Fringe 2024 The Elton John Story theSpace @ Symposium Hall 11th August Review
The Elton John Story at theSpace@Symposium Hall this afternoon was one of 12 music shows that Night Owl Productions have at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The format is for them a tried and tested one – to select artists who have back catalogues of iconic songs that are instantly recognisable to many people and to cover these songs with their own line up of musical talent. The end result is a tribute show to the artists and their music rather than any attempt to do a standard “tribute band” show. There is no one pretending to be the original artists at these shows. Here the music itself is the star.
Elton John is maybe a little different from other Night Owl shows that I have reviewed over the years though. One obvious problem is that with an artist who has had a musical career spanning literally decades, where do you even start in selecting a set list that is both representative of his music and fits into the limited time allowable for a Fringe show? Add into that the problem that there are so many songs that anyone coming to the show simply expects to be there, and this leaves little room for many musical surprises.
For this show, singer Angus Munro (also on keyboards) certainly had his work cut out for him as not only is Elton John’s back catalogue of music extensive, it is also diverse in its many styles, and Elton’s voice (like anyone else’s) has certainly changed over the years.
Opening this show with “The Bitch is Back” certainly allowed Angus and the Night Owl band to set the pace and other songs like “Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting” certainly kept that momentum going for much of this show. Elton John is of course known for many ballads too, and breaking the rock pace for them at different times in the show did create a sort of stop and go feel to this show which made it difficult at times to keep audience momentum going. To leave out a song like “Candle in the Wind” would though have been pretty much impossible in this set list, and Night Owl are always wise enough with any of their productions to make sure that the big audience favourite songs are performed.
Angus Munro and the band did some good work in the limited time available for a Fringe show, but this is one time where there are just so many songs that could be there, maybe even should be there. Perhaps the format here is just too short for a retrospective Elton John story?
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Elton John is maybe a little different from other Night Owl shows that I have reviewed over the years though. One obvious problem is that with an artist who has had a musical career spanning literally decades, where do you even start in selecting a set list that is both representative of his music and fits into the limited time allowable for a Fringe show? Add into that the problem that there are so many songs that anyone coming to the show simply expects to be there, and this leaves little room for many musical surprises.
For this show, singer Angus Munro (also on keyboards) certainly had his work cut out for him as not only is Elton John’s back catalogue of music extensive, it is also diverse in its many styles, and Elton’s voice (like anyone else’s) has certainly changed over the years.
Opening this show with “The Bitch is Back” certainly allowed Angus and the Night Owl band to set the pace and other songs like “Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting” certainly kept that momentum going for much of this show. Elton John is of course known for many ballads too, and breaking the rock pace for them at different times in the show did create a sort of stop and go feel to this show which made it difficult at times to keep audience momentum going. To leave out a song like “Candle in the Wind” would though have been pretty much impossible in this set list, and Night Owl are always wise enough with any of their productions to make sure that the big audience favourite songs are performed.
Angus Munro and the band did some good work in the limited time available for a Fringe show, but this is one time where there are just so many songs that could be there, maybe even should be there. Perhaps the format here is just too short for a retrospective Elton John story?
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com