Customer Reviews

Elton John: Elton 60 - Live at Madison Square Garden

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I was there the night of March 25th 2007 and what an evening it was. I know that's cliche but of the 9 times I have seen him, this was the absolute best show I have seen yet. Not only did he play for 3 1/2 hours, but he rocked it out like only the greatest of all time can. To hear his voice now performing 60 Years On to open his 60th birthday was beautiful, and that was just the first of 33 songs! He played for the die hard fans Where to Now St Peter, Ballad of a Well Known Gun, All the Young Girls Love Alice, and many others we haven't heard live in well over 20 years at least. If you're an Elton fan, you most defiantely have to get this. You'll fall in love all over again. If you are just a casual Elton listener, this will make you really understand how wonderful he truly is, and hopefully get you to dig deeper into the archive that is Reg Dwight's music. I will never forget that night forever. It was simply amazing and now everyone will get to experience just how magical the evening was.

When you throw in all of the bonus features, this totals about 4 hours worth of live performances. 90% Elton's hits are here in some form, many of them more than once. It also comes with a small booklet that contains about 20 pages of killer photos. In this day and age of aging rock stars cashing in on cheaply made and poorly executed "products", this one is a goldmine.

Elton may sound a bit more ragged as a singer these days, but this excellent DVD demonstrates why he and his partner, lyricist Bernie Taupin, must be regarded as one of the great songwriting duos in popular music. This commemorative DVD celebrates not only his 60th birthday, but also his 60th live concert at one of his favorite venues, New York City's Madison Square Garden. Drawing primarily from his early 1970s catalog, Elton and his current band - which includes long-time band mates guitarist Davey Johnstone and drummer Nigel Olsson - gave the audience a truly memorable show, which also featured cellist Martin Tillman and a New York City youth chorus. Among the highlights include memorable performances of such early Elton John classics as "Where to Now Saint Peter?", "Hercules" and "High Flying Bird", as well as more recent hits such as "Empty Garden" - his memorable tribute to John Lennon - "Sad Songs (Say So Much)", "Something About The Way You Look Tonight", and last, but not least, "The Bridge", from his latest album, "The Captain and The Kid". The bonus DVD includes live performances spanning four decades, including many with his original band, featuring the late Dee Murray on bass, along with Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson. Without a doubt, this is an absolute must for fellow diehard Elton John fans.

Past DVD releases from EJ have been frustratingly poor quality, and there wasn't much to choose from at that. The 4-disc box set included a decent performance in the youth choir set, but that exception, we've been handed terrible audio quality, incomplete setlists, etc.

This DVD makes up for all of that, and finally delivers the EJ concert that new and old fans can appreciate as the best of him in this phase of his career. It's every bit as landmark as his classic performance with the Sydney symphony twenty years ago.

As a longtime fan, the inclusion of less commercial hits such as High Flying Bird, Where To Now St. Peter, Ballad of a Well Known Gun, and a few others, is something special, especially since some of these have not been performed with the current band before, but the interpretations and performances are excellent.

The sheer number of songs performed (3 1/2 hours!) in the concert is remarkable. The hits are (mostly) all included-- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Candle In The Wind are the two that come to mind as as most likely to be missed by casual fans.

Elton's piano playing and the band fills are not the same old bits you might have heard if you attended any one of his concerts in the last ten years or so-- they have really made an effort to make this performance unique, and reasserted the band's and EJ's cohesiveness in the process. It's what you would expect from them at this stage in their evolution with no sense of jadedness. Amazing given the almost insane number of performances they have been churning out in recent years!

I am always amazed at the number of little interpretations within the details of some of the most repeated favorites. Elton's constant re-working and tweaking of the Rocket Man solo, for example, and if you've heard Your Song a thousand times live, I think you might hear it performed just a little bit different almost every time, including this concert's send-off finale. All of this makes the whole show compelling even for fans who have seen live him dozens of times before.

There are also some fantastic extras included. In all, over 5 hours of quality music and performances!

So, if you have been disappointed in prior DVD releases from EJ, or if you are fan looking for something new from him, this DVD is a sure favorite. It is easily the most definitive and entertaining release of any kind from him since his life and career were reformed in the early 1990's.

I love Elton John. The DVDs I own are: "Rocket Man Number Ones", "One Night Only -- The Great Hits" and to "To Russia with Elton". Without question, this is BY FAR his best DVD. I cannot recommend it more strongly!

