Fan report by Marcel Zürcher.

After the wonderful Elton & Band shows in Nuremberg and Stuttgart in July 2009 we decided to add another Elton & Ray-Concert to our list. Grenoble is just one hour away from Geneva. In May we booked the Paris show for next Friday, October 2, 2009.

It was all worth it. Peter and Daniel came with me. The 4+ hours car drive went fastly with less traffic. Just a few minutes from the Palais des Sports Arena we found a place for Daniel’s car. On 5 p.m. we sat down at the street coffee near the stadium – without coffee on the card.

In the arena we bought the very beautiful tour programme and the special t-shirt. The arena was full with red carpets, which gave the stadium a warm atmosphere.

Shortly after 7 p.m. Elton entered the stage and moved into a strong version of "The One". The set list was almost the same as the nights before. The whole Elton solo part was one highlight! All songs – mostly ballads – became a great feedback from the audience. Especially "The Emperor’s New Clothes". Elton unterstood it again to put some boogie to the song. What a fantastic rendition! He gave a moving introduction to "American Triangle": „Eleven years ago, in Wyoming, USA, a young boy was murdered in the most horrible way, because he was gay. He’s name was Matthew Shepard. When it happend, I was outraged and wanted to write a song about the needless and senseless murder because of someone’s sexual orientation.“. Elton had then a short blackout during the first part about the next chord – and saved it with singing it for 2-3 seconds without the piano. He replaced "House" and "Blues Never Fade Away" with "Nikita". "Skyline Pigeon" and "Original Sin" were also wonderful to hear Elton singing them solo.

Ray Cooper then joined the stage during "Funeral For A Friend/Tonight". What a power! All the effects fitted perfectly. During "Better Off Dead" Ray added a new 'marching' part. "Indian Sunset" was definitively outstanding – and so was "I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself". During the intro to "Take Me To The Pilot" he played some notes of The Marseillaies. The stage was stormed by fans directly after "Blessed". "Crazy Water" sounded great. He then signed autographs for maybe five minutes. I was lucky to receive one on my Songs From The West Coast-CD-Cover. During "Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)" he mixed a short part of "I’m Still Standing" into it.

Many thanks to Peter, who was the first, who bought the Grenoble Ticket and to Daniel for join us and drive the whole way. Also thanks to Concert Live for the outstanding recording.

And we’re looking forward to see the „2-Man-Show“ for their last one in Paris on Friday, October 2, 2009.

Following is the complete set list of the Grenoble show on September 27, 2009:Elton solo

• The One
  
• Sixty Years On
  
• The Greatest Discovery
  
• Border Song
  
• The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes
  
• The Emporer's New Clothes
  
• Rocket Man
  
• The Weight of the World
  
• American Triangle
  
• Skyline Pigeon
  
• Nikita
  
• Tiny Dancer
  
• Original Sin
  
• Your Song

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