Elton John in best voice ever at Coffs Harbour

Elton John 

Farewell Yellow Brick Road - final world tour

Coffs Harbour International Stadium

February 26, 2020

by Tony Magee

Let me start by disclosing that I am a fan and have been since a teenager, but I attempt to write this review impartially and without any hint of sycophancy.

Image by Ben Gibson Photography

The Coffs experience was meticulously organised. I think the city was overwhelmed at the prospect of hosting someone of the magnitude of Sir Elton John. They pulled out all the stops. Continuous bus shuttle services from multiple locations to and from the venue. The accomodation facilities all had bus stop maps waiting for guests as they checked in.

On arrival at the venue, all gates were open with crowd control directors moving people through in a friendly and efficient manner - no delays or queues. Lots of security present to make people feel safe and comfortable. The seating designations and areas were all well signed. Everything was smooth as silk. Thank you Coffs Harbour!

Canberra’s own Tate Sheridan opened the show, himself on keyboards and vocals with bass and drums. A really nice set of his original songs. His piano style certainly reflects some of Elton’s style, however I also heard influences from Dave Grusin and Bruce Hornsby in his playing. His voice is deep and powerful and with good diction and pitch.

Highlights of his set were “Life was Lonely” - a heavy rock piece, “Aura” - a gospel style piece dedicated to Aretha Franklin, “I’m just a Melody Man”, which is a kind of homage to all the up and coming new artists who are trying their best to “make it” - Tate is one of those. And his final song and one of his earliest compositions, “Fade to Black”, a moving ballad.

Sheridan received appreciative applause from the audience.

After a short break and a stage reset, Elton’s band appeared to great applause - right on time at 7.15pm precisely - and then out he came, dressed in white tails, somewhat reminiscent of Liberace.

The first massive piano chord - thump - was an F major 7, filled out to the max. Then another. Yes, it was obvious what the opening number would be. A change in to G major and we were off with “Benny and the Jets”. A great performance and a great opening.

The band comprised some of his most dedicated, talented and long time members. Nigel Olsson on drums, Davey Johnstone on guitar and Ray Cooper on percussion. They were joined by Matt Bissonette on bass, Kim Bullard on synth, who provided the brass, strings and early 70’s and 80’s classic keyboard sounds and a second percussionist, John Mahon.

All of them also provided excellent backing vocals with superb harmonies. There were no “extra” backup singers in this show, as there have been in previous Elton shows. The actual band, plus Elton did all the singing.

Elton varied the program in a way I haven’t heard for years. As well as the big hits which are “must haves”, he delved back in time to some of his earliest albums from 1969 to 1971 - Madman Across the Water, Tumbleweed Connection and the “Elton John” album itself, re-learning, 51 years later, such songs as “Red Indian Sunset” and “Levon”. 

“Levon” was placed in the middle of the show and after the initial sung verse, morphed into a lengthy instrumental showcase of dazzling piano work from Elton and a searing, sparkling guitar solo from Davey Johnstone using his exquisite Austrian Rhinestone be-jewelled Gibson, one of five different guitars he showcased during the show. Ray Cooper also went crazy with an extended percussion solo.

I recalled seeing just the two of them together in 1978 at Festival Hall in Melbourne, something Elton reminded the audience about later in the show as well. My memory had not failed me!

A change of pace saw Elton deliver a moving and melancholy version of "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word", from his Blue Moves album of 1977.

In discussing his Captain Fantastic album, one of my favourites, he delivered what he now considers the high point of that record, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", which he and the band poured their hearts and souls into. This is surely one of Bernie Taupin's best lyrics and one of Elton's best musical settings.

Then the band discretely left the stage, leaving Elton to sing us “Candle in the Wind” alone. Beautifully done, although incredulously, he forgot the words momentarily and mumbled something to cover up. The look on his face was one of “I can’t believe I just did that!”. If he was going to mess something up, of all the songs it had to be - that one? Oh well. Larry Sitsky once said to me “thank goodness for wrong notes during live performances - we’re human beings, not robots”.

