Ovations for Sir Elton at Open Air stage
http://www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk/lifestyle/entertainment/ovations_for_sir_elton_at_open_air_stage_1_3452851
Sir Elton John plays the Scarborough Open Air Theatre to a sell-out, record crowd of 8500The legendary singer-songwriter wowed the sell-out 8,500 crowd with a dazzling performance that brought standing ovations from his adoring fans.
The 64-year-old defied the leaden skies to brighten up the venue with a string of massive hits during the two-and-a-half show. And he declared Scarborough a “wonderful” place to perform.
He said: “This is my first show of the summer in England and I couldn’t have asked for a better one.
“Thank you so much Scarborough, it was wonderful to be here.
“I have played all over the world but never at Scarborough and it has been a blast.”
Dressed in a sparkling black suit and purple shirt, Sir Elton flew into Scarborough direct from Venice after attending a major art exhibition with partner David Furnish and their son, Zachary.
After starting his set with a nostalgic return to his earliest work, he soon had fans jumping from their seats by belting out huge hits such as Candle in The Wind, Your Song, Sacrifice and Crocodile Rock, which had his followers dancing in the aisles.
And after performing his full setlist without a break, he impressed fans further by performing an encore of Circle of Life and I’m Still Standing, with fans taking over vocals, before signing autographs at the front of the stage.
After the show one fan, Audrey Wilson, of Newby, said: “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to get someone like him in Scarborough is amazing.
“The show was just fantastic,” she added.
Elton John may perform in Peru on September 1
http://www.andina.com.pe/Ingles/Noticia.aspx?Id=cq008PV+ors=
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Elton John - Lima, Jun. 06 (ANDINA). British singer Elton John is likely to perform in Lima on September 1st for the reopening of Peru’s Estadio Nacional (National Stadium). “The entrepreneurs have booked the stadium for September 1st for Elton John’s mega concert. This show will mark the reopening of the stadium for concerts and it is going to be great. Everything indicates that the concert is already confirmed,” said a spokesman of the Peruvian Sports Institute (IPD).
Entrepreneur Jorge Fernandez noted that "the negotiations with Elton John are advanced. We hope that everything works out so that we can confirm this concert on Wednesday.”
Furthermore, Fernandez said that Elton John will visit other South American countries such as Argentina and Chile, according to Lima-based daily Peru21.
In turn, the President of the Peruvian Sports Institute Arturo Woodman said, without giving any specific detail, that a mega concert will definitely take place on September 1st at the newly reopened National Stadium.
“We are working on the contract for the concert, but we still haven’t received all the documents,” said Woodman who also expressed his wish to see the famous Irish band U2 performing in the country.
‘The Union,’ Cameron Crowe’s Elton John Documentary, Airs On HBO In January
http://www.slashfilm.com/the-union-cameron-crowes-elton-john-documentary-airs-hbo-january/Posted on Monday, June 6th, 2011 by Germain Lussier
Six years have passed since we last saw a new Cameron Crowe movie and now we get three in five months. It starts in September with Pearl Jam Twenty, Crowe’s documentary on the influential Seattle grunge band. Then in December Crowe returns to narrative filmmaking with We Bought a Zoo starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, followed quickly in January by The Union, his documentary about Elton John‘s collaboration with Leon Russell. The first two films will be released in theaters but HBO has picked up The Union and will air it in January 2012. Read the press release and more after the break.
The information was courtesy of Crowe himself, who tweeted the press release:
HBO Documentary films has acquired the domestic TV rights to THE UNION from Vinyl Films, it was announced today. Directed by Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous,” “Jerry Maguire”), the film will debut on HBO in Jan. 2012.
“I’m a great fan of HBO and their extraordinary programming, so I’m particularly thrilled that they will be airing THE UNION,” commented Elton John.
THE UNION takes an unprecedented look at the creative life of Elton John and his remarkable collaborative album with his early-career idol, Leon Russell, produced by award-winning music producer T Bone Burnett. Never before filmed in his composing process, John is captured by Crowe in this candid portrait of one of the world’s most treasured artists and performers. Begun in Nov. 2009, THE UNION chronicles the entire writing and recording process of the heralded album John recorded with Russell.
The film had its world premiere as the opening night selection at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) represents Crowe and Burnett and negotiated the deal with HBO on behalf of the filmmakers.
THE UNION is directed by Cameron Crowe; produced by Cameron Crowe and Michelle Panek; executive producer, Johnny Barbis; editor, Kevin Long.
1,500 car parking spaces allocated for Elton John gig
Monday 6th June 2011, 7:00PM BST.
More than 1,500 car parking spaces have now been allocated for Sir Elton John’s concert in Shrewsbury this Sunday. About 16,000 people are expected to attend the gig at the Greenhous Meadow.
This will make it the largest music concert ever held in Shropshire.Concert-goers travelling to the show by car have until 5pm tomorrow to secure one of the remaining allocated parking spaces, with passes costing £8.
Ticketholders have been advised to allow extra time for their journey on Sunday.
A section of Oteley Road will be closed off to general and through traffic for the duration of the event.
Parking restrictions will be in place for Meole Estate, Meole Village, Sutton Park, Reabrook, Belle Vue South and Sutton Farm.
Shropshire Council has issued residents in those areas with parking passes.
Concert-goers will not be allowed to park in these areas. Drivers will also be banned from using the roads for dropping off and picking up people attending the event.
Those driving to the concert have been told the rear access gate to the stadium behind Sainsbury’s superstore will be closed.
The gig is due to start at about 6pm when support act Ed Drewett will take to the stage. Elton John will then arrive on stage at about 7pm.
Car parking passes can be purchased by calling (01743) 289177 or at www.shrews bury town.com
The parking spaces are all located within around 10 minutes’ walk from the stadium.
Read more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/06/06/1500-car-parking-spaces-allocated-for-elton-john-gig/#ixzz1OYdo0umN
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Written by Tracy Garnett.
You’ve played with so many musicians, what keeps you coming back to Elton John?
I think it’s the magic of the songs. Him and Bernie write these magical pieces of work that it’s hard not to come back to. I’ve been in it since 1968, I think, and I was with a band called Uriah Heep, Plastic Penny. But when we first started rehearsing me, Dee Murray and Elton in the late-’60s, within the first eight bars of rehearsing, I knew that was the kind of music I wanted to play.
When you’re playing on an Elton John song, do approach the drums differently than you would for, say, Uriah Heep?
I leave out a lot of stuff that other drummers would probably put in. Less is more for me. I tend to keep away from overdoing drum fills over important lyrics or important guitar licks. I’m basically a timekeeper, and I think I’m quite good at that, but it’s what you leave out. People are expecting you to do a fill and you leave it out, it’s like, “Oh, cool.”
I wanted to ask about what is arguably the quintessential Elton John song, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” How did you approach the drums for that song?Those are the kinds of songs that I love to play. I’d rather play those big fat ballads than those “Saturday Night’s All Right” kind of up-tempo stuff. I can put more in the ballads; I can feel it so much better and play to the low end of the piano and the lyrics. I’m a descriptive drummer. Basically, I’m a balladeer.
Were you inspired by those kinds of drummers, balladeers?
Ringo Starr, he’s the key for me. Ringo and Charlie Watts. Although I loved Keith Moon—he was a good mate of mine. I loved John Bonham. Ringo, still to this day, I model myself after him.
I know Elton had a good friendship with John Lennon. Do you have any good stories from that period?
John hung with us a lot of times. He’s come out on tour, he’d be in the studio with us, when we did “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” he was down there. There was actually one time when we played, it was his last concert that he ever did, at Madison Square Garden, and he’d come up to Boston Garden just to run through a couple of songs that we were going to play in New York, and he looked at my drums and said, “How many mics you got on those drums?” And I said, “Maybe thirteen, fourteen.” And he said “Fuck me, we were lucky to get three for the vocals when we played.” He was a lovely man, and he’s missed. I think the world would be maybe a little bit different if he was still around.
How did you get that classic 1970s drum sound—that muffled, chunky sound?
I had a factory just outside of Chicago build me a custom kit, and everything was oversized. With the toms being very long and deep, they had lower tones. I used to tune them very low. I would tighten it finger tight, and then half a turn so they wouldn’t fall out, so they were basically flapping around. Plus in the studio, we would close-mic the drums and then put a couple of microphones way, way up in the ceiling, as far away as possible, and mix that in with the close sound.
Did you tune them?
No, we just did it by ear.
Do you still try to get that old sound?
I don’t have them as low tuned as I used to, they still have a lot of depth to them. When they build kits for me, they know I like the low tones.
You talk a lot about the chemistry of the old days, where you’d just sit down and it would come out. Is that still there now that the band is back together?It’s not the same because of the technology. I hate click tracks and all that kind of stuff—I think that takes a lot of the feeling and heart out of the music. Whereas before, we’d hear the song being written and go into the studio and cut it five minutes later without click tracks, we’d just play it as we felt it. What I do now when we’re in the studio, I tell them to turn the click off. I enjoy it still, but the old days were the key for me. The machinery kind of took the heart out of it, but we can still make great records.
What do you think has made your career last so long?
I think it’s basically, I learned by other people’s mistakes. I kind of sit back and look and listen and take things in and I’m always make sure to be nice to people, treat them as you would want to be treated. That’s the British upbringing in me. And just appreciate that I have this given talent that can make people smile, and when people come up to me and want me to sign a picture or an autograph, that’s a knockout for me, to know I’ve been able to make someone’s day.
