Elton Comes to Town

The Surprise Tickets

Elton came to town. Sir John, that is. We were in Huntingdon Sunday afternoon getting in an early season mountain bike ride through the hills overlooking Raystown Lake, when Ann got a call from Renee - free tickets to Elton John at the Bryce-Jordan arena back in State College if we could get home and ready in the next 2 hours.

Now I've never been a big fan of arena concerts (not even 30 years ago seeing Genesis at the Cleveland Colliseum - my last such event), and though I like some of John's songs, he's never been top of my list. But what an opportunity to try something we haven't done in decades. To join the crowds in town and see a Pop Icon, one of the most popular and successful male singer/songwriters of all time, in his natural environment - the arena. A can't miss event.

Ann Approaches Bryce-Jordan

Why he's never been tops with me? Maybe I never got over the 8th grade debate that split my class for my weeks - should John Denver or Elton John get the Grammy? I was in the Denver camp, but Elton got the Grammy. Of  course if you look at my music collection now, John Denver is nowhere to be seen, but I do count an "Elton John's Greatest Hits" among my possessions. In retrospect, I'd say the industry got it right, Elton is the better musician. So letting bygones be bygones, we scarfed a quick supper, and hiked up the hill through campus for an evening of entertainment.

Our tickets were for mid court, about half way up. Unfortunately, it wasn't a basket ball game, so all the action was at the end of the arena. The crowd was good, but not a sell out. The addition of large projection screens since my last arena concert is a big plus - now you can see who that tiny figure under the lights really is. Really this type of concert is more a live light show to music - the people are so small as to be incidental to the entertainment.

Vending Lines at the Concert

But there were lots of the tiny people. John travels with quite a band. A drummer (with the biggest, longest kick drum I've ever seen), a percussionist (with a second full drum kit in addition to the xylophone, bells, triange, etc.), keyboardist, electric bass, electric guitar, John himself on concert grand, and four backup singers. And Leon Russel for the second half of the show on another concert grand, highlighting their new joint album (including a nice song called "Ride that Whale"). Amazingly, the guitarist and drummer had been with Elton on his 1970 tour. All of 'em still making music 40 years later.

Elton John on the Big Screen

As soon as the music started, I remembered why I never liked arena concerts. It's loud, yes, but the real drag is the sound quality. The acoustics of a sports arena are horrific. I'd hoped that 30 years would have lead to some improvements in signal processing to improve the situation (and a well funded artist like this could certainly afford state of the art), but it was not to be. There really was no point in him playing a concert grand - you couldn't tell by the sound. He might as well have been playing an electronic piano. And the kick drum dominated everything - it didn't take long for every song to start sounding like the other.

Elton John has written some very good songs over the years, and I enjoyed hearing them again, but when everything sounds the same and has the same volume level, it detracts from experience for me. I longed for a big reduction in distortion and a greater use of dynamic range. In the end, it's the light show that's changed the most since 1982.

Interestingly, the best live rock concert I've ever been to was also in 1982 - King Crimson live at E. J. Thomas Performing Arts Center at Akron University. This time we're talking concert hall, newly built at the time with careful attention to acoustics. And a band very conscious of musicianship and musicality (this was the first reconstitution of King Crimson with Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, and Bill Bruford). Superb playing, attention to dynamic range, and sound quality. I've always wished I could go to that concert again - some of the best live music I've experienced of any style.

Still, the Elton John concert was worth doing as part of our State College experience. To step out of our every day habits and try something new (or something old long since left behind), even if only to confirm our past prejudices still hold.