Fan report by Stephan Heimbecher.

Executive summary: Wow!

Elton kicked off what was going to be the his 58th show at Madison Square Garden at 8.10 pm with "Weight Of The World", the first song from his latest album "Peachtree Road". Afterwards, he explained the three part concept of the show: He was about to do seven more songs from "Peachtree Road", eight songs from "Captain Fantastic" and then he would switch to jukebox mode, i.e. greatest hits.

A rather strange and unusual show concept, but it worked - at least for the die-hard fans, and there must have been quite a few at the sold out Garden this night. Most of which stayed through the 3 1/2 hours show.

Elton continued to introduce each and everything during the "Peachtree Road" set and very often gave some background information about what the song was all about, e.g. "This is about us - us freaks" (when introducing "Freaks In Love"). Those of you who read my "Peachtree Road" review might remember that I didn't like "They Call Her The Cat". Well, as ecpected it turned out to be a great live song.

At 8.50 pm it was about time to launch into the "Captain Fatastic" set with a great rendition of the title track. The following "Bitter Fingers" sounded great live, but "Tell Me When The Whistle Blows" was just an awesome, super cool performance with Davey Johnstone grooving on the "Captain Fantastic" guitar.

"(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket" came across as a great rock song, and the final "Curtains" finished with a climax driven by the fabulous The Voice of Atlanta Choir while the names of former and current band members appeared on the LED curtain in the back of the stage.

It was 9.35 pm when Elton finally started with the 'normal' part of the show, shooting off hit after hit. "Rocket Man" was outstanding as always, as was "Levon" - with a new piano intro and the wonderful support of the choir.

As at the nights before, Elton dedicated "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" to the late Ray Charles. And later that night there was another dedication when he performed "Empty Garden" for John Lennon who was shot almost 25 years ago.

Towards the end of the night, Elton signed many, many autographs before launching into "Crocodile Rock" via a brief "Happy Birthday". And finally, he came back on stage wearing a jumper suit labeled "Super Soul" on the back, before the final encore "Your Song".

At 11.35 pm the lights went on again bringing an unusual yet unforgettable show to an end. The only light disappointment was the continuing lack of "Tower of Babel" and "Writings" during the "Captain Fantastic" set. But hey, we can still hope for tomorrow ...

Following is the complete set list of the New York show on September 23, 2005:

• Weight Of The World
  
• Porch Swing In Tupelo
  
• Answer In The Sky
  
• Turn The Lights Out When You Leave
  
• My Elusive Drug
  
• They Call Her The Cat
  
• Freaks In Love
  
• All That I'm Allowed
  
• Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
  
• Bitter Fingers
  
• Tell Me When The Whistle Blows
  
• Someone Saved My Life Tonight
  
• (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket
  
• Better Off Dead
  
• We All Fall In Love Sometimes
  
• Curtains
  
• Funeral For A Friend
  
• Love Lies Bleeding
  
• Bennie And The Jets
  
• Daniel
  
• Take Me to The Pilot
  
• Rocket Man
  
• I Guess That's Why The Call It The Blues
  
• Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
  
• Tiny Dancer
  
• Philadelphia Freedom
  
• Sad Songs (Say So Much)
  
• Empty Garden
  
• Levon
  
• Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
  
• The Bitch Is Back
  
• Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
  
• Crocodile Rock
  
• Your Song

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