All Aboard: Experiencing the Elton John Connection

Apotheosic!!! With British punctuality — never more fitting — a well-known piano melody opens the concert. The Vesta by La Fulanita venue is an intimate, close space that allows the audience to be almost touching the musicians. “The Show Must Go On,” proclaims the room in bright neon. The musicians are set up beautifully and right at the front. And those chords we mentioned earlier are from Your Song, that unmistakable ballad by its author.

Elton John Connection was not a tribute act in the usual sense: it goes far beyond that. It is a musical journey through Elton’s career. Like any train Bernie Taupin describes in his songs, each ride is a song, and each stop is a spoken image of Elton John’s life. This makes the show very different from other proposals, and it helps those who are not die-hard Elton fans to situate themselves and discover aspects of Elton’s life that help them understand the myth — the living legend — of such an unrepeatable musician, always alongside his Two Rooms partner: Bernie Taupin.

But what is needed for this train to run with precision and offer a pleasant journey? Well, a good engineer and good energy. And this is made possible by its author, creator, and fan to the absolute core: Marta Coloma. Marta is an outburst of energy, with a subtle and deep voice, tender in texture, and with that warm and sweet narrative style that ensures nothing she explains — whether singing or narrating — ever loses its meaning. And it is not easy to summarize the important aspects of Elton’s life in an hour and a half without the show losing its punch.

As Marta rightly says: “(Elton) makes the difficult sound easy,” and she goes through the variety of styles where Elton has left his mark with his talent — country, pop, rock, blues, soul, and whatever else he feels like doing, because Elton, as Marta says, “is open to experimenting and has never stopped experimenting.” The selection of songs in the show’s repertoire is anything but accidental: each piece connects with the railway journey we embark upon, offering a solid overview of the vast and high-quality catalogue that Elton and Bernie have given to pop music through so many decades of unquestionable success. And it is no small thing that songs like Idol, Healing Hands, or Amoreena appear in the concert and are performed with the strength and mastery of this magnificent artist. And the best part is that she makes them her own — she squeezes them, studies them, and gives them a clean, subtle, personal touch that leaves the audience with no choice but to applaud wildly.

But Marta, who is very wise, knows that for her train to have all the energy it needs and to run smoothly, she must surround herself with a great band — and she most certainly does. And replacing Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson, and Dee Murray is no easy task. The point is that this band pays homage to them in every single note they play.

Dan Vidal is the master of ceremonies: he has that frenetic, fierce, or sensitive piano touch whenever the melody requires it, those piano solos Elton has spoiled us with, especially in his finest moments. And Bas Kisje and Giancarlo Spirito, on bass and drums respectively, form a true guard of honor to Murray and Olsson.

And how do you honor Davey Johnstone? Don’t worry — Marta brings in Miguel Tarzia, ensuring that Rocket Man or Saturday Night’s Alright never lose steam. And why not give some pieces a jazz twist? Add a saxophone — Freddie Quintero — to Idol or Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, and you’re guaranteed to leave a mark.

But the icing on the cake is the backing vocals: Laura Guardiola and Júlia Tapia. Elton’s songs are famously meticulous on the vocal side — think of Mortonette Jenkins, Marlena Jeter, or Natalie Jackson, for example. Those harmonious voices appear to embellish All the Girls Love Alice or the already mentioned Healing Hands, just to name two.

But Marta had her surprise saved for Can I Put You On, Elton’s most obscure rock song par excellence — delivered masterfully, with an amazing final few minutes that made the entire audience vibrate, completely surrendered to the performance. And, with Judy Tzuke’s permission, Marta claimed Give Me the Love as her own — that brilliant and forgotten gem, one of the few Elton songs written by a woman and sung by him, and one of my favorites from the early ’80s.

I’m writing this Eltonin’ Around The World article on another train, an AVE from Madrid to Barcelona, still echoing the amazing concert from last night, from the E-X-P-E-R-I-E-N-C-I-E we lived, still floating and with the melodies in my head, with Marta’s voice resonating inside me, with the memories of a wonderful evening we never wanted to end — but which has only just begun. Because there will be more trains, more journeys, more versions, more wonderful live Music, because this Elton John Connection has so much to give and so much to offer. There are many hidden treasures that must come back into the light, to remind us of the immense legacy of an Elton who was once “a boy spending his pocket money in record shops,” together with that “brown dirt cowboy living in a farm village in northern England.” They fulfilled their dreams, conquered the world, and became eternal.

Thank you Marta Coloma, thank you girls, thank you guys. Yesterday, when I left your concert, I reaffirmed myself as an eltonite for another 40 years. See you in Barcelona in 2026 — if not before!