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Description

Hello everybody! Do you know what happens when new sources/upgrades of existing shows surface? They get uploaded on Youtube! Over the last week or so, I received a shit load of new shows from Elton Bootlegs and Tony Marshall! I also got some new/upgraded sources of older shows from Tony Marshall, and everyone is going to benefit from them! The first show to be uploaded, is from Elton's legendary 1985-1986 tour: Manchester 1985! This upgraded recording has no tape hiss, sounds cleaner, and the mix is brighter! To make things better, the recording is complete! Although this show is often overshadowed by other gigs from this tour (Sheffield, Wembley Arena, Belfast, etc), the upgraded copy may give some much-needed TLC to this show! The improved sound quality really brings out subtle nuances that the older source hid (like superb vocal harmonies, Ray Cooper's percussion playing, etc)! It also brought up Elton's voice clearer in the mix (which is a good AND bad thing for this show): Although Elton's voice was generally in excellent shape for the UK leg of the tour, this is arguably his weakest vocal show from the leg. Judging from his tone (and Elton Bootlegs helping me out with the English weather patterns), it sounds like Elton caught a slight flu or a cold (the first signs are on the Manchester show from 12/1/1985), and is dealing with the effects. His voice has a slightly rough and raspy edge to it (it sounds like a fusion of Seattle 1975, late 1984 shows, and mixed in with his 1985 voice), and it takes a decent amount of time to warm up. By mid-show, his voice noticeably improves, and sounds good for the rest of the show! Since this is a newer source, we are going to go through the set-list: "Tonight" doesn't sound too appealing (Elton flubs words, and sounds very rough--though the falsetto parts are fine), "One Horse Town" is good, but is the weakest "high note" version on the tour (plus he makes up lyrics), "Better Off Dead" is good, "Rocket Man" is good, but there's some better versions, "Honky Cat" sounds fine, "Burn Down The Mission" is good, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" sounds great (though a bit rough-around-the-edges), "The Bitch Is Back" sounds very energetic, the medley is strong, "Restless" is delivered very well (though Elton flubs a line), "Passengers" is good, "Bennie And The Jets" has funny phrasing galore, and sounds like Live Aid in spots, "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" is great, "Shoot Down The Moon" is very nice (and he sounds very smooth--considering his rougher voice on the earlier songs), "This Town" is funky, and one of my favorite versions, and "Nikita" is very nice! Moving onto the final songs: "Wrap Her Up" sounds pretty good, but Elton has sung it better on other versions (he doesn't go for many A4s), "I'm Still Standing" is energetic with random phrasing, "Your Song" has Elton singing it great, but I'm not fond of the "duet" versions on this leg, "Candle In The Wind" is absolutely gorgeous, and makes versions from the late North American and Australian legs look like complete shit, "Kiss The Bride" has very random phrasing throughout (ranging from 1984 embellishments, to the 1989 phrasing), and "Can I Get A Witness" sounds excellent! ENJOY!!! Note: Elton has fun during the band introduction, and makes witty remarks between songs! Note 2: Davey breaks a string during the guitar solo for "I'm Still Standing," and Elton takes the piss out of him after the song ends!