Elton John

Live From Moscow (2019)

    
 
 1. Daniel
 2. Skyline Pigeon
 3. Take Me to the Pilot
 4. Rocket Man
 5. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
 6. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
 7. Candle in the Wind
 8. I Heard it Through the Grapevine
 9. Funeral for a Friend
 10.Tonight
 11.Better Off Dead
 12.Bennie and the Jets
 13.Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
 14.Crazy Water
 15.Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting/
    Pinball Wizard
 16.Crocodile Rock/Get Back/Back in the U.S.S.R.
 

It was well documented that Elton did a tour of the U.S.S.R. before Glastnost became a familiar word in people's vocabulary. In this case, he went without his band, going only with percussionist Ray Cooper. It should also be pointed out that this was in 1979, when Elton's popularity was waning quite quickly.

The performance are all done well, albeit a bit rough around the edges. The rabid russians were probably much more enthused than one would be led to believe. Crowds can't go nuts in hard line communist countries. That being said, like Billy Joel's "Russia" concert tour that happened seven years after, this concert is more about history. The performances aren't necessarily stellar.

It also must be pointed out that there were many times during Elton's career, starting around the 1990s, when he would tour "solo" with only Cooper backing him up. Many of these concerts would probably be much easier on the ears than what is here. Those tours were also nice since Elton never played a setlist chocked full of obligatory hits. Anyway, most of the set here is "hits", but that should be expected because of the audience. A good record, but not really that amazing as far as live recorded performances go.