6. Restless (Elton John - Live In Charlotte: 11/8/1984)

Since some of my subscribers absolutely love shows where Elton is either thrashing his voice, recklessly singing, high as a kite, and doing goofy phrasing on songs, I’d like to dedicate this upload to those fine folks! Hello everybody - welcome to the fucking fun house! This infamous show used to be on this channel years ago, but thanks to the fine efforts of “EltonStuff,” we have a nice upgrade to this show. The overall fidelity is higher compared to the old copy and the sound isn’t plagued by digital noise or other faults. This recording is also musically complete (although “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” may possibly be missing due to a tape flip) which can be a good or bad thing depending on what your thoughts are about the late 1984 shows! If the second and third Worcester shows were plagued by Elton’s state of mind, rough singing, and unpredictable song deliveries, then this gig makes them look like European Express concerts. This is one of the most reckless concert performances caught on tape from Elton’s 80s era. Likely due to being heavily intoxicated, Elton throws all subtlety out the window at this show and goes beyond overdrive mode. On every song, he forces his voice to its limit and sounds extremely strained while doing so. He also does random and reckless phrasing throughout the concert which sounds amusing at best and abysmal at worst. On top of his rough voice and erratic song deliveries, Elton also makes up lyrics and piano parts on select numbers - adding to this cataclysmic concert from Charlotte. The rest of the band sound great at this show with Nigel in particular having a good night at the office - it’s a shame that Elton’s altered state of mind overshadows the music! Now, time to get through these performances! “Tiny Dancer” features pushed singing with a roughened voice which doesn’t sound the greatest on the opening number of the concert. “Levon” has Elton making up lyrics and straining his way through the performance. “Li’l ‘Frigerator” has random and nonsensical lyrics along with vocal thrashing (especially during the chorus sections). In contrast, the guitar work from both Fred and Davey is brilliant. “Rocket Man” has Elton sounding rough throughout the performance, but Davey displays some great playing during the improvisational section. “Daniel” has a reckless Elton and he makes up piano licks in places. “Restless” is fantastic on the musical side as Nigel is really into the performance and Davey’s guitar solo is sublime. On the vocal side of things, it’s a different story as Elton grinds his voice, makes up lyrics, and the general singing sounds very forced. “Candle In The Wind” has obnoxious oversinging and piano playing that doesn’t fit the song very well. “The Bitch Is Back” has Elton being goofy with the phrasing and overdriving his voice to the point where it’s painful to listen to, but the guitar work shines from both Fred and Davey. “Who Wears These Shoes” has Elton’s well-executed growling technique on full display. “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” has Elton growling through the song and fumbling with his timings, but the band keep things together. Concluding this section, “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” features Elton’s ragged voice, but at least the performance is a bit better than the previous two Worcester versions! “Bennie And The Jets” has Elton destroying MTV to be silly, hating on MTV, being little destructive, straining his voice, grinding his voice through phrases, stuttering during the second verse, struggling on the high notes during the final chorus, doing silly phrasing in places, and messing up the piano. “Philadelphia Freedom” has rough singing along with some iffy intonation in places. “Blue Eyes” has Nigel not drumming for the first half of the song. Elton also stumbles on lines and plays random chords. “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” has Elton forgetting lyrics and singing with a chopped singing style in places. “Kiss The Bride” has Elton botching lyrics (as well as making up new ones like “and if the groom would have known he'd have had a shit”) and straining his way through the song. “I’m Still Standing” has Elton sounding ragged throughout the performance and he hilariously overshoots the notes in the chorus section after the guitar solo. “Your Song” has a different take on the introduction and Elton hits some clunkers on the piano. The vocals are also generally quite rough. “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” has a ton of reckless energy and Elton sure loves his overdrive and random lyrics! “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” has Elton displaying a rough tone and rushed phrasing, but at least his voice is more stable compared to the previous two Worcester performances of the same song. Finally, “Crocodile Rock” has random vocal phrasing, questionable intonation in places, Elton not singing at the end of the second chorus, and adding an additional “laa, la-la-la-la-laa” section before the final verse. ENJOY!!!