Tribute to a legend
Elton John impersonator celebrates lengthy career, top hits.
Elton John’s extensive list of hits include “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” “Candle in the Wind,” “I’m Still Standing” and “Tiny Dancer.”
These songs and many more are among the repertoire of tribute act Simply Elton, which features Brian Harris impersonating John from the vocal style and piano skills to the costuming and energy of the singer-songwriter who released his debut single in 1968.
“‘Levon’ is one of my favorites. Another one is ‘This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore.’ I love playing that song,” said Harris, who performs solo in person as Simply Elton on March 26 at the Room Entertainment Venue in Highland, Indiana, and March 27 for his first time at Rooftop Tap in Palos Heights, Illinois.
“There’s another lesser-known tune, ‘Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny),’ which is a tribute to John Lennon. Those are the songs I love doing. ‘Rocket Man’ is a blast to do every night.
So is ‘Bennie and the Jets.’
“People are going to get a full Elton show and it’s going to be all out.”
Harris, who did his first Simply Elton
show in 2012, has performed a solo act for intimate gigs that often include requests and with the Mad Hatters Band for bigger concerts throughout the United States including Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.
“Growing up I was very familiar with Elton,” said Harris, who originally is from the East Coast and lives in Beach Park, Illinois.
“Elton was an icon. Everybody knew who Elton was. One of the hits that even my progressive rock pals and I always remember is ‘Funeral for a Friend.’ That was a cool tune.”
Harris, a classically trained pianist, backed up others by playing in bands for years but it was helping to pay tribute to Elvis Presley that paved the way for Simply Elton.
“I was in a band that backed up Elvis guys. They were fun gigs. You traveled all over the country on weekends at festivals for all this Elvis stuff. I started to realize there was a big market for tributes,” he said.
“I always wanted to be a singer and see if I could start my own band so I decided at the end of 2011, ‘I’m going to really try this Elton thing.’ Even though I knew a lot of Elton songs that I could play and could sing a good number of hits, I decided to learn every song.
“When I did that, I became more of an Elton fan because what I realized is ‘Wow. There’s a lot of great music there that I wasn’t aware of and a lot of good songwriting.’ That was how I got introduced to the great songs he did beyond the hits that everybody knows.
“I could play for three hours and everybody pretty much knows every song I play because Elton has such a great catalog of music and hits.”
Harris does not only sing and play John’s songs. He also looks the part.
“I bought a grand piano shell that I could take to different shows and it looks like I’ve got a grand piano. People think I’ve got a grand piano even though it’s an electronic keyboard that you put in the shell,” he said.
“I also bought an outfit that Elton wore in a 1984 Wembley Stadium concert. It’s like a tuxedo with black and white on the jacket and opposite black and white on the pants.
“That was how I started out because I watched these Elvis guys and I knew they always had to have a great outfit that was going to help you capture people’s attention.”
Harris, whose gigs have included Cedar Lake Summerfest and a handful of Simply Elton full band shows at the Room, said he is glad to be booking more concerts after not performing from March to June 2020 and October to mid-January due to measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
“To get back to live shows was almost heavenly,” said Harris, who has approximately 20 outfit possibilities for concerts and spent much of the past year doing free online performances on Simply Elton’s Facebook page.
“There’s an absolute hunger from people to come out and see live music again because they’ve been without it for so long.”