Elton John - Levon
Live at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, FL
September 21, 1986
If we were to divide the USA "Ice On Fire" tour in sections, section one would be "The Inconsistent But Mostly Acceptable" phase of 8/17-8/29, section two would be "The Tragic Downfall and Disaster" phase of 8/30-9/8, section three would be "The False Hope" phase of Madison Square Garden 9/11-9/14, then section four would "The Unpredictable Mess" phase of the entire rest of the tour.
This performance comes from "The Unpredictable Mess" phase. This phase begins with 9/16, and gets its name because, as is the nature of vocal nodules, all rhyme or reason to Elton's voice just goes out the door.
We've theorized in the past that Elton may have been getting intermittent steroid treatment after his diagnosis before the MSG run, and this could explain just how all over the place things are. Having received a brief steroid treatment when I was developing nodules I can attest that the positive effects are very brief and can wear off in a matter of a few days.
So of the tapes we have, it's hard to really describe the range of shows. Some are okay or even good sometimes, some are extremely average, some start out struggling and get better by the end...just the full spectrum. That said--there aren't really any further tapes like the disasters of 9/14 or 9/8. None of the shows feature a fully vocally functional Elton, but it never reaches the frightening place it did...again likely thanks to some kind of medical intervention.
This show is notable, however, as being a surprisingly stronger show for this period in the tour (although he can't seem to get the message to stop trying the "shine a light" falsettos in "Philadelphia Freedom"). The tape is incomplete, but what we have here is enough to know that for a decent bit of the show his voice was working in his favor at this show. By the time he gets to "Levon" you'll notice he seems to be in alright shape, and feeling pretty vocally confident. There's a few modified phrasing sections that are in place here regardless, but there's a few added embellishments as well.
What makes this even more interesting is the very subpar performance given in Tallahassee the night before on 9/20. While not the worst show, it's a show with its fair share of vocal hiccups and weaknesses/rough spots. In Tampa, the very next night, he sounds totally refreshed--more energy, embellishing phrasing in songs, and overall easily the strongest we hear from him in the tapes we have from this final section of the tour.
This, once again, just goes to prove the nature of nodules and how, even if being given steroid treatments (which shows like this very much support this theory), you can't predict how things will work from night to night.
Anyway, its a good performance from a time when he really shouldn't have been able to give this strong a performance, haha. Enjoy!