Life came to a bit of a standstill Monday morning. Dominating the headlines was news that Elton had left the stage in tears after putting on a stellar show, despite being diagnosed with walking pneumonia that day. However, he was unable to finish and, after apologising profusely to the mostly empathetic crowd, was escorted off to, no doubt, crawl into a foetal position of misery.
Poor Elton. You've got to feel for him – he tried!
And wouldn't it be just my luck that I was booked in to attend his next show the following day. I'd purchased tickets one year earlier, after missing out back in 2007. Upon hearing this was his final ever tour, I was not gonna miss this boat!
I'd even been careful this time, unlike with Ed Sheeran, not to book tickets through the notorious Viagogo site. Plus, I'd done my homework; according to the predicted set list he would be singing five songs I was unfamiliar with! I promptly added them to my Spotify playlist and went about learning them quick-smart.
I'd foregone Six60 that weekend to stay in and work all weekend to get ahead, the kids were sorted and, once they were safely ensconced in school, my friend and I were looking forward to an Elton roadie.
And then he got knocked down with pneumonia and the plans of tens of thousands of fans (not to mention the flow-on effect) ground to a halt.
Until the headlines subsequently changed to say that Elton was 'still standing' - his Tuesday concert would be shifted to Wednesday - and I think we all exhaled a collective sigh of relief.
She was all go once again and I went back to playing Indian Sunset, one of the songs I'd never heard of before that I was trying to learn else it was looking to be the toilet break song.
The accommodation couldn't be refunded and we now also needed somewhere to stay for the following rescheduled night. My friend booked a second motel and, while she drove to Auckland Tuesday, I decided to stay back and book a bus for the next day.
I awoke to messages from friends forwarding the latest headlines that he had postponed to January 2021 and life paused once more.
My poor friend was already in Auckland awaiting my arrival and hadn't yet woken to the news. But there were a lot of people who had and were way further up the creek and were justifiably frustrated!
But Elton is only human after-all and he really did try. And by 2021, at the end of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, and let's hope he's back to good health, it likely actually will be his last ever concert so those tickets will be gold.
I'm holding onto mine tight but meanwhile, I best go unpack.
