An early Carnival with Rock in Rio 2026
By Kasia (Kate) Bugaj
On 7th September Elton performed during Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro. Of course, I couldn’t miss it. It was my another Elton’s show on the new continent.
The weather in Rio wasn’t great – it had rained all day the day before but it improved a bit on the day of the show. But I wasn’t worried about the weather. My fan friends and I, armed with raincoats, waited for around 14 hours in total to see Elton – including almost 5 hours the gates before they opened. When the gates finally opened, the race to the stage began. We had to run 800 metres and I can honestly say I’ve never run so fast in my life, except maybe gym class at school. I was really happy because I managed to get to the front row. Front row or don’t go!
We heard a soundcheck taking place, behind the curtain on the main stage. I heard „Don’t let the sun go down on me” and I’m pretty sure I heard Elton’s voice. Also I took my first zip-line, over the main stage, which was a funny experience.
Not everything went perfectly, though, because there was a bank of lights on stage that blocked the view, and besides, the stage was high so we couldn’t see the piano at all. At one point, frustrated people started chanting to have them removed, and finally someone from the crew heard them, and 30 minutes before the show, they removed lighting. Power of the fans….
The last time I saw Elton it was at a show in Anaheim a year ago, and it’s amazing he’s approaching 80 and his voice still sounds so good.
The show lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. It drew over 100,000 people. David was apparently not in Rio because someone else brought Elton onto the stage. Elton opened it with “Funeral for a Friend”. A few songs were way too fast but the set list was very good – 23 songs in total. “Skyline Pigeon” and “The One” were the highlights – it was the first time I’d heard them live. Elton sang “Skyline Pigeon” at the end, pointing out it was the first good song he wrote with Bernie and that Brazil is the only place where it’s been so popular. We also got “Sacrifice.” I also noticed that new footage of Brazilian fans had been added to the video for “Crocodile Rock.” At one point, it was clear Elton wasn’t happy and was saying something to the band. He also mentioned twice that he was cold.
It was a brilliant show with a fantastic Brazilian audience. And the next day, on my way home, I saw Elton’s plane land right next to mine which was a perfect way to end my Brazilian trip.
Our thanks to Kasia for this report and to all fans who kindly share their experiences with Elton John World.
Here follows a gallery of photos from Kasia:
