Elton John did his final U.S. tour date at Dodger Stadium, streamed live over Disney+ with Dua Lipa, Brandi Carlile and Kiki Dee as featured guests.
A famous phrase from a contemporary who was in the house for the concert, Joni Mitchell — “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” — seemed to have little bearing Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, as a crowd of almost 50,000 had a very robust sense of what they would be missing after Elton John retires from the road. Millions more were watching at home as Disney+ livestreamed his U.S. tour finale as “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium,” with duet partners Dua Lipa, Brandi Carlile and Kiki Dee participating in the sendoff, a webcast that had his recent hit “Cold Heart” leading the encores as the clock neared 2 on the east coast.
Two of the night’s collaborations had a sure place in the set list: Lipa would be joining John for “Cold Heart,” which he has been performing by himself in the final stretch each night on tour, and Dee was to have her spot on “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” recreating a moment that they shared when he last played Dodger Stadium in 1975.
The big question mark was what Carlile would be joining John for; although they shared a number on his last album, “The Lockdown Sessions,” it was likely to be something more iconic than that. The mystery remained all the way up until a verse into “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” at which point Carlile entered at stage right, singing at the opposite end of the stage from his position at the piano until he stood and joined her for a happy hug at the sad ballad’s end.
John sang the entirety of the set benched, as it were — except for the moments in-between songs when he would stand and spread his arms in exultation, then turn to get a sip of water (which also had the effect of showing off the glitzy, embroidered “Elton” on the back of his tuxedo jacket)… and also with the exception of the duets with Dee and Lipa, which placed him up close with them in “we’re still standing” position.