Sir Elton John performing his opening number, "Benny and the Jets". Photo: Tony Magee

“Funeral for a Friend” and “Love Lies Bleeding” brought the band back on stage for a powerhouse performance of this massive two song coupling, which is the opening track on his 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It was great, but slightly spoiled for me and my colleagues Alex and Jack, by the tom-toms and kick drum being ridiculously overpowering in the sound mix.

“Don’t Let the Sun go Down on Me” and “The Bitch is Back” followed, brilliantly performed, with Davey Johnstone opting for his yellow Gibson Flying V guitar. He finished the show using his black Les Paul Gibson. A red Fender Stratocaster also made an appearance.

Elton’s own Yamaha concert grand CFIIIS sounded wonderful, although the bass section was heavily modified into an electronic, almost metallic sound. The tenor and treble regions were authentic “real piano” sound. His playing has not diminished with time. Flexible technique, lots of blues licks - a favourite of his - and the ability to sing without looking at the keys much at all. His fingers know the way around all those chords, to all those songs, in an almost automated fashion.

By contrast though, Elton also has the look of a performer concentrating very hard on making sure that he does everything as well as he possibly can. As the years pass by, I guess this becomes harder. But he clearly loves the challenge.

Elton was in his best voice ever. Incredible to think that it failed him in Auckland just two weeks earlier. Elton’s “mature” voice, as he calls it, came after an operation for vocal chord nodules during his 1986 tour of Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

After the surgery, his top tenor range was gone, but after a couple of weeks he decided he liked his new rich sounding lower tenor and baritone range, which he still has today.

The other band members take care of the once famous Elton “high range” and together, as I mentioned before, the joint vocal harmonies came across magnificently.

In the same way that Andy Williams saved “Moon River” for his second encore, in his later years of performing, Elton teased us all by leaving “Your Song” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” for his finale, which was preceded by the band all joining him at the front of the stage, taking their well deserved bows to a standing ovation and thunderous applause and cheers from the 20,000 or so audience. 

Then they departed. There was this uncomfortable gap with no-one on stage for a few minutes. Are they coming back? Do we get an encore?

Oh yes - Elton returned having changed into a lime green suit, with the band, and presented their finale.

In all, he and the band were on stage performing for just under three hours. That’s quite a show!

At 72, Elton John is just half way through this “final world tour”. The concert at Coffs that I attended was his 173rd of the tour. He has about the same number to go. The man has incredible stamina and energy. 

I said to my friend towards the end of the show, “Alex, I’m twelve years younger than Elton. There’s no way I have the stamina to do what he just did.” Alex replied, “Magoo, if you were getting paid a million dollars a show, I think you’d suddenly find the stamina and energy.” Hmmm - maybe.

Elton concluded by thanking Australia from the bottom of his heart for being there with him and supporting him over the last 52 years. Australia, he said, is the country he has toured more than any other in the world. He loves our country and he loves us. And I believe he really meant it.

We'd hired a Cessna 172 for the journey from my mate Geoff Boyd. Geoff and his wife Lara founded Brindabella Airlines some years previously, although by this Coffs concert they had sold that business. Alex is a skilled pilot and he flew us from Canberra to Coffs and back in perfect safety and comfort. Also on board was his BF at the time, Jack McCann.

I was impressed with Alex's dedication to safety. His pre-flight checks were detailed and exhaustive. Not only completing his flight log in detail, but his route planning and thorough procedure on pre-flight checks - not just the paperwork - but walking around the aircraft, checking flaps and rudder, general inspection of body-work for cracks or wear and finally, turning the propellor by hand (with ignition switched off obviously) to check that each cylinder had compression.

On departure from Canberra Airport, there was a Qatar Boeing 777 in front of us, so we had to wait for that to take-off. In addition, Air Traffic Control advised us to wait another three minutes, to allow for any wake turbulence generated by the Boeing to clear.

Super Rats score top music festival gig

Tuesday 25th February, 2020

by Helen Musa

SUPER Rats is a great name for a band and now the fiery Canberra group who’ve been wowing audiences here with their traditional Romanian and Roma (Gypsy) tunes has been selected into Australia’s top world music festival, WOMADelaide.