This is an absolutely amazing performance by the Legend Elton John. This Blu-ray disc looks unbelievable and the sound could not be better. I am providing the track list of this movie, since Amazon does not have it. This Blu-ray disc contains the COMPLETE show, which is 33 songs total. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
1 Sixty Years On
2 Madman Across the Water
3 Where to Now St. Peter?
4 Hercules
5 Ballad of a Well-Known Gun
6 Take Me to the Pilot
7 High Flying Bird
8 Holiday Inn
9 Burn Down the Mission
10 Better Off Dead
11 Levon
12 Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
13 Daniel
14 Honky Cat
15 Rocket Man
16 I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
17 The Bridge
18 Roy Rogers
19 Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters
20 Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
21 Bennie and the Jets
22 All the Girls Love Alice
23 Tiny Dancer
24 Something About the Way You Look Tonight
25 Philadelphia Freedom
26 Sad Songs (Say So Much)
27 Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
28 I'm Still Dancing
29 The Bitch Is Back
30 Crocodile Rock
31 Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
32 Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
33 Your Song

Elton John has produced a dozen or so concert DVD's, but this is the ultimate in entertainment. Recorded on his 60th birthday at his 60th performance at Madison Square Garden, this DVD excels in pure entertainment satisfaction. Over two DVD's you witness thirty-three classic songs from over the last five decades including such little performed gems like, "Hercules" and "Roy Rogers". The standards like, "Crocodile Rock" and "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" are also lent out in slightly new versions that more than please.

Unlike the Madison Square Garden show he previously released with shots of fans over-riding the stage show; this one showcases those people as well as dozens of famous political, musical and acting celebrities. Robin Williams and Whoopie Goldberg bring on a fantastic, "Happy Birthday" and Bernie Taupin, who never appears on stage, gives a heart-felt salute to Elton on his birthday. It's all amazingly good fun and very emotional.

The light show is fantastic and the sound is pin-point perfect with a large young choir singing backstage that enhances the performance like no other Elton John has given. It truly feels like the celebration in New York City that night was something very special.

That's not all. This double disc set also includes eighteen "live, rare & unseen" performances from over the years that are a stunning reminder of what a fantastic musician Elton John is. On top of that, there is a section called, "Elton's New York Stories" that includes four personal emotional song videos of Elton that just pack more of a whollop you would not expect.

The sound quality (DVD, dts, 5.1) is superb enough to hear audience members actually talking and the band never sounded more crisp. Add to that an extensive booklet of liner notes and you have a keeper of a Birthday celebration. Elton John - you are a spectacle of a celebration!

What an incredible package...
the concert celebrating his 60th ...birthday and MSG show...are great and filmed well performed well...just a thrilling collection of all time greatest hits and lesser played but still great songs!
the bonus stuff (vintage filmed performances through the years and with many early tv appearances) is a treasure trove for fans that frankly would be worth this price on their own!
and a nice fat booklet with a bunch of great pix...this is NOT a cheap money grab like so many DVDs...this is CLASS!
FABULOUS
I had almost forgot why I loved Elton as a high schooler in the 70's...he was our Beatles in that respect..
happy Birthday Elton..
Keep Rockin!

THE VIDEO QUALITY IS SUPERB YOU CAN SEE THE HAIRS ON HIS KNUCKLES AS HE PLAYS I JUST LONG FOR THE OLD ELTON'S VOICE.HE DOESN'T REALLY SING THE SONG LIKE THEY'RE HIS AND HE LOST ALOT OF RANGE. I'M A LONG TIME FAN AND CAN REMEMBER WHEN HE SANG LIKE HE CARED.LIKE THE SONG WAS PART OF HIM. I EVEN PURCHASED THE BOX SET THAT HAS THE STANDARD DEF VIDEO BECAUSE OF THE RARITIES VIDEOS, FROM THE SEVENTIES.THE VIDEO QUALITY STNKS BUT THE CONTENT IS SPECTACULAR.CHECK IT OUT HE SHOULD RELEASE MORE OLD STUFF.HE WAS REALLY THE BEST IN THE 70'S.

Didn't have time to watch this more than once, I just bought it today, but this is what sticks out: Deep cuts like "Holiday Inn," "All the Young Girls Love Alice," basically all the stuff from the forgotten masterpiece Madman Across The Water, rendered perfectly at the big MSG show; a very well-rehearsed band, from Davey and Nigel to the excellent NYC children's choir. And the archival footage is priceless, from before he lost his voice. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," indeed. Considering what concert tix cost today, this is a real bargain.