By Tim Van Schmidt

Life is precious. That’s what was driven home loudly and clearly when Elton John performed at the University of Wyoming in Laramie on April 3. When I say “driven home,” I mean it literally. The drive home to Fort Collins from Laramie after the concert was life-threatening due to a voracious Spring blizzard that ripped across Southern Wyoming and Northern Colorado that night. It was a white-knuckle trip with snow blowing straight into the windshield and covering the icy highway. Thanks to the reassuring presence of on-duty snow plow operators and the patience of my friend at the wheel to drive ten miles an hour at times, we made it home safe and alive. It was a big relief to pull up in front of our house.

The trip home was so intense, that a pedestrian concert experience could have easily been quickly forgotten. But John’s show in Laramie was hardly pedestrian and the theme that life is precious was particularly strong during the concert and not just on the drive home.

John’s solo concert was a benefit for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, an organization formed in memory of murdered Laramie resident Matthew Shepard, a victim of a hate crime against gays. This was a return engagement for John in Laramie, who appeared in concert to benefit the Foundation nearly ten years ago.

That was the last time I had seen Elton John perform- at the Matthew Shepard Foundation benefit in Laramie in 1999. That was also a solo show and I remember it was a masterful performance in itself, full of energy, spirit and determination to support the cause. This time- in 2009- it took a little getting used to listening to the changes in John’s voice. Now, there seems to be quite a bit of gravel in the mix, his vocal range limited and scratchy at times and some of the songs particularly early in the show were questionably suited to his abilities. But the fact that John rose in between nearly every song to go drink some water might indicate there was some physical discomfort going on, and by the end of the show, his voice seemed to be warmed up and much truer. John’s show gained its ultimate strength, then, not through his vocals, but through his dominance of the piano and the basic texture of some of the material itself.

But before getting to showmanship part of the evening, John took some time at the beginning of the set to talk about the issues at hand. He told the crowd that he kept a photo of Matthew Shepard in his kitchen and that seeing it every day reminded him of the importance of working toward social change. He praised the inspirational work of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and pledged to spend more time performing to benefit the organization. Above all, he promised to “Never, ever forget” what happened to Matthew Shepard and what it means to gay people and other people in general.

To match the gravity of his brief talk with the audience, John included a three-song mini set dedicated to Matthew Shepard later in the show, including the somber “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word” and the gentle “Candle in the Wind.” But it was “American Triangle,” a song that John introduced as “Matthew’s song,” written by him and lyricist Bernie Taupin in reaction to Shepard’s story, that truly touched the heart. The lonely, mournful sound of the song and its strong words and images- “I’ve seen a scarecrow wrapped in wire/left to die on a high ridge fence/It’s a cold, cold wind/It’s a cold wind blowing, Wyoming”- was riveting. This went way beyond showmanship and became a true moment of emotional release. At the conclusion of the piece, John said he rarely plays the song because it touches him so much- but on this occasion he “had to.”

To be sure, John easily put on his showman hat and entertained the crowd with plenty of hits. That included more ebullient tunes like “Crocodile Rock,” which allowed the crowd to happily sing along, “Philadelphia Freedom” and “Honky Cat,” which was an early highlight in the show thanks to John’s strong honky tonk piano style. Lighter pieces like “Your Song,” “Daniel” and “Tiny Dancer” all received rousing ovations. And the strongest tune of the night was “Rocket Man,” complete with additional vocal effects that made the sound bigger and more dynamic.

But more impressive than the more established hits during the concert were some of the other song choices John included like “Ticking” from the “Caribou” album and “Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes” from “Songs from the WestCoast.” John also took some time for instrumental excursions on the piano that traveled plenty far away from the vocal material. These songs helped underscore that John is not just a hitmaker, but a distinctive musician with flavorful chord changes and the ability to seriously get inside Taupin’s introspective lyrics.

Other emotional highlights during the concert included “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatter,” “Levon,” and an inspiring version of “Border Song” that seemed to pick up a little extra meaning at this event with the words “He’s my brother/Let us live in peace.” “Take Me to the Pilot,” one of John’s earliest hits, showed plenty of rock and roll grit and “Sixty Years On” was dark and heavy.

When John returned for an encore- after playing for well over two hours- he announced to the crowd that the event had raised $550,000 for the Matthew Shepard Foundation. But more than money, this was an exceptional evening with a major artist who wasn’t afraid to show many sides of his art- from the happy sing-along songs to those that dive straight into complex emotions. John reminded, in this particular way, that indeed life is precious. Especially when a blizzard is blowing wildly outside, this is one thing that can help keep us going.