Greetings, my faithful followers and Elton John fanatics! To make up for my uploading slump, I have a special treat for you. After Greg received a new soundboard recording of Elton John's famous free 1980 Central Park concert, which was really important because it has the missing songs by Nigel Olsson plus the real concert intro and Have Mercy on the Criminal. Before that, I was waiting for it with bated breath, not expecting it real soon because we didn't know who had the full show. Now, thanks to Greg, I am uploading a true blast from the past which all you have been waiting for, for the first time on YouTube in its entirety and in its original order: Elton John's complete Central Park, New York free concert on September 18, 1980! As said earlier, the source is a high-quality soundboard recording, but a few parts in some songs (Rocket Man and Imagine, for example) were missing, so Greg patched them with clips from the laserdisc version of the show, so it is now 100% complete! And also, I have used pics of Elton depending on the costume he wore at the particular point of his concert, just like I did with Sydney! On a side note, I am uploading this in perfect time, as Adam has just uploaded the new source of the great Sydney 1984 concert!

The show is easily one of Elton's most famous live concerts, a part of his 21 at 33 Tour, which has produced some of his best live shows to date. Since this was a free concert, it was attended by an estimated 450,000 people, making this Elton's concert with the highest number of attendees, and the biggest concert (in terms of attendance) in New York's history! The huge crowd is eager as well, and they excitedly anticipate and cheer him, as well as participating in a few songs. I didn't know this till now, but according to the announcer, the show wouldn't have been free if it weren't for its generous benefactor, Calvin Klein (yes, THE Calvin Klein) and the help of the New York City park service. Elton's voice is in awesome shape and his piano skills are excellent as always (even though he is stoned, as clearly seen on video of the concert), and he has an awesome band as well, consisting of James Newton Howard on keyboards, Tim Renwick and Richie Zito on guitars, plus Elton's old band mates Dee Murray on bass and Nigel Olsson on drums, who gets to sing two of his own songs midway through the concert to promote his album Changing Tides. Elton also gives funny and informative intros before the songs. The show was already great with the existing laserdisc audio, but now that I have listened to the whole show, it is amazing! And now, on with the song descriptions!

After the show is introduced, with Calvin Klein being thanked onstage for helping make this concert free, Elton (wearing a cowboy costume with Stetson hat) and the band start the song with Funeral for a Friend, which then becomes an energetic version of Love Lies Bleeding, with very energetic vocals and great music. Tiny Dancer then follows, and I have to say this is the best 1980 version of the song ever, with great pacing and excellent vocals. Next up is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, awesome as always, the vocals and music are just fantastic. Next is an overlooked gem from Yellow Brick Road: All the Girls Love Alice, which was a regular of the 1980 tour. This version is awesome, Elton has a great intro to the song, saying it's about the "misfortunes of a young lady" LOL! This is followed by an amazing rendition of Rocket Man, with awesome singing and instrumentation, and a great piano improv at the end of the song, something which EJ is well-known for doing. Next, he introduces a single from his then-new album 21 at 33, Sartorial Eloquence, which is a top-notch performance, with powerful vocals and music to match. Next, he performs Philadelphia Freedom, which is great as always, and that is followed by Sorry Seems, which is somber as always, with sorrowful vocals and soft music. To lighten the mood, Elton introduces the band, ending with Nigel, who then sings his songs from Changing Tides, starting with Saturday Night, which shows Nigel's awesome voice, and Elton and the band provide great music to Nigel's voice. Next is his other song, All I Want Is You, which is, as Elton puts it, a "really pretty song" and indeed it is, with beautiful vocals from Nigel.

Stay tuned for the description of part 2, starting on Saturday Night's Alright!

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