CUREBOUND CONCERT FOR CURES” Friday, May 09, 2025

By Wayne Martin

ELTON JOHN SET LIST
“CUREBOUND CONCERT FOR CURES”
Friday, May 09, 2025 * 8:30pm – 10:15pm
PETCO PARK, SAN DIEGO, CA

• 8:20pm: A short Curebound Bio Film plays followed by

Curebound CEO Anne Marbarger coming on stage to tell her
story before introducing Alicia Keys who appears on video
to introduce tonight’s concert.

• Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding
• Bennie And The Jets – (Elton turned this song inside

out on his piano in an amazing way. He redefined
what it is to be a percussive pianist on this and several songs throughout the night. The stationary camera in front of Elton’s piano would bounce and get out of focus at times due to the stage floor vibrations due to his ferocious playing.)

• I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
• Philadelphia Freedom
• Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters – (I attended the “Farewell Yellow Brick, The Final Tour” on July 24, 2022 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ where Elton surprised everyone by saying this would be the LAST time he would ever play this song, explaining it’s about New York and as this was his final performance in the tri-state, he wanted it to remain special and was giving it to New York. I guess he forgot!)
• Tiny Dancer
• Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
• Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time) – (Just as you thought he was going to stick with the arrangement he’s played in recent years, Elton switched it up by adding a very impressive jazz segment. Elton also began wiping his nose and popping his ears during this number. Weather had turned cooler at this point causing his nose to run and tissues were handed to him at songs conclusion. My nose had also begun to run at this point too, so I appreciated what he was dealing with.)
• Levon – (Started out a little off [possibly sound issues again?] but once it got going turned into one of the nights highlights with an amazing jam at its end)
• Candle In The Wind – (Solo)
• Someone Saved My Life Tonight – (Ray Cooper did not appear to play his kettle drums on this song tonight)
• Sad Songs (Say So Much) – (Again, sound mix issues as you could not hear Kim Bullard’s keyboard horns during his solo part as Elton stood and danced)

— Band Introductions — (The first concert I’ve ever seen Ray Cooper receive only moderate applause)

• Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
• The Bitch Is Back – (Davey appeared to have some trouble playing the opening riffs to the point it sounded as if he were playing an entirely different song, causing Elton to look over at him in shock before Davey managed to play the familiar notes)
• I’m Still Standing – (Before beginning Elton motioned Bassist Matt Bissonette over who then ran over to Davey to relay what Elton had said, which I believe was to say he was ending with ‘I’m Still Standing’ and skipping’ Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ which was planned for the closing)

— ENCORES —

• Cold Heart – (Sound mix was so bad on this song that Dua Lipa’s vocals were completely drowned out by the overpowering thumping bass)
• Your Song – (Throughout this song photos and RIP messages of those who have died from cancers were shown on the stadiums largest screen)
• Fireworks set off as Elton and Band leave the stage

WAYNE MARTIN’S RANDOM CONCERT NOTES

• I had not planned on attending tonight’s concert until my dear friend and journalist Juliet Pennington asked if I’d like to meet up with her as she had an extra ticket. I’m not a fan of outdoor stadium shows and thought that I had attended my last one at the conclusion of Elton’s “Farewell Yellow Brick, The Final Tour” but am very glad that flew in to see this show.
• Tickets were very slow to sell for this benefit concert, so I was pleasantly surprised that in the end 27,000 people attended. There were a few empty sections, and I don’t know what constitutes a “sell-out” concert performance in this 42,000 seat stadium but it was a much better turnout than I feared during a period of terrible ticket sales for many acts currently on tour. (Beyonce, Katie Perry, Kelly Clarkson, etc. are all playing to 2/3 empty venues)
• The front 2/3rds of the field were small tables that sold for $1000.00 a seat and were completely sold out (Though some seats remained empty due to no-shows)
• Wealthy, non-fans at these benefit settings are often not the best audiences. The true fans are often stuck in back, but tonight’s audience proved to be the exception. Everyone was on their feet from the start and what was intended as a no stage rush night, turned into the complete opposite, as the audience rushed past the barriers during the second song of the night. This delighted and was further encouraged by Elton and the Band as they were not expecting this.
• I was also surprised at the number of true fans who attended from not only the States, but from the UK, Poland, South America… I discovered that my hotel alone is mostly fans in town just for the show.
• Elton was in very good voice. Not only is his baritone more powerful than ever, but he also was using his upper register more than usual.
• That said, as we know, Elton is not in good health. His eyesight has not improved, and his mobility issues continue to be a serious problem following replacement of both knees and a hip several years back. While he did walk out onto the stage without assistance, husband David Furnish sat just off stage never taking his eyes off Elton the entire evening and was right there to hold onto him as he exited the stage. Elton would not move until taken by the hand and led away.
• Elton’s teleprompter is now a large screen place directly in front of him where you would keep sheet music on a piano. It’s angled in such a way that makes it nearly invisible to the audience and camera’s and has larger font for his deteriorating eyesight. Placement seemed to be at odds with the lighting system tonight however, as Elton asked if the lights could be changed somehow, immediately after the opening number, as he could not see it.
• While he often stood up briefly for effect during piano solos, he would hold tightly to the piano and reseat himself quickly. He also appeared to have trouble being able to see to grasp his water with Matt and others assisting him at points during the evening.
• The biggest problem for me was the sound. The ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour’ had arguably the best sound of his entire career. I saw 37 of those shows, both in the US and Europe and not once was there ever any distortion, feedback… nothing but crystal clear perfectly balanced sound with all instruments heard to perfection. That was not the case tonight. While not terrible, there was periodic distortion, sound levels sometimes off (Kim Bullard’s keyboards for the opening of ‘Funeral For A Friend’ were so low as to be hard to hear from my seat which was right next to the sound booth, which should be perfect.) As I noted above, you could not hear Dua Lipa at all during ‘Cold Heart’ and while you could hear Elton’s vocal fine, instrument wise all you could hear was bass. While Elton’s piano was loud and clear throughout the night, other instruments were occasionally muddy sounding with backing vocals often hard to hear at all. Others I spoke with expressed the same complaint except for one friend whose seat was in the very last row at the upper most level, who said the sound was “perfect”!
• I was impressed with the number of new videos projected onto the screens during the different songs. Many were completely new, while others like ‘Philadelphia Freedom’, ‘Candle In The Wind’ and ‘The Bitch Is Back’ would begin with clips from the ‘Farewell Yellow Brick, The Final Tour’ and then morph into something completely new. A nice added touch and surprise for fans like me who have seen hundreds of his shows.
• The Band had a lengthy soundcheck earlier in the day, with Elton joining them on several songs, such as ‘Mona Lisas’ and one of the new songs off ‘Who Believes In Angels’ album which he rehearsed solo, but did not play in the show. I’m attaching a copy of what had been decided for the evenings setlist to compare it with mine to see those he cut during the actual performance.