Elton John roars through hits in 3-hour Florida show

Elton John needed a show Monday night that his Florida fans would remember.

He canceled his Nov. 27 concert at Amway Center in Orlando 20 minutes after it was to begin because of an ear infection, prompting shouts of "You've got to be kidding me!" and more R-rated language. Fans returned Monday to the venue hoping John would appear and that they'd walk away mesmerized with his brilliance. 

The music of his Who cover "Pinball Wizard" blared for 20 seconds as the dark stage slowly illuminated with John behind his piano, hitting one key to signal the start of "Bennie and the Jets," the beginning of his show.

Previously:Elton John makeup concert in Orlando is this month

For the next nearly three hours, John delivered just what his audience had hoped for and even began with an apology.

"Good evening, Orlando," he told the packed arena of some 20,000. "I'm so sorry for missing you the first time."

John said he wished he could play until 3 a.m., and with the crowd erupting in cheers, you could sense that they would have hung with him until then.

"If I left out a favorite song, I really apologize," he said.

John roared through some two dozen songs, the hits of course from his half-century of music and a few lesser known tunes such as "Indian Sunset" from his 1971 album "Madman Across The Water" that John called one of his favorites. 

For that song, which tells the demise of the American Indian, he described his songwriting collaboration with Bernie Taupin.

"He gave me five pages of lyrics," John told the crowd. "I said, 'God this is like a 2½-hour movie so what am I going to do? But I love the lyrics so much that I decided to divide the song into three bits."

In 2016:Review: Elton John crocodile rocks fans at his Estero show

John talked much more Monday than at his 2016 Estero show at Hertz Arena, describing how thrilled he was as a young musician to learn that the late Aretha Franklin recorded his 1970 "Border Song," one of his first songs to chart in the U.S.

"It could've been the Chipmunks and I couldn't have cared less," John said of someone telling him another artist had recorded the song. "But it was Aretha Franklin. I loved her so much for that."

He said he thanked the native Detroiter whenever he saw her, adding: "You will never see the likes of Aretha Franklin again."

John's strength beyond his many talents is his band, including musical director and lead guitarist and backup singer Davey Johnstone, bassist and Detroit native Matt Bissonette and percussionist and Ray Cooper.

Johnston especially accentuated John's piano sound, from an acoustic duet with him on "Rocket Man," from his slide guitar on "Tiny Dancer" and to his blistering jams on "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting."

After 90 minutes, a time when most bands are into their encore, John was just warming up with 12 songs played and another 12 to go.

A dress change into a black blazer with pink and green floral accents (and gleaming sapphire glasses) and he climbed aboard his moving piano. A couple minutes of smoke drifted onto stage, with purple lights beneath creating the perfect mood for John to launch into his 1973 hit "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding."

For a few moments, John appeared floating on clouds as the piano slowly glided across the black stage. 

He then opened up about his drug and alcohol addiction, saying in 1990 he found the courage to say three words: "I need help."

"And I asked for help and I got it and it changed my life," John continued. "And anyone out there feeling ashamed asking for help like I did, forget about it, just go for it."

The audience applauded. "I wanted to put my life back into balance. And, gradually, I did, because I got sober and I got clean. And I learned how to walk again and be a decent person."

He also discussed his efforts to address the AIDS epidemic some 30 years ago, and began his foundation in 1992 that has since raised more than $400 million to support HIV-related programs worldwide.

"I believe in the love and the kindness of the human spirit," John said. "Yeah, there's a lot of people out there who we would rather not deal with, but in general, people are wonderful and they're kind."

He continued performing, with "Daniel" (which he called one of his favorites), "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," "The Bitch Is Back," "I'm Still Standing," "Crocodile Rock" and "Saturday Night" as golden confetti rained down on the stage.

After stagehands used leaf blowers to clear the stage, John returned for two encores: "Your Song" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."

By 10:45 p.m., John walked to a lift that slowed moved him up diagonally toward the top of the video screen as he waved to the crowd before disappearing into darkness.

The Nov. 27 experience left this reviewer a bit miffed at John, not because he fell ill but with how the previously scheduled concert's cancellation was handled — waiting for everyone to spend money on parking, drinks and food then announce the show was canceled.

And the failure of the city of Orlando to keep its promise to have parking lots near Amway honor $20 parking stubs paid from Nov. 27 didn't start the night off on the right foot Monday.

Yet those of us who have enjoyed John's music our entire lives didn't leave the arena cursing and shaking our heads this time. He wore his openness, his professionalism and humility on his sequined sleeves on this memorable night.

For a final chance to see John in Florida, he returns later this year: He had also canceled the Tampa show set for last Nov. 28, and that was rescheduled for Nov. 4, 2019.

John — who turns 72 on March 25 — will continue his final tour through the end of 2020, with his final concert set for Dec. 16 of that year in London.