Super Rats L-R: Alister Price, Tim Meyen, Simon Milmann, Pip Thompson

The quirky quartet centres around the cimbalom, and bandleader Tim Meyen, who tells us they’re heading for Adelaide on March 6 for their first gig that night, and is one of only a handful of Aussie musicians to have studied the instrument, described as “like the offspring of a honkytonk piano and a xylophone”.

Super Rats, which received a Canberra Critics’ Circle Award late last year, is a self-proclaimed “only-in-Canberra” mixture of next-door neighbours, bandmates from previous groups like the 1990s folkies “Closet Klezmer” and primary-school friends. 

One such is Pip Thompson, one of Canberra’s leading classical violinists and a member of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

The authenticity of the Rats’ approach to Romanian folk music has been enhanced through visits to masters in Romania, and the group has just released a new four-track mini album “DA!” which can be heard at bandcamp.com.

And yes, Meyen says, they’re branching out of Canberra and more festival appearances are scheduled after WOMADelaide.

WOMADelaide 2020, March 6-9, Botanic Park, Adelaide.

Article first published in City News Digital Edition, Feb 25, 2020

'It's kaputt.' Movers accidentally drop virtuoso's one-of-a-kind $194,000 piano | CNN

February 11, 2020

By Emma Reynolds, CNN

Updated 1340 GMT (2140 HKT) February 11, 2020

Virtuoso Angela Hewitt plays her rare Fazioli F278 piano. Photo courtesy CNN.

(CNN) An extremely rare, $194,000 grand piano was smashed when movers dropped it while taking it out of a recording studio, Canadian virtuoso Angela Hewitt has revealed.

Hewitt, one of the world's leading classical pianists, said in a Facebook post that she had just finished recording Beethoven's piano variations in Berlin when the movers entered the studio control room to tell her they had dropped her handmade Fazioli piano.

The pianist said it had taken her 10 days to share the "very sad piece of news" because it "has been such a shock to me that I didn't immediately want to share it with the world."

Her precious F278 Fazioli piano was the only one in the world with four pedals, she wrote.

"I adored this piano. It was my best friend, best companion. I loved how it felt when I was recording -- giving me the possibility to do anything I wanted," she said.

"Now it is no longer."

The iron frame was broken, as was much of the structure, lid and case, she said.

Italian engineer and pianist Paolo Fazioli, the owner of Fazioli Pianos, declared the handmade instrument "unsalvageable," Hewitt wrote.

The pianist said it was a "shock" to lose the instrument, which was her "best friend." Photo courtesy CNN

Hewitt said she "couldn't believe it," adding: "It makes no sense, financially or artistically, to rebuild this piano from scratch. It's kaputt. The movers of course were mortified. In 35 years of doing their job, this had never happened before. At least nobody was hurt."

Fazioli Pianos is in Sacile, northeast of Venice, in an area of Italy known for its woodworking.

Hewitt said she kept the piano at her home in Italy and had used it for almost all her recordings over 17 years.

Hewitt told CNN she would not be commenting further "while the insurance saga is still in motion."

A spokeswoman for Fazioli Pianos told CNN the company could not comment further because of a "strict internal rule" on protecting clients' privacy.

Simon Markson, managing director at Markson Pianos in London, told CNN he thought a £150,000 ($194,000) estimate of the piano's value if it were new was accurate.

"It's an expensive piano," he said. "It's going to appeal to someone high level."

Markson said an accident like this "doesn't happen very often" and was distressing because of "sentimental" attachments.

"There are six or seven top companies making good quality pianos. Different pianos appeal to different people according to tone and touch. The Fazioli is good for Bach," he said.

Hewitt said she will choose a new Fazioli in the next few months, writing, "I hope my piano will be happy in piano heaven."

Hewitt is not the first to suffer the loss of a valuable instrument in transit. In 2007, movers delivering an $89,000 grand piano to the Two Moors Festival in Devon, southern England, dropped the instrument out of their van.

First published on CNN on-line, Feb 11, 2020

Classical virtuoso loses "best friend" after movers drop $200,000 grand piano

February 11, 2020

A piano virtuoso is mourning the loss of her "best friend" after movers dropped her grand piano.

Fazioli F278. Photo: Getty Images

Canadian Angela Hewitt is acclaimed as one of the world's leading classical pianists.

All of her European recordings since 2003 were performed on her Fazioli F278 concert grand piano, which was the only one in the world to have four pedals.

She says two weeks ago movers came into her recording studio to tell her they had "dropped" it.

The piano was kept at her home in Italy, and pianopricepoint.com estimates it is worth over $200,000 (£155,000).

Her use of the piano is noted on the Fazioli website.

Angela Hewitt is a renowned classical pianist. Photo: BBC News

"The iron frame is broken, as well as much else in the structure and action (not to mention the lid and other parts of the case)," she wrote on Facebook. "It's kaput."

She says she is now dealing with her insurance, and hopes to travel to Sacile, Italy, where Faziolis are made to pick a new one in the next few months.

"I adored this piano. It was my best friend, best companion. I loved how it felt when I was recording - giving me the possibility to do anything I wanted," she wrote.

"Now it is no longer."

She declined an interview with the BBC while "the insurance saga is in progress".

This is not the first piano-moving disaster.

In 2007, a concert grand piano worth £45,000 fell out of a lorry.

First published in BBC News online, Feb 11, 2020

Vinyl Record Industry Fears 'Vinylgeddon' After Fire Burns Down Apollo Masters Plant

by Chris Eggertsen

Feb 2, 2020

The California plant is one of only two in the world that manufactures lacquers, vital to the production of vinyl records.

The manufacturing and storage facility for Apollo Masters Corp. -- a Banning, Calif.-based manufacturing plant that supplies the lacquer used for making master discs, which are then used to create vinyl records -- has burned down in a massive fire, the company confirmed in a statement posted to its official website.

“To all of [our] wonderful customers. It is with great sadness we report the Apollo Masters manufacturing and storage facility had a devastating fire and suffered catastrophic damage,” the statement reads. “The best news is all of our employees are safe. We are uncertain of our future at this point and are evaluating options as we try to work through this difficult time. Thank you for all of the support over the years and the notes of encouragement and support we have received from you all.”

The fire, which was first reported around 8 a.m. PT Friday morning (Feb. 7), broke out while employees were inside the building, though all escaped safely, according to The Desert Sun, which first reported the blaze. But the loss of the plant -- which, along with MDC in Japan, is one of only two worldwide that produces the lacquers needed to create vinyl records -- comes as a difficult blow to the booming vinyl record industry. Billboard reported just last month that 26% of all physical albums sold in the U.S. in 2019 were vinyl.

In an email to Billboard, Gil Tamazyan -- founder and president of the California-based vinyl pressing plant Capsule Labs -- noted that while it is "too soon to know" how badly the plant's destruction will affect vinyl supply, he predicts the incident "will cause a hindrance in some major way" before a solution can be found. "Unless something happens really quickly, there will soon be Vinylgeddon," said Tamazyan, who estimates that Apollo supplies 80% of blank lacquer master discs globally.

As to how the sudden shortage might be remedied going forward, Tamazyan says that short of Apollo rebounding, it will take either a new company acquiring Apollo's intellectual property and creating a new plant or MDC expanding its operations -- though he notes that even prior to the Apollo fire, MDC was falling behind. "They were already having a hard time keeping up with the demand," wrote Tamazyan, who says that as an existing MDC customer, Capsule Labs is at least temporarily in the clear. Still, he continued, "a U.S.-based supplier is imperative."

Also weighing in on the fire via social media was Duplication, a Canadian company that offers vinyl pressing, among other services. In a tweet, the company wrote that the Apollo plant’s destruction is a “disaster” for the vinyl pressing industry, noting the lacquer shortage resulting from the fire could possibly result in “plants having to close or scale back operations.”

Billboard has reached out to Apollo Masters for further comment and information on the blaze.

Originally published on billboard.com Feb 2, 2020