Elton John to give surprise concert

  • 2007-08-29
  • By Talis Saule Archdeacon

ROCKET MAN: Sir Elton John will be shooting into Riga and Tallinn on Sept. 14 - 15 to give two relatively exclusive concerts. The late announcement of the news caught fans off guard.

RIGA - Music fans in Latvia and Estonia were stunned on Aug. 20 by the last minute announcement of two Elton John concerts, happening Sept. 14 and 15, respectively. The an-nouncement came only a week before tickets went on sale, and only a few weeks before the shows themselves.
"We were really lucky that Elton had a free date in his calendar and offered it to us at the last moment. We were also lucky, thanks to our relations since 2001, to get Elton's class of artist to play indoors in our markets with two times fewer tickets [than] were on sale previously," Kristaps Karklins, marketing and public relations director at BDG music, the Riga concert's promoter, told The Baltic Times.

Elton John has played in the two Baltic states once before, in July 2001. The concerts sold more than 30,000 tickets in Tallinn and 17,000 in Riga and were considered the biggest shows in the history of the two states.
"The last show, it was the biggest we had done before Aerosmith. Every-body thinks of [that show] in a positive way… This is possibly the biggest artist ever to play in Arena Riga," Karklins said.
The upcoming shows, however, will be more exclusive than his previous performances in the Baltic states. Whereas the 2001 event saw massive turnout, this year Tallinn will sell only 7,800 tickets and Riga will offer 12,000 tickets 's 3,000 of which were already reserved before they even went on sale to the general public.
Due to the smaller number of tickets, demand for the tickets promises to be high. "The tickets should go very fast," Karklins said, "I would be very surprised if the show did not sell out."

While his previous shows in the Baltic states had him playing solo, the upcoming shows will feature Elton John playing his greatest hits with his full live band, a fact which promises to drive ticket sales up even further.
Elton John's band features five members who are nearly as famous as he is. Nigel Olsson has worked with Elton John since his first album, Empty Sky. Guitarist and vocalist Davey Johnstone joined the band two years later, but has since then taken short hiatuses to play with stars such as Alice Cooper and Meat Loaf. Bob Birch, also known as "Mr. Perfect," will be playing bass for the band. Grammy Award-winning Guy Babylon has participated in more than 1,100 of Elton John's shows as a keyboardist. Backup vocalist and percussionist John Mahon has played with a number of world famous stars, including Billy Joel, Bryan Adams, Anastasia, Sting, Phil Collins, Mary J. Blidge, Ray Charles and Tina Turner.

Elton John himself is one of the most prolific artists of the past 30 years. His awards include a Best British Male Artist Brit Award, five Grammy Awards, a Grammy Legend Award, the Kennedy Center Honor and 11 Ivor Novello Awards. He has logged an American top 40 hit every year for the past 30 years.
In addition to his musical prowess, Elton John is known as a magnanimous humanitarian, having made sizeable contributions to a number of prominent charities. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 1994 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998.

Elton John
Riga, Sept. 14
Tickets at Statoil or bilesuserviss, 35 - 150 lats (50 - 213 euros)
www.fbi.lv
Tallinn, Sept. 15
Tickets at Statoil or Piletilevi, 795 's 3,000 kroons
(51's192 euros)
www.fbi.ee