Fan report by Dave Metcalfe.

Just got back from seeing the Red Piano show. I had made it well known that I thought this whole concept was old hat and boring. Watching Elton do 90 minutes of pure greatest hits in time to a back drop of pop art images and some rather dubious looking infltatables was not going to get my pulse racing.

As it turns out I was both correct in my feeings and totally wrong in the space of 105 minutes. The show started out with "Bennie and the Jets" which frankly I have always disliked. Tonight was no exception. This was followed in rapid succession by "Philadelphia Freedom", "Believe", "Daniel" (excellent as it is one of my all time favourite songs) and "Rocket Man".

No idea how long "Rocket Man" was in reality but it seemed like a week as ever to my ears. This was followed by a bland version of "I Guess That's Why They Call They Call It The Blues". By now my attention was beginning to wander to thoughts of which exit to use etc rather than what song was coming next.

So far the visuals on the giant screen had either had nothing specific to do with the song or had totally distracted you from it. Not good either way. Next though came "Someone Saved My My Life Tonight". Now I know this is my favourite Elton song but frankly it was great. However what made it even more so was that for the first time tonight the visuals added something to the song by being in total sympathy.

This was followed by "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". The show was on a roll. This kept going with "Tiny Dancer" and a lovely "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me".

"Candle In The Wind" worked well because it just the expected collage of images of Marilyn to back it without any kind of attempt at a clever twist. "Pinball Wizard" took us into the heart of Vegas with casinos and strip joints to the fore. This led nicely into "The Bitch Is Back" which saw 5 30 foot high Pamela Anderson's pole dancing on the video screens. It was like watching Baywatch on acid!

The gig then went into end mode with "I'm Still Standing" and a stage invasion of about 100 people for "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)". Then the final song as ever was Your Song. I really feel that the show needed to end on another up song rather than a ballad but hey who am I to dictate to Sir Elton.

All in all a very surprising night. The first six songs were my worst fears realised and the last eleven surpassed my wildest expectations for this format. I'm very glad I saw it but I never need to or want to see it again.

I cannot wait to see him on ITV on New Years Eve duetting with Will Young and, god forbid Alexandra Hallelujah crucifier. Especially given his anti X Factor comments at the O2 earlier in the week and his anti O2 Arena comments tonight in Manchester.

Let's face it he has yet to realise that what he says onstage echoes around the web in a few seconds and usually ends up making him look like a hypocrite.

Following is the complete set list of the Manchester show on December 20, 2008:

• Bennie and the Jets
  
• Philadelphia Freedom
  
• Believe
  
• Daniel
  
• Rocket Man
  
• I Guess That's Why They Call They Call It The Blues
  
• Someone Saved My My Life Tonight
  
• Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
  
• Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
  
• Tiny Dancer
  
• Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
  
• Candle In The Wind
  
• Pinball Wizard
  
• The Bitch Is Back
  
• I'm Still Standing
  
• Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
  
• Your Song

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