On Stage
Elton John - Dave Laing†
Dave Laing† [+]
University of Liverpool
Dave Laing, who died suddenly in January 2019, was a writer, editor and lecturer, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool. His works include The Sound of our Time (1969), Buddy Holly (1970), One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock (1985) and (with Phil Hardy) The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music (1995). He is an editor of the Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World whose first volumes were published in 2003.
Description
In an era when the consensus is that popular music is dominated by recordings, Elton John’s musical reputation has been established as much through his performance style as by his studio work. This chapter deals with the various elements of his concert performances, including costume, choreography, set lists (the sequence of songs in the concert) and the range of ensembles, from solo percussionist to symphony orchestra, that have accompanied Elton John on stage.