Off The Cuff: A wry look at life

When I excitedly called my wife back in Toronto and told her I had won a ticket to the Elton John show at an office raffle, she told my 12-year-old son, and his response reportedly was, "Isn't Elton John dead or something?"

Both my sons are more into Savage Garden and the only Elton John song they know is the Circle of Life from the animated movie, the Lion King.

When my wife's uncle sent a gift cheque for our kids, we decided to treat them to Lion King, the award-winning Broadway musical running at the Princess of Wales Theatre on King Street West.

The choreographer and director is a New Yorker and she has worked wonders on the stage, with the material. She turned the wise old monkey into a female, and when this central character sang the Circle of Life, it sent chills up my spine.

A couple of minutes from Al Maktoum Bridge my friends and I thought we were in trouble and will never make it in time for the concert. The long line of cars was hardly moving and it was here we noticed some girls in shorts, with their cardigans tied around their hips, walking. Dubai was on its way to see Elton John.

As the taxi slowly crawled to the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, we saw more Western expats walking to the venue. This seemed a perfect way to beat the traffic jam. Just after the bridge we paid off the taxi, leaving the driver to find his own way out of the mess and started walking ourselves.

Armed with a bucket full of ice-cold cans, and the best sharwamas I have tasted in a long time, we pushed though and settled down comfortably on the grass. Elton had promised a cozy little party for 15,000 of his Dubai fans, but this was something like the Carribana Festival in Toronto during the summer.

My wife and sons had refused to come to the festival saying that it was too hot to be outdoors, so in a huff I went alone.

Standing sweaty skin to sweaty skin under the blazing sun (somehow the sun is harsher in North America because of the hole in the ozone layer or something) and when the parade started with the dancers, the huge trailer trucks carrying massive speakers, followed by the Jamaican tinpan drum players, my feet just couldn't stop twitching.

Suddenly an elderly lady next to me got up slowly from the warm grass and with an umbrella over her head, started swaying to the Caribbean beat.

Since my friend is not too tall, she upturned the bucket of cans and balanced on it to get a proper view of Sir Elton, who was larger than life on the two giant screens.

But I felt sorry for those folks who had paid Dh500 and were seated way behind us. I believe Elton wanted it that way as he wanted more audience participation rather than a passive, sit-down audience in front.

He definitely didn't need an orchestra backing him. Elton had the audience rocking with his Crocodile Rock and Rocket Man. And when he sang Candle in the Wind, his tribute to Princess Diana, many expats flicked open their lighters and held them over their heads.

You may wonder why there were no pictures of Elton John getting down from his private jet at Dubai International Airport, or leaving. I'm told the organisers literally begged photographers to keep away. Apparently the eccentric musician had warned them that he did not want any pictures taken.