Fan report by Alberto Orlandini.

On December 16, 2003 I've been to Milan (Assago) to see Elton and his band live with a friend (singer of my band). The venue was Filaforum. I had a chemistry exam in the morning and I had planned to go there with my car, but just while I was driving to the highway to Milan my car decided to go on strike (probably it's a problem of battery or sparking plugs), so we had to leave the car on the edge of the road and hitchhike to the nearest railway station.

We arrived at the venue when there was already a lot of queue, but in the end we managed to get a good place quite near the stage on the lateral ring, that is good if you consider that the parterre in front of the stage was reserved only for VIPs and Elton's fan club members (115 Euros), while all the ones of the queue (40 Euros) could only take place in the lateral rings.

The concert was great, probably the best concert I ever attended, even better than Queen concerts (and keep in mind that Queen are my favourite band!). The sound was wonderful and better than any CD played on a hi-fi system! And Elton was great.

I especially liked "Funeral For A Friend", which was a lovely striking intro. "Rocket Man" was extended with a great piano impromptu and the delay on Elton's voices.
But my favourite moment of the whole show was the intro to "Take Me To The Pilot". It was a wonderful unique piano impromptu, like a sort of classic, then ragtime, then blues, and then again classic sonata.

He is a genius, he can make you feel a lot of feelings and emotions with his piano. "Sacrifice" was played by Elton alone and was wonderful. "Philadelphia Freedom" was played by Elton on his true miked grandpiano, but the sound was somehow processed because it didn't sound like a grandpiano.

The only bad thing was during the end of "Love Lies Bleeding", when there was a sort of black out of the amplifications which lasted two or three seconds.

Elton kept on drinking at the end of every song. He had a black jacket which was very smart. Sun glasses and short hair made him look younger. He changed his clothes after "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", and he entered on stage with a black overall. Before sitting at the piano he took the bunches of flowers of the fan club members and signed some of their records.

When there was a silent moment I shouted "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", but he wouldn't do that song. Then he sat at the piano for a special rendition of "Your Song", and then he left the stage.

The tracklist was like the one of Hamburg. He started at 21:00 and he finished at 23:30.

As to gear and crew, he played a true miked Yamaha black grandpiano. Davey Johnstone at the guitars, electric mandolin on "Ballad of The Boy In The Red Shoes", and vocals. Bob Birch at the bass and vocals. Guy Babylon at the keyboards. Nigel Olsson at drums and voice. John Mahon at percussions and voice. All the band sang, and some songs had wonderful vocal harmonies, especially the new ones ("This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore", "Ballad of The Boy In The Red Shoes", "The Wasteland", which sounded much much better live than on the album!) but also the old ones.

So we had some problems and accidents, but in the end we managed to see the guy live and the night will be unforgettable. Great sound. Great songs. Great impromptu. Great band. Great Elton!

Following is the complete set list of the Mila show on December 16, 2003:

• Funeral For A Friend
  
• Love Lies Bleeding
  
• Bennie And The Jets
  
• Daniel
  
• Someone Saved My Life Tonight
  
• Ballad Of The Boy In The Red Shoes
  
• Philadelphia Freedom
  
• The Wasteland
  
• Rocket Man
  
• I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
  
• I Want Love
  
• This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
  
• Take Me To The Pilot
  
• Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
  
• Sacrifice
  
• Candle In The Wind
  
• Are You Ready For Love
  
• Harmony
  
• All The Young Girls Love Alice
  
• The Bitch Is Back
  
• I'm Still Standing
  
• Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
  
• Crocodile Rock
  
  
• Pinball Wizard
  
• Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
  
  
• Your Song

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