Fan report and photos by Ronniefriend.

Elton John and the band performed at Borås Arena in Sweden on a beautiful and sunny mid-summer evening after a whole weekend of rain! Elton himself said that he was happy to be in Sweden, at the first of the summer concerts where it wasn’t raining! We were very fortunate with a great evening for a great show! The set list was the same as before and it was performed wonderfully!

Elton wore the beautiful jacket that you see in the summer’s tour program – with decorations of pianos, guitars, juke box and music notes all over it and the words “Music Magic” on the back. Elton seemed to be in a good mood, talking and joking much more than he often does in Sweden! Among other jokes he introduced Davey Johnstone as a former member of the group Fat Ass, which might have been a joke on Elton’s attempt to say the name of the town – Borås! All the band couldn’t stop laughing as Davey paraded across the stage.

Elton’s piano playing and the powerful and prominent sound of the piano was absolutely brilliant! "Burn Down The Mission" was especially spectacular. The band totally rocked with "All The Girls Love Alice". "I Want Love" was well done and good to hear again – though it seemed a bit strange to occasionally see glimpses of Robert Downey, Jr. on the video screens.

A very special highlight was "Skyline Pigeon" as a full band version. Beautifully and powerfully done. With images of birds flying on the video screens behind Elton, combined with the real birds that happened to be flying in the gorgeous blue sky overhead, it was stunning! It was even well received for being a song that probably many in the audience didn’t know.

As Elton and the band began "Are You Ready For Love" Elton said, “OK, dance time!” and many of us went forward to the stage area, singing and dancing with Elton towering over us. It was so fun! When he came out for encores he shook a few hands and signed a few autographs – starting with mine! I got him to sign my CD cover from "The Captain & The Kid." He wasn’t even in such a hurry as he is sometimes – he very nicely signed both names – “Elton John”! I even got the chance to shout to him what a great album it was and he smiled at me and said, “Thank you”!

Of course we all sang along with all the words to "Your Song" at the close and Elton (also unusual) came back to us at the front of the stage and shook a few more hands and said to us below (not in the microphone) “Thank you for a great night! Take care!”

It was a fantastic night and a fantastic show with Captain Fantastic himself!

Following is the complete set list of the Boras show on June 21, 2009:

• Funeral For A Friend
  
• Love Lies Bleeding
  
• Saturday Night Alright (For Fighting)
  
• Burn Down The Mission
  
• Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
  
• I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
  
• Daniel
  
• Honky Cat
  
• I Want Love
  
• Rocket Man
  
• Sad Songs (Say So Much)
  
• Take Me To The Pilot
  
• Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
  
• Tiny Dancer
  
• Sacrifice
  
• Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
  
• All The Young Girls Love Alice
  
• Candle In The Wind (solo)
  
• Skyline Pigeon
  
• Are You Ready For Love
  
• Bennie And The Jets
  
• The Bitch Is Back
  
• Crocodile Rock
  
• I’m Still Standing
  
• Your Song

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