the story of young Reginald and his incredible talent for music and how he met Bernie Taupin who has written nearly all the lyrics of Elton‘s songs. The film is full of emotions with very sad moments but also some happy moments. Most of the emotional moments are described through the songs so that one realizes how personal the songs obviously are. The film also leaves out the strong connection between Elton John and the royal family. It just touches the enormous success Elton had whenever it is necessary for the story. It is rarely the focus of the film. The film was written by Lee Hall who has also written Billy Elliot. There is a wonderful scene in the film that reminded me of a scene in Billy Elliot. I am not surprised that Elton John was so moved by the film Billy Elliot that he had to write the musical version of it. Bernie Taupin is played by Jamie Bell who was Billy in Billy Elliot. 

After having seen the film we were very excited about the concert. It was an open air concert and our seats were far from the stage. The concert should start at 7pm and when some musicians entered the stage at that time we thought it was an opening act to Elton John. But suddenly I realized a very familiar sound namely the opening beats of Benny and the Jets. And we were like „wow, it is him!“. 

The concert was excellent. I didn’t know all of the songs but that are nearly 500. So we heard some new songs that he played because he liked them and of course also some of his hits. He also spoke about the film, his addictions, his AIDS foundation, how stupid Brexit is and that love is the only thing that can help us overcome our problems (in a broader sense). He played more than two and a half hours without a break. An enormous task for a 72 year old guy.

When he left with „Goodbuy yellow brick road“ I was really touched. A wonderful day!