Fan report by Tony Centofante.

Elton John and his band started the second half of their grueling US Tour (three cities down in 11 days) at the new Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia on November 19, 2003.

The show was unusual before the first note was played. Starting time on the ticket said 8:30 p.m. There are a couple of possible reasons for this. The first is Duluth is a Northeast suburb of Atlanta and can be a traffic nightmare to get to. This was our first trip to the one year old arena. Because of traffic and lack of directions, we were one of the last to arrive. The parking was free but the last to arrive had to create their own parking spaces on the curbs.

Also, after the show lots were let out one at a time meaning some were still sitting in their cars well after the concert. While the facility is mainly used for minor league hockey, it is disappointing there was not enough foresight to properly plan for sold out events like Elton John.

Thankfully, Elton was not in the rush that Stephan noticed at the Atlantic City show. By the way, thank you Stephan for always saying what you feel needs to be said even when it is not what Elton fans want to hear.

Anyway, when I read that review, I knew that this show taking place in his favorite city would rebound. I was not disappointed.

The show started at 8:35 p.m. and we arrived in our seats during "Funeral For A Friend". One thing I noticed immediately was that this show was louder than any I had heard before. Perhaps it was because he was in a smaller arena than usual or maybe we were sitting in front of a speaker.

The next thing I noticed is how this setlist (same as the other three shows) flows more smoothly than other tours. Instead of one up tempo and then one slow tempo song, similarly paced songs are grouped together.

While I am like Stephan in that I wished more rarities were played, Elton had some new arrangements to some traditional favorites. While I usually take a nap during the last 20 minutes of "Rocket Man", the band has reworked the ending and taken it another level.

The crowd gave this song one of their loudest ovations of the night. Elton also added a little blues to the end of "I Guess That's Why They Called It The Blues" and had a new piano solo to start "Take Me To The Pilot".

There were a couple of slow spots during the show. Elton practically apologized to the crowd after the lack of response to "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore". Elton said it was "one of my favorites". Well, as long as he was happy. I think playing four songs from a two year old album was more than this audience wanted to hear.

Elton did mention he may be back playing in Atlanta real soon because he is recording his first new album here starting in January 2004. Elton also mentioned he was working on "Billy Elliott" and "The Vampire Lestat". Unfortunately, no new material was previewed tonight.

Elton sent the band away for a couple of songs and did "a song I rediscovered in rehearsal with the band": "Come Down In Time" followed by "a song with three different lives": "Candle In The Wind". These were the only two songs different for the fans who saw him at The Tabernacle earlier this year.

Speaking of that, those fans must have chuckled when Elton then introduced the next three songs as "ones we have not played in many years" before going into "Dixie Lily". That was one of the very few songs that the band could have improved on. I was thinking to myself how much better it sounded when John Jorgenson was in the band.

But, almost everything else was done to perfection. "Levon" was great to hear again and had an extended ending.

Almost 11:00 p.m. and the encores have just begun. It is going to be a late show tonight! A new twist to the first encore as there was not the usual long period of silence. Instead, the exact opening of the 1993 tour has been recycled leading into what was the opening song of that tour: "Pinball Wizard". That was a nice touch Clive Franks. It also caused Elton to have to rush back to the stage as he almost missed his cue to start the song.

And then a little surprise to end the show and perhaps someone in the UK can report on exactly what was going on. This might be the other reason why the concert started at 8:30 p.m. Elton said that we are now going to go live to the UK and "Top Of The Pops" with this song. If he meant "live" literally, "Your Song" was aired in the UK at 5:08 a.m. Perhaps he meant a "live" version would eventually air there. Anyway, this announcement left me with some hope something additional might happen such as a live satellite interview or maybe an additional song such as "Sacrifice" for the UK would be played. But, the concert ended there at 11:13 p.m.

On the drive home, 92.3 FM in Chattanooga played "The Heart Of Every Girl". That was the first time we had heard it and a fitting conclusion to another great evening with Elton John.

Following is the complete set list of the Duluth show on November 19, 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
  
• Come Down In Time
  
• Candle In The Wind
  
• Dixie Lily
  
• Harmony
  
• All The Young Girls Love Alice
  
• The Bitch is Back
  
• Tiny Dancer
  
• Levon
  
• 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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