Gig review: Elton John, Falkirk Stadium

JUST days after entertaining the Queen, Elton John metaphorically cut the ribbon at Falkirk Stadium’s inaugural concert event, performing to a 15,000-strong crowd.

The 65-year-old showed no ill-effects from his recent, debilitating bout of pneumonia, hopping on top of his piano during The Bitch Is Back, dashing across the stage after Rocket Man and acknowledging his surroundings with occasional updates on the Euro 2012 scores.

For two and a half hours in mercifully clement weather, he treated those on the pitch and in the stands to a romp through his greatest hits. There was the occasional surprise, such as middling rocker Hey Ahab from his 2010 collaboration with US songwriter Leon Russell, elevated this evening by backing singer Lisa Stone’s piercingly high vocal.

Otherwise though, the set-list was largely as you’d expect, a hard-stomping Benny and the Jets; a sing-along Tiny Dancer with the singer’s mature bellow straining to hit certain notes and Candle In The Wind, gratifyingly the Marilyn Monroe rather than Diana Spencer version.

There was the occasional disappointment, a rather leaden Honky Cat, for example. But then Sad Songs (Say So Much) brought the rambunctious swagger of pub rock to the stadium. And for sheer anthemic chorusing, you can’t do much better than the likes of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Daniel and the rolling thunder of I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues. An eager, consummate showman throughout, John radiated statesman-like gravitas through Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, then snarled defiantly through I’m Still Standing. He is and more.

Rating: ****