Fan report by Mireille Herz.

The concert took place at Moenchengladbach’s hockey stadium. Since there are few big hockey matches, the place is mostly used for concerts. That works fine because the venue is not as large as a ‘real’ stadium, maybe 10,000 seats.

Bright Light Bright Light, the opening act, took the stage at about 6:15 pm and played for half an hour. The music was well-received even though spectators were just filing into the venue at the time.

The first bars of “Funeral” started at exactly 7:00 pm, and Elton came on stage shortly afterwards. He was wearing his blue ensemble with the “Madman Across The Water” embroidery on the back.

Elton remarked that exactly one week ago he had watched the soccer World Cup Final. He had been a fan of the German team all along and was more than happy that they won. Huge cheers from the crowd.

The set list was almost the same as in Mainz and Kiel only “Sad Songs” was missing. During “Alice” Elton and the entire band kept laughing, and Elton altered some of the lyrics to feature “dumb blondes” and the like. I later learnt that Davey Johnstone had accidently forgotten “Sad Songs” and just started the intro of “Alice” after “Someone Saved”.

Towards the end of the show, Elton introduced the band members. Davey Johnstone was visibly scared imagining what kind of a joke name his boss would choose in reference to his lapse just before. This fear proved unfounded because Elton said everyone’s real names.

After about 2:15 hrs the show ended and the overture of “The Lion King” was played.

1. Funeral for a Friend
   
2. Love Lies Bleeding
   
3. Bennie And The Jets
   
4. Candle In The Wind
   
5. Grey Seal
   
6. Levon
   
7. Tiny Dancer
   
8. Philadelphia Freedom
   
9. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
   
10. Rocket Man
    
11. Hey Ahab
    
12. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
    
13. The One (solo)
    
14. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (solo)
    
15. Your Song
    
16. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
    
17. All The Girls Love Alice
    
18. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
    
19. The Bitch Is Back
    
20. I'm Still Standing
    
21. Your Sister Can’t Twist But She Can Rock'n Roll
    
22. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
    
    
23. Circle of Life / Can You Feel the Love Tonight (solo)
    
24. Crocodile Rock

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