Elton John Still a Man in Love With the Music

Elton John has received so much attention over the last three decades for his songwriting that it’s easy to overlook the other qualities that have contributed to his remarkable success--namely his singing and piano playing.

Even if John hadn’t written all those hits with lyricist Bernie Taupin, the chances are the Englishman would still have had a substantial pop-rock career.

As he showed in a 2 1/2-hour set Saturday at the sold-out Forum, John, the vocalist, injects virtually each song with a sense of freshness, though he prizes subtle changes rather than the sometimes extreme redesign of Bob Dylan.

John generally honors a song’s basic framework, simply adding a slight twist of phrasing to remind us we are sharing a new moment, rather than just reliving an old one.

This ability to breathe new life into familiar material was displayed most dramatically during the encore when he tore through one of rock’s early classics, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire,” with such vigor that even Lewis himself would be tempted to put down his signature cigar and join in the applause.

John, whose voice was a bit raspier than usual Saturday, also freshened the music with his piano playing, often adding instrumental flourishes that avoided the self-indulgence commonly associated with solos in rock.

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But even these skills don’t explain the full appeal of a pop figure who has recorded more Top 40 hits in the U.S. than anyone other than Elvis Presley. The intangible that has both kept him competitive as an artist and winning as a stage performer is his spirit.

From his enthusiasm and attention to detail, you’d have thought this was someone trying to prove his worth to an audience in his first visit to the 18,000-seat Forum rather than someone who has headlined similarly sized venues hundreds of times since the early ‘70s.

“Good evening Los Angeles,” he said early in the set, frequently leaving the piano to move to the edge of the stage to shake hands or sign autographs. It was a refreshing sight in an age of so many frequently reluctant pop stars.

While John and his six-piece band played some ‘90s material, including the AIDS-themed “The Last Song,” he focused chiefly on his battery of hits, from the wistful “Daniel” to the melancholy “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” to the giddy “Honky Cat.” However, he stood by his pledge not to perform either “Candle in the Wind” or the updated version he sang at Princess Diana’s funeral because he felt, quite rightly, that it would be inappropriate in a commercial setting.

Through it all Saturday, John never settled for being merely professional. He radiated the passion of a performer who not only loves music, but loves to share it with his audience.