Everybody has them. Those moments as you scan through the listings of upcoming events and something catches your eye. Not necessarily a listing for an artist you’ve actively followed for years, not even necesssarily an artist whose genre you would ever have as one of your favourites, but a listing that you spot and think ‘you know…that’ll be a gig to go to, one that’ll be talked about’.

The news that Elton John was to open BBC Radio 2′s Electric Proms in 2010 was one of those, and an opportunity I couldn’t miss.

Whilst I’ve seen and heard a fair number of the BBC’s Electric Proms events thanks to their excellent coverage across the airwaves and the web, this was the first time I had attended their flagship venue (my previous flirtation with the event was back in October 2007 where I saw a superb come-back performance from Edwyn Collins in Dingwalls, a much more intimate set-up just down the road).

Sir Elton took to the stage in rather conservative dress than he is (perhaps unfairly now) renowned for, although his tailored jacket did have a diamante-style rocket spread across the back; well, didn’t expect him to attend the opening of the Proms with nothing a bit special did you?!

He opened with some classics from his early days; renditions of Burn Down the Mission and Ballad of a Well Known Gun were pounded out with aplomb before an excellent rendition of Tiny Dancer, accompanied by a massive glitter ball that had descended from the auditorium’s high ceiling.

Spirits were high amongst the capacity crowd, many re-living their youth; even the below-par vocal performance from the first guest singer of the evening, Plan B, on I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues didn’t dampen the mood as Sir Elton accompanied in the way only he can on the piano. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got.

Sir Elton’s friend Leon Russell was introduced and made his way to the stage with the help of an electric wheelchair before performing a few of his hits. Whilst he was accompanied by the much-hyped female artist Rumer for This Masquerade, he performed the rest solo, Sir Elton opting to take a breather.

After a couple of numbers from him it was time for the duo to announce they have just completed a new album, The Union. Boy did they want us to know it…

Nervous shuffles and confused looks to partners greeted Sir Elton’s comment that ‘this is the hard part of the evening for you lot’ and ‘we’re gonna play our new album’. Surely he didn’t mean the whole album?! Sadly, he did.

Whilst there were a couple of songs that stood out (Monkey Suit probably the best received) the performance was a struggle to listen to in all honesty. The crowd on the main floor noticeably thinned out as they migrated to the bars; with them expecting an evening of Elton John classics, their disappointment can’t really be criticised.

After struggling through all fourteen tracks from the new album, Sir Elton brought the crowd back to their senses with a cracking performance of Your Song. Not that it was too hard, but the crowd’s mood was lifted further with other classics including Sad Songs and a decent version of The Bitch is Back.

And so onto the encore. A last chance to get the crowd back onside and send them home with nothing but praise for the evening…

The duo opted to repeat one of their new tracks. It wasn’t the finale that an already disappointed audience needed to lift their moods and several made their feelings known; a smattering of boos filtering up from the back of the room as Sir Elton made his way from the stage.

It’s fair to say the night held its own as a good gig, but disappointingly it wasn’t anything like the Elton John gig that both the ticket wording alluded to and those in attendance anticipated.

Walking back to Chalk Farm tube you couldn’t help but notice the mumblings amongst those that were also making their trips home and think ‘you know…