Piano Man

I think everybody has a list of concerts in their mind - you know, the bands or performers that you just HAVE to see live before you die (or in the case of many bands that I love, before THEY die). I am no different, and I recently was lucky enough to be able to cross one of mine off my list!

On September 15th, my mom, sister and I drove to Prince Edward Island to see...

ELTON JOHN!

He actually played a concert in my home city of Halifax not that long ago, but unfortunately we were unable to get tickets. We were really disappointed that time and figured that was that. So, when I heard that he would be coming back to Atlantic Canada, there was no WAY we were NOT going to miss out again. 

Unfortunately, we almost didn't go at all! We endured quite the SAGA of ticket ordering: Back in July, both my mom and I got on the computer and the phone as soon as the tickets went on sale, but neither of us could get through. The system was SO frustrating because you would refresh and refresh, finally get in to the ordering page only to be promptly kicked off. Long story short, neither of us got through and, again, we thought that was that.

Then a couple of weeks later, a 2nd Summerside show was announced and we were elated to have a 2nd chance, so we did the same thing all over again, only this time my boyfriend also went online to see if he could get tickets for us. After an hour of trying - SUCCESS! He finally got into the system and was able to order 3 tickets for us. We couldn't believe our luck and started to make plans for a hotel room and such.

So, a couple of weeks before the concert, we were getting antsy because we had yet to receive our tickets in the mail. My boyfriend decided to call the box office to double-check on our order. Well, it's a good thing he did because he found out that they actually had NO tickets for us! They informed us that their online system had experienced a "glitch" wherein hundreds of incorrect ticket confirmations were sent to people that did not actually have tickets. My boyfriend got an email confirmation and his credit card was charged and everything. The box office informed him that, to deal with the problem, they had reversed the charges for all the people affected by the glitch and that basically was their way of informing people...

*crickets chirping*

Yeah, I know. The worst thing is, we stumbled upon an article in a PEI newspaper that discussed the issue and actually quoted a gentleman that DID get a phone call from the venue telling him about the problem! So, obviously this place had called SOME people but not all. Obviously not the best way to deal with a major customer service issue!

What. A. Nightmare. 

An angry phone call to the manager later and we ended up grabbing some tickets that the promoter had apparently just released the day before or something. And the best part is, once we arrived we realized our seats were even closer to the stage than the original "fake" tickets we had! So, it all turned out for the best, but it was a really annoying experience and a huge lesson learned - take it from me, kids: ALWAYS check on your tickets if you order them online!

Anyway, the important thing is we got there.

What was great about the show was it's simplicity - it was literally just Elton and the piano, with some lighting. There was no pyrotechnics or crazy outfits or back-up singers/dancers - no elaborate production. This was so refreshing and made the show feel very intimate - more like being in a small club or lounge. 

He played all my favourites (of course), and played some amazingly complicated piano riffs that blew my mind! His voice definitely sounds deeper and a little more raw now than it used to, but still great.

He played for 2.5 hours NON-STOP! Aside from taking maybe 2-3 breaks to say a couple of words, he never stopped playing or singing. I was amazed at his energy!

Thank you, Rocketman, for helping me cross a very big "to-do" off my life list!