Some of his choices for guests are a bit puzzling: Bryan Adams adds little excitement to "Sad Songs (Say So Much)," while singer Ronan Keating of the British group Boyzone, a virtual unknown in the United States, is superfluous on "Your Song," perhaps Elton's most enduring tune (revived to considerably better effect on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack). On the other hand, Billy Joel is a good foil for Elton on "Yellow Brick Road," Mary J. Blige adds some soulful fervor to "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues," Kiki Dee shows up to duet with Elton on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" for the first time in several eons, and the young American singer Anastacia is a revelation on a hard-rocking "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting." --Sam Graham

Product Description
Movie DVD

Ironically, the name of the DVD is 'One Night Only' while in actuality it was shot over a two night perion in October 2000. With the energy and absolute electricty that Elton John puts into his performances it's amazing he did it in only two nights. His singing was clear crisp and strong showing none of the age that other rockers his age may suffer. The back up as well was fab and the songs were so well mixed that the back up didn't drown out Elton Johns honkey tonk piano man skills at the ivories ....

Fleetwood Mack's concert DVD the 'Dance' now has a partner on the top shelf of my favorites!


Fine Recording of Elton's First 21st Century NYC Concerts   July 7, 2005
John Kwok (New York, NY USA)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

"One Night Only" was photographed over a two-day period at New York City's Madison Square Garden in October, 2000, and contains the entire concert featured in the CD version, but in the exact order that the songs were played plus nearly an hour more of additional music. Without question this is a triumphant recording of Elton playing at one of his favorite venues, Madison Square Garden. However, I'm puzzled by Elton's choice of guest artists, such as Ronan Keating and Bryan Adams, in joining him to sing classics such as "Your Song" and "Sad Songs (Say So Much)", but there are also spellbinding performances from Billy Joel (who joins Elton in playing the piano and singing "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road") and the young American singer Anastacia ("Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting"). I also enjoyed Elton's duet with another young American singer, Mary J. Blige ("I Guess Why They Call It The Blues"). I was also especially impressed with hearing three little-played hits, "Little Jeannie", "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That", and "Club At The End Of The Street". Long-time Elton John fans will appreciate hearing that these Madison Square Garden concerts marked the return of long-time Elton John drummer Nigel Olsson, whose superb drumming can be heard on many of Elton's classic 1970s albums and hit singles ("Bennie And The Jets", "Candle In The Wind", "Daniel", "Rocket Man", "Tiny Dancer", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", "Crocodile Rock", "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me") and also, most notably, on Elton's early 1990s hit single "The One", and a spellbinding cover of the Lennon-McCarthy song "Come Together". The rest of the band includes percussionist John Mahan, drummer Curt Bisquera, bassist Bob Birch, keyboard player Guy Babylon, guitarist (and singer) Ken Stacey, singer Billy Trudel, guitarist John Jorgensen, and last, but not least, long-time faithful sidekick and music director, guitarist Davey Johnstone.


Shows A Lot More Than The Live Album   December 24, 2002
Anthony Nasti (Staten Island, New York United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is the complete concer that was the basis of the live album and CBS tv special, "One Night Only". This dvd has 27 tracks, whereas the tv show and video had 12 tracks, and the cd had seventeen tracks. Elton revived several of his lesser-known hits, as well as the usual concert warhorses.

The concert's energy is evident right from the evening's first song, a blazing "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", on which Elton's piano solo sounds fresh and energetic. Elton revives many of his hits, most notably the stellar "Little Jeannie" and the breezy "Club At The End Of The Street". I also delighted in Elton's stellar performance of "Tiny Dancer", which never sounded better than it does here. The biggest surprise of the evening is Elton's scorching cover of "Come Together", a tribute to John Lennon. Elton gives emotional performances of "Blue Eyes" and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", and his vocal performances on "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" shine. Elton's piano talents are emphasized on his wild solos on "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" and "Crocodile Rock".

The only bad thing about this dvd is the abundance of terrifyingly bad guest stars. While Billy Joel, Kiki Dee and Mary J. Blige are fine on their duets, Ronan Keating sounds horrible on "Your Song". And Bryan Adams sounds like he trying to kill himself on "Sad Songs", ans Anatascia seems to not know what she's doing on "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting". Still, Elton does redeem himself by giving stellar solo performances. All in all, "One Night Only" is a brilliant dvd.


Hits, Hits and More Hits!   October 26, 2004
H. Brown (Omaha, Nebraska United States)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

This will be my shortest review I've ever writen for Amazon. ANYONE WHO LIKES ELTON JOHN WILL BE DELIGHTED!!!

Unlike the CD version, you're going to get every song that was recorded that night. Elton has so many hits over the years, they probably could have done even more, but the audience (and the DVD buyers) will be completely satisfied. Hit the play button and enjoy!