14. Philadelphia Freedom (An Audience With Elton John: 9/14/1997)

For this next upload, I have decided on a “re-upload” of an Elton John show that desperately needed an upgrade. Many years ago, I had a mono copy of “An Audience With Elton John” on the channel that only had the songs available (without the questions in-between them) and the quality wasn’t the greatest. Thanks to “EltonStuff,” this copy of the show is in stereo and is in much better quality. For this upload, all of the songs and questions are intact - although the Stephen Fry costume section is omitted since it wouldn’t make sense to just have the audio (a video link will be provided at the end of the description).
This is a fun and entertaining show as Elton takes questions, tells funny anecdotes, performs songs with his band, and also performs with guests. Elton is in a great mood throughout the event and when you watch the video, it’s clear that he is absolutely enjoying himself. Elton sounds pretty strong throughout the whole show, although he does sound a bit rougher-than-normal during some sections when compared to other TV performances and the upcoming tour that would begin in less than a month. To offset some of the rougher vocals, Elton does put in a lot of effort into the performances and is gutsy in spots. Now… time to go through the songs!
“I’m Still Standing” isn’t Elton’s strongest start to the evening as the vocals are often rough on the upper notes. However, he bravely goes for all of the chorus notes and attempts an embellishment on one of the “I’m Still Standing” lines towards the end of the performance. “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” has Elton’s voice in a more settled state and he does an excellent vocal performance. He also has the Spice Girls sing Kiki Dee’s parts and their voices vary in quality. “Something About The Way You Look Tonight” is a strong performance and while there’s nothing bad about it, there are stronger versions from later in the year. “Abide With Me” highlights Elton’s mid range and he sings the hymn with a lot of power. “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” has Elton flubbing lyrics with his motorbike in the second verse and the “Saturday” outroduction sounds really messy with all of the sports stars singing random harmony notes. “If The River Can Bend” makes its live debut on this show and it sounds very good as Elton sings the song with a ton of grit. The addition of the choir is also a fantastic choice as the choruses sound extremely powerful. The “Song For Guy/Believe” remix with the Pet Shop Boys is really quirky, but sounds very cool and it’s a refreshing take on the two songs. “The Cooking Oven Song” is a very amusing performance and it showcases Elton’s talent in coming up with melodies on the spot. “Philadelphia Freedom” is a very gutsy performance from Elton as he goes for the Bb4s on the “Philadelphia Freedom” lines at the start of the 2nd and 3rd choruses. He also sings the Bb4s at the start of the “yes I do” outroduction section. “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” sounds really good as Elton’s vocals are strong and he delivers the ballad with a ton of confidence. The duet with Sting on “Come Down In Time” is very interesting as the vocal deliveries are completely different between the two artists and it’s a very intriguing listen. To conclude the show, “Your Song” has Elton singing the hit song with excellence!
ENJOY!!!
Link to the video version: • An Audience with Elton...

[@blueflame1856]

I didn’t know Greg was the first British footballer player in the top 10 for a while, posting all that Elton has made you into a superb football player!

[@jasperworld5343]

Is this the last time he goes for the "yes I do" high note?

[@ncf1]

i dont remember this.. i wonder if the tv broadcast was truncated? Love some of the highs he goes for

[@GregsynthWizard]

I'm surprised how gutsy he is!