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An Audience with Elton John

Posted by manicdrums in 1997 Elton John World Tour, Videos

Phew… talk about a hectic schedule. I was just back from holiday in France, feeling mellow and rested, and extremely fit (I was swimming & cycling every day out there), when the giant, complex animal that is the Elton John Organisation started to stir from its hibernation… First it was the turn of the rest of the band to get jet lag. They flew in to London on the 12th September, and we had a mad weekend – TFI Friday, camera rehearsals & sound check on Thursday, followed by the show on Friday. Then it was a 9am call on Saturday at London Weekend studios: rehearsals for “An Audience with Elton John”. We spent the weekend in a freezing cold studio (I developed flu by Sunday), running through the songs, and the show was videotaped in front of a star-studded audience on the Sunday evening. The show was to be edited and transmition was to be the 27th September, by which time we were due to be in the USA.

First thing Monday morning, the lads left for LA, and I was left with my ‘flu bug! On the Tuesday and Wednesday I was in Londons AIR studios with an 88 piece orchestra, recording the music for the new Bond movie. The composer, David Arnold, is an old friend, and asked for me. I’m flattered! Talk about living by the seat of your pants! There’s nothing quite like the adrenaline buzz from sight reading a 4 minute film cue with 88 other people playing, all to a click in the headphones. After 24 years in the business you’d think I would be used to it by now, but the palms start to sweat, the heart rate rises, and the brain goes into another gear… Yeeehaaa! I love it, but I can only take so much of it these days. I used to do this almost every day, but not so much these days. Working with Elton has introduced me to a different kind of pressure: playing live to thousands of people!