19. This Town (Elton John - Live In Kansas City: 8/21/1986)

As requested by “TheEltonBootlegs,” I have decided to go back to the 1986 North American Tour and upload this show from Kansas City! This is one of his favorite shows from the tour leg and I hope he enjoys this upload. While the quality is harsh-sounding and overblown, it’s almost 100% complete and sounds better compared to older MP3 copies that I used to have. After having a bit of a rough vocal night at Cuyahoga Falls, Elton John’s next show in Kansas City is after a day off and the rest definitely did him some good. While still having strain on his voice with a weary edge to his singing, Elton delivers the material more successfully compared to the previous show with his vocal range, flexibility, and stamina being noticeably improved. Despite flubbing lyrics on some songs and Elton not being in full voice, this show is still a good highlight from the early part of this tour leg as the band are in great form with things beginning to really gel on a musical level. Now… time to go through everything… “Tonight” has Elton carefully navigating through the song, but he is able sing without sounding excessively rough and still is able to reach the last falsetto note. “One Horse Town” features Elton mixing up lyrics and while he pulls off the vocals decently well, there is noticeable strain heard throughout his range. “Better Off Dead” is a surprisingly good rendition (considering the time-frame and what’s later to come) as Elton doesn’t have much trouble singing the song and he even brings back more aggressive vocals in places. “Rocket Man” highlights Elton’s willingness to give his all (despite vocal issues) as he goes for some falsetto notes in the improvisational section and really pushes his voice to see how much flexibility it still has left. “Philadelphia Freedom” contains flubbed lyrics, but is a much better performance compared to Cuyahoga Falls as Elton’s voice is less restricted. “Burn Down The Mission” has Elton returning to a more gutsy vocal approach (similar to Clarkston) as he attempts the original vocal melodies in the choruses with a couple of liberties taken along the way. He also sounds very enthusiastic throughout the performance and the band sound very strong. “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” features Elton’s ever-increasingly fragile voice being pushed to nail high fourth octave belts and he even attempts a couple of C5s during the outroduction section. Davey Johnstone’s guitar also sounds really nice with his tastefully melodic style always being nice to hear. “The Bitch Is Back” is a highly spirited rendition with Davey and Fred Mandel really playing their asses off during their solo sections while Elton goes full-throttle on the overdrive and ignores that he has vocal nodules growing. “Song For You” has a ton of overdrive being prominently displayed and Elton gives a pretty inspired vocal performance of the Leon Russell classic. “Blue Eyes” contains some punchy and lively piano playing from Elton and the backing vocalists display great harmony work. “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” is a really strong rendition with both Elton and the band delivering the goods. “Levon” makes its tour debut and Elton gives an extremely brave effort as he goes for all of the main notes in the song while throwing in some embellishments from time to time. Concluding this section, “Paris” is a rock-solid version with Elton’s vocals still beating the studio version. “Restless” features an extremely high energy level with Elton not slowing down on the vocals and the rest of the band are in excellent form. “Bennie And The Jets” has Elton throwing his voice around to test out the waters and the third chorus has amusing phrasing in it. “Love Song” contains excellent harmonies throughout. “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” is a fun listen as Elton doesn’t let up on the aggressive vocals (despite the vocal damage) and throws a few vocal flourishes around for good measure. “This Town” is a punchy and robust rendition with the Ice On Fire track having some spicy musicianship throughout. “I’m Still Standing” has flubbed lyrics early on along with a few botched notes from the horn section. Elton goes for all of the chorus Ab4s, but the quality of the notes vary as the constant vocal thrashing and oversinging doesn’t do him any favors. “Nikita” features some great bass playing from David Paton and Elton sings the hit single reasonably well. “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” has Elton plowing valiantly through the song and surprisingly keeps his voice stable despite the wear and tear. “Candle In The Wind” contains some remnants of Elton’s softer tone and despite the “swollen” sound of his voice, he still delivers a pretty good version of the classic ballad. “Daniel” features some nice alternative phrasing choices from Elton as he maneuvers around his vocal issues like a professional. Lastly, “Your Song” has Elton going out with a bang as he oversings and embellishes throughout the performance! ENJOY!!!