To Russia... With Elton

Almost gave the 42 minute dvd 5 stars, but Ray Coopers constant effort to get the audience more involved was very distracting.

Very rarely will I give any of these performances a 10, but this is phenomenal. it displays his true talent, both vocally and on the piano. Funeral for a Friend was a treat to watch without Davey and Nigel backing. Saturday Nights Alright was a sight to see, you'd think two people can't make this song better than the original, especially without the signature guitar solo, however Elton and Ray Cooper easily make up for it with their expertise on their instruments. One track I think stands out a lot during this performance is "I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself." The tempo is taken up just a bit, however this has drastic changes. The song becomes extremely peppy while at the same time giving off a very tense feeling from the piano. "Rocket Man", "Daniel", and "Tonight" are easily the best performances of the songs you could ever find, and "Bennie and the Jets" has never been so weird and wonderful. This is easily a performance that I could say is beyond great. This actually spanned over a period of 2 hours and 30 minutes, however the footage was cut short to make a haste documentary. Overall, if you are a fan of Elton or music in general, this is a sight to see.

As a big Elton John fan, I had to own this video. Over all I was pleasantly surprised. Very interesting on how the people in Russia accepted him with open arms. When I first bought this video, I only expected a concert, nothing more, but there was a documentary blended in with the concert. It covers the day Elton arrived in Russia, 10 days before the concert, the stage setup, interviews and much more.

Let's start with the bad parts about this video. While playing "Bennie and the Jets", he cut the song a little too short, then did a little commentary 1/2 way through for about 10 seconds, which ruined the song. I was also not too fond of Ray Cooper, who also performed with Elton on percussion. tried a little too hard trying to get the audience involved in the show. At the start of Bennie and the Jets, he was screaming at the audience to clap. I found him more annoying than anything. During the concert, he jumped around like a monkey, which took away from Elton's performance a bit. Elton also cut the song "Tonight" a little short. It was such a beautiful peace, but he shorten the lyrics a bit. During a couple of the songs, it almost seemed like he was rushing it which also ruined the concert a bit. During the final song, he sung "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" and then cut into it with "Pinball Wizard". I would have preferred to have him sing "Pinball Wizard" as a separate song, not just 15 seconds of it, blended into a different song all together. So if you are a fan of "Pinball Wizard", you might be disappointed in the 15 second version Elton put out.

But overall, the video was great. He did a wonderful job with "Funeral For a Friend", but did not get right into the "Love Lies Bleeding In My Hand" part of the song. Sixty Years On was incredible, along with Your Song, Daniel, Candle In The Wind and Rocketman. Elton was incredible with the piano and had so much energy during this Russian concert.

So if you are an Elton John fan, this is a great video to add to your collection.