Elton John and Us.

About the time I was coming out of high school, the radio jocks were starting to play a new artist from Great Britain. I had been to my share of high school dances with live music, but music wasn't a big deal to me then. I went to a small Catholic school that didn't have a music department. I also had a couple of somewhat uptight parents- no music department there either.

When I got to college I began to discover and appreciate new things. I was exposed to new people from so many different places. They brought Elton John- and his music was a revelation to me. It struck me as very different from the rock music of the late 60's and very early 70's. So as a college kid I really came to be a fan. Lee and I would be together on Saturday nights, when we could, in the dorm rooms with friends. We would drink beer bought from the sidewalk distributors who would gladly buy beer for us, for a small gratuity. We would drink, laugh and learn about each other- all to the music of Elton John. He had only put out two albums by 1973, but I think we knew intuitively his unique sound was more than a passing rage.

By late 1974 Lee and I were married and had moved to Portland. Elton John was an absolute staple on the record player- yes, stone-aged (non-digital) stereo record players. The point is, that he wasn't just a flash in the pan and we bought every new album almost the moment it came out. We were working and going to school in Portland the second year of our marriage when the word came, like a shout from the heavens- Elton John was appearing in Portland. Seeing him IN PERSON would bring to fruition all of our fan-ness!

Ticket sales then were done in person. Elton John was huge by then, and acquiring tickets meant showing up the Coliseum box office, money in hand. So, I took the afternoon off and stood in line. Nervous times for sure, not knowing if I'd shown up early enough. But I got them! Elton John Live!

Conveniently, our first place was a small apartment right across Broadway street from the Coliseum. It was was meant to be. On show night we monitored the line from our window and went over when the doors opened. No assigned seating, which meant 14,000 of us rushed for the open seating. It was called "Festival Seating" then. Today, it would called attempted manslaughter.

The show was unbelievable. Young Elton John was beyond fantastic. He was all energy- unbelievable sound and musical genius. He was all sequined in silver and green to open- then feather boas and outlandish costuming throughout the night.  He was at the keyboard- then suddenly off the piano bench and on top of the piano. Then, with elf-like quickness, he was at the edge of the stage exhorting his disciples, then back to his piano. The air was a haze of stage lighting and marijuana smoke. Everyone left exhausted and thrilled. That was 1975.

Over the years our lives changed and evolved, as life does. We moved, we had two children, we finished college, and began careers, we bought houses, because that's what most of us do. Elton John's music was always there in the background of now crowded and busy lives. He had his crowded period too-during the 80's he got on drugs, and we got on country music for a while. But normalcy returned and he began making more great music and we returned to our original tastes.

Now in our late 50's, we are kind of hard to buy for, when it comes to gift giving occasions. But we have two imaginative daughters. They must have heard that same shout from the heavens. Elton John was coming to Spokane- a birthday gift to both of us-two tickets to Elton John! What a great gift this was.

Things are a different now. No standing in line to buy tickets. A smart phone and smart daughters are all you need. No festival seating- reserved seats for a more reserved audience. But we were just as excited for this show as we had been 36 years earlier.

Last Friday night when Elton John took the stage, much was the same as it was in '75. He even began the show with the same song: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding. Lee grabbed my arm and said: "that is freaky", recalling the first time so vividly. But, a lot was different too. No feather boas or crazy eye wear-this time; an embroidered black waist coat with tails, tuxedo pants and sensible shoes. No half-handstands on the keyboard or high-flying gymnastics atop the piano. Elton John is now a man in his 60's. He has more weight on now. He has a somewhat doughy physique-the face is rounder- his middle thickened and portly. If you didn't know who he is, you'd say he has the look of a polite salesman, selling four hundred dollar suits at the Men's Warehouse. He seemed to me utterly human now, which made him somehow even more appealing. I could actually imagine myself in a conversation with him. I suppose that's because he is more mature now, as am I. Rock idols eventually become human- even the truly magnificent ones.

But his age, and ours caused no disappointment- quite the opposite really. His movements were done with an incredible economy of movement and energy, all of it now directed at the microphone and the keyboard. He doesn't jump around the stage and he doesn't need to exhort the crowd. His music is stamped on all of us for good. He plays with the same virtuoso talent he always had. To watch his hands on the giant TV screen was a treat we didn't have in '75, but formed a close-up view of real musical genius this time. He and his piano are virtually one being. Elton John is a treasure along with Bernie Taupin, his always present, but never seen poet and lyricist. Everyone there knew these songs by heart, except a few new ones he threw in. You know, the new ones were great too.

We left the show after nearly three hours of making new memories. Lee and I talked a lot about how these two events have provided bookends, of sorts, to our life so far. In the 36 years between shows almost all of our married life took place; our children were born and are now adults themselves, in their thirties with their own kids; jobs have become the careers we wished for. Our lives have settled down to a peaceful,  pleasant time filled with the family and friends. We've never defined ourselves by pop culture or its heroes; but it was just plain cool to know Elton John is still there, as he has been the whole time. Thanks for looking in.