Thursday, Feb 28, 2019, SUU’s Department of Music performed their 4th Annual Rock and Roll Choir Concert: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – The Music of Elton John. The show featured special guests, The Red Rockers and nearly every seat of the Sharwan Smith Ballroom was filled.
Before the concert, one of the performers in the concert said: “My favorite song of this set is ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’ because the song’s rhythm is very cheerful.” She said she liked to applaud quickly during the performance and she really enjoyed the process of playing the rhythm.
The Choir Concert had a total of 21 songs, including “Bennie and the Jets”, “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”, Lion King Medley and so on. The performers wore vintage style clothes, with some of them mimicking Elton John’s style including the exaggerated glasses.
The full band includes orchestras, keyboard instruments, drums and electric guitars with each section being able to shine at some point in the program.
As the performers sing, the story of Elton John is introduced on the big screen, along with his awards and some of his photos. Over a span of 50 years, John and Bernie Taupin collaborated on more than 30 Albums, and yet through their long collaboration, the two have rarely created music in the same space.
Before the start of the last song “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, the conductor thanked everyone on the stage and all the people who worked for the concert and the audience for coming.
One couple said that they drove more than 250 miles to SUU just to see their daughter performing, and they would drive home that night after the concert. “We are so proud of our daughter for all her hard work and excited to see the show.”
Story by: Jie Fu
jiefu@suumail.net
Photo by: Mitch Quartz
