Elton John

On Friday, our travel from Oceanside to Las Vegas was on a pretty icky day. Up in the mountains it poured down rain. When Eric and Andy came on Saturday, the view on the right is what they saw (it had turned into snow).

We decided to stay at Caesar's (first time). Lower left, Ken relaxes in the only chair in the room, then poses with David in a downstairs hall. The room view (below right) was across a parking lot to the Wynn hotels and the Venetian, where we usually stay.

We had lunch on Saturday at a Chinese noodle restaurant with three huge tanks, filled with live gold fish (left). On a trip through the Forum Shops I saw a large fish tank with this cute ray who seemed to be clowning around for the audience.

The show, entitled "The Million Dollar Piano" was named that because Elton John had the Yamaha company build a very special piano. It was a twelve-foot grand, the side of which was an LED panel (like a TV). It could show any images Elton wanted. So, the piano would change it's look based on the stage lighting and set up. Sometimes it virtually disappeared into the stage. The literature says he controlled the changes with voice commands. The photo immediately below is the way the stage looked when we walked into this 4,000 seat arena. The close-up below that photo shows the side of the piano, which looks identical to the background stage. I circled the piano in blue so you can see it.

The stage continued to change as the lights changed, as did the piano. You can see the patriotic scene above, with the piano displaying stars. (Of course he was playing/singing "Philadelphia Freedom," written for Bill Jean King and her ladies' tennis team by the same name.)

He also had a very moving tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, while playing "Blue Eyes."

All in all, it was a great evening. All four of us loved the concert.

There are probably lots more, bu here's one YouTube movie that will give you more pictures and sound from the concert: Elton

Sunday morning we had breakfast together, and the two groups separated for the trip home. Ours was uneventful but seemed long. We took a pit stop at Primm, which is just inside the Nevada border. From a distance the place looks a little tacky, but we thought it quite nice. (When you first cross the state line into Nevada there is a small group of casinos that hopes to take your money before you get to Vegas.)