2. Levon (Elton John - Live In St. Paul: 9/18/1984)

Up until this point, I was enjoying myself immensely while going through all of Elton’s 1984 concerts. Most of the gigs were at least a great listen in general and I could find many great things about all of those shows. When it comes to Elton’s concert in St. Paul on the Breaking Hearts Tour, things are completely thrown out of proportion. This is an upgraded copy with pretty good quality and it is musically complete. Normally, that is a great thing with these recordings - but this upload is an exception to the rule! While the previous two Elton John gigs weren’t anything outstanding, they at least had a relatively sensible Elton and the performances were generally pretty fair. At this St. Paul show, Elton is completely stoned out of his mind and it drastically affects his performances throughout the recording. Going off of the available recordings, this show is likely the worst one from not only the entire 1984 tour, but is a candidate for his worst show in the prime live era! While Elton’s voice seems to be in pretty good shape - his mental state, song deliveries, and phrasing choices are on a completely different planet. Just about every song has Elton doing random phrasing, having issues with intonation, and recklessly overdriving his voice. Lyrics also don’t seem to be a major concern during this show as Elton botches them throughout. The rest of the band seems to be in fine form, but the musical prowess is overshadowed by Elton’s stoned state. Now, time to discuss these performances! “Tiny Dancer” has Elton singing all of the key notes, but the cadences of his delivery sound off in spots. “Levon” has erratic phrasing choices and Elton’s intonation is off in some areas. Elton also decides to hit random falsetto notes towards the end of the performance for good measure. “Li’l ‘Frigerator” is the worst version as Elton completely botches the arrangement (skipping the second half of the first verse and goes into the chorus) which throws off the entire band (it takes until the second chorus for everybody to get back on track). He also misses notes, does nonsensical phrasing, and his voice gives out in a few spots. “Rocket Man” has an interesting improvisational section (to say the least) with Elton playing aggressively and playing around with his voice in unique ways. “Daniel” has random oversinging and some sour intonation from the crazy man with the straw boater hat. “Restless” has randomness throughout, but at least it fits the song (compared to most of the other performances). “Candle In The Wind” has lyrical flubs, vocal breaks, oversinging, and note choices that don’t make sense. “The Bitch Is Back” has great energy, but Elton sings bum notes in spots and the backing harmonies aren’t clean in places. “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” is one of the worst versions from the era as Elton recklessly sings the song, flubs lyrics throughout, and nearly train-wrecks the band in the last verse. “Who Wears These Shoes” has Elton oversinging and singing off key in spots. “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” has Nigel stumbling over his fill going into the first verse, Elton flubbing lyrics, and Elton also sloppily embellishing. “Bennie And The Jets” sums up Elton’s craziness as he does random phrasing in the third chorus and breaks a piano string during the improvisational section. Concluding this section, “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” is one of the better performances of the night as Elton is more under control (although he still sings sour notes). “Philadelphia Freedom” has Elton not singing some of the higher notes cleanly and also does drop phrasing at the song’s outroduction. “Blue Eyes” has Elton sounding wobbly in places and some of the phrasing towards the end of the song sounds weird. “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” has random oversinging and a lyrical stumble. “Kiss The Bride” has Elton singing some of the choruses in a similar way to 1989 versions, but the performance isn’t too bad overall. “One More Arrow” is the worst version caught on tape as Elton completely bungles the lyrics in the first chorus, chops up phrasing, and does random oversinging that kills the performance. “Too Low For Zero” has rushed phrasing and botched lyrics, but has great harmonies during the second chorus and the piano solo is pretty good. “I’m Still Standing” has Davey’s guitar being out of tune at the beginning and Elton fumbling words. “Your Song” is probably the best performance of the night as Elton mostly sticks to straight-forward phrasing and even goes for the C5 at the end. “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” has Elton missing the C5 on the second “diesel train,” but the band performance shines and there is great energy emitting from all involved. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” has the “Walls Pork Sausages” lyric among random rushed phrasing and Elton not hitting some of the chorus falsetto notes on top. Finally, “Crocodile Rock” features Elton stumbling over lyrics and doing random phrasing! ENJOY!!!