Elton John 1992 tour rehearsal clips

[SamuelBLupowitz]

Thought I wouldn't be the only one who enjoyed these behind-the-scenes snippets from the rehearsals for "The One" tour, followed by a full performance of Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (enhanced by some truly dreadful early 90s synth brass and organ sounds). Very cool to see some folks who would form the core of his latter-era band for many years very early in their tenure... and of course, the incomparable Davey Johnstone holding it all together on guitar.

 

 

[analogika]

That is a really nice stage design. 

 

Shame about the horns.

[Justin Havu]

Elton has been a hero of mine since I was about 6 or 7, and one of the reasons I own an RD-1000.

[Outkaster]

I take it for the context it was in.  I lived through those years.

[Montunoman 2]

I always liked Nigel Olsson’s drumming on the old records. I wonder why he wasn’t touring with Elton? 

[Analogaddict]

I saw that tour..! 👌

[SamuelBLupowitz]

1 hour ago, Montunoman 2 said:

I always liked Nigel Olsson’s drumming on the old records. I wonder why he wasn’t touring with Elton? 

They parted ways for a couple of stretches in the late 70s as well as the mid-80s through 90s. You know how it goes with big artists and their sidemen sometimes. Nigel rejoined the band around 2000 for good.

[Montunoman 2]

1 hour ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

They parted ways for a couple of stretches in the late 70s as well as the mid-80s through 90s. You know how it goes with big artists and their sidemen sometimes. Nigel rejoined the band around 2000 for good.

Yeah, I get it. But I do think all those great albums Elton did in the 70’s had a special sound in part due to the chemistry of the  self contained band rather than all studio musicians. 

[SamuelBLupowitz]

18 hours ago, Montunoman 2 said:

Yeah, I get it. But I do think all those great albums Elton did in the 70’s had a special sound in part due to the chemistry of the  self contained band rather than all studio musicians. 

Oh, I 100% agree with you. Nigel just *is* Elton's drummer, much the way (with apologies to Chuck Burgi) Liberty Devitto "is" Billy Joel's. I often consider those "core sidemen" to be as much a part of an artist's sound as the artist themself. And even though people at Elton's level have the privilege of choosing from the best pros in the biz, when an individual musician's voice imprints on so much of your most beloved music, it's hard not to miss it. Hell, Bob Birch played with Elton for over two decades and was an absolutely killer player, and I still think of the late Dee Murray as "the guy" with him. I know this might not be how everyone feels, but I've always gotten attached to the sound of the ensemble around these big "solo" artists.

We all have to adapt to change in this life, and just because an artist's sound changes doesn't mean they won't do wonderful work moving forward. But it's been great to hear Nigel in the drum throne for this later portion of Elton's touring and (to a lesser extent) recording career.

[ABECK]

On 1/23/2023 at 6:44 PM, justin_havu said:

Elton has been a hero of mine since I was about 6 or 7, and one of the reasons I own an RD-1000.

I always dug the "Throne" setup he had with his RD-1000, flanked by stacked monitor wedges.  While arguably not very "piano" sounding, there's something about it that worked well for him.  We had one in the studio I worked at and we did everything we could to make it sound less like an RD-1000 (running it through amps, distorting it, layering it, etc...).  It was a good feeling keybed, IIRC.  I would love to pick one up as a studio piece if I ever came across a cheap local deal.

[Justin Havu]

47 minutes ago, ABECK said:

I always dug the "Throne" setup he had with his RD-1000, flanked by stacked monitor wedges.  While arguably not very "piano" sounding, there's something about it that worked well for him.  We had one in the studio I worked at and we did everything we could to make it sound less like an RD-1000 (running it through amps, distorting it, layering it, etc...).  It was a good feeling keybed, IIRC. 

 

From what I remember, it was easier to mix in a loud rock setting than an acoustic piano.  IIRC, he still used an MKS20 when he switch back to using a traditional piano (I think it was a Yamaha Disklavier setup.)

 

And yes, I love the keybed.  I have yet to come across a modern digital piano that feels as good as the RD does under my hands.  The problem with using it as a master controller, and this is notorious with a bunch of Roland boards that came out around this period, is that it sends an All-Notes-Off MIDI CC after the last key is released, which makes using quite a bit of plugins with the RD extremely frustrationg.  If I could ever find a workaround for that, without having to get a MIDI Solutions box and tediously programming the thing, I'd be extremely grateful.

[LarsHarner2]

This tour was the first time I saw Elton- September '92 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. My favorite part was the pairing of the Last Song followed by Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.

A friend of mine had a RD-300 (i Know it was a RD) in the late 80's into the 90's I loved how it felt as well. 

[HammondDave]

On 1/23/2023 at 1:23 PM, SamuelBLupowitz said:

Thought I wouldn't be the only one who enjoyed these behind-the-scenes snippets from the rehearsals for "The One" tour, followed by a full performance of Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (enhanced by some truly dreadful early 90s synth brass and organ sounds). Very cool to see some folks who would form the core of his latter-era band for many years very early in their tenure... and of course, the incomparable Davey Johnstone holding it all together on guitar.

 

 

 

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!