Fan report by Emil Christensen.

It was the 4th of July and today Elton was coming to town. He had chosen a location in front of a beautiful castle in the south of Denmark, not far from the German border. And what made the surroundings even better was the beautiful, sunny weather with temperatures reaching 25 degrees Celsius. The perfect conditions for an outdoor show.

Though it was a beautiful evening at a beautiful venue, the location was mostly reserved for people who owned a car. The venue is very far from a major town and many people had to travel far. For instance, I had to travel for almost 6 hours by train before reaching the venue. However, I think Elton tried to compensate for the cancelled concert at the very same venue in 2009 by returning to the same venue. With that being said, it was worth the long travel.

The concert started at exactly 8 pm and a pre-recorded announcement was showed on the screens next to the stage. It was Elton who introduced the 2CELLOS, which are the newest members of the band, and they entered the stage. I must praise those guys for having such an amazing energy. They are both incredible musicians, but also fantastic performers and a great live act. After a couple of songs on their own John Mahon joined them on percussion for their cover of “Highway to Hell”. Together, they finished the song and the rest of the band entered the stage.

Elton came on stage during the opening bit of “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” to a massive roar from the audience. He wore a black suit embroidered with red sequins and a big, sparkling rose on the back of his jacket. Elton sounded a bit rough, but this was also his third show in a row, so no wonder. Fortunately, his voice turned better as the show went on and after a couple of songs, his voice was in top form. Elton played a wonderful version of “Mona Lisa’s & Mad Hatters” with Davey Johnstone on the mandolin and the 2CELLOS accompanying Elton on piano. What were even better were the fantastic ladies in the choir who gave a whole new depth to the song.

Next highlight was “Hey Ahab” which comes from Elton’s latest album, “The Union”. It was a great rock song which fitted perfect into the set list. The audience also seemed to like it. Elton said, before playing “Sacrifice”, that the song and the whole of the album “Sleeping with the Past” was recorded two hours from where the concert took place in Randers near Aarhus. This always makes the Danish audience happy and it makes me proud being Danish that Elton chose to record an album in Denmark.

What made me happy was that Elton played “Honky Cat” which was my first time hearing that song live. I don’t think he plays that song enough with the band, but it was great hearing it. Also “Grey Seal” and “Mona Lisa’s & Mad Hatters” were debuts to me.

“Nikita”, which is a big hit in Denmark, was played in a solo piano arrangement which sounded great and the audience loved it. There was applause during the first line of the song and a massive applause when the song finished. And the same thing about “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”. It was another fantastic highlight from the show. During the band introduction Elton did a lot of joking around and he gave several of the band members alternate names and he joked about various band names and names on albums. Great to see the band having a laugh.

What I noticed was that Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone were about to play “Are You Ready for Love” which Elton stopped during the opening chords of the song. He ordered Nigel to count down to play “I’m Still Standing” which to me was a bit of a disappointment since I have not heard “Are You Ready for Love” live yet. But “I’m Still Standing”, “The Bitch Is Back”, and “Crocodile Rock” were all great rock songs to make the climax. Elton went off stage and returned to thank the audience and the Danish people for being such a wonderful audience. He dedicated Your Song to the audience and the concert was over.

Thank you, Elton, for making this day such an amazing experience!

Following is the complete set list of the Augustenborg show on July 4, 2012.

1. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
   
2. Bennie And The Jets
   
3. Grey Seal
   
4. Levon
   
5. Tiny Dancer
   
6. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters
   
7. Philadelphia Freedom
   
8. Candle In The Wind
   
9. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
   
10. Rocket Man
    
11. Hey Ahab
    
12. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
    
13. Sacrifice
    
14. Funeral For A Friend
    
15. Love Lies Bleeding
    
16. Honky Cat
    
17. Daniel
    
18. Nikita (solo)
    
19. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (solo)
    
20. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
    
21. Sad Songs (Say So Much)
    
22. I'm Still Standing
    
23. The Bitch Is Back
    
24. Crocodile Rock
    
    
25. Your Song

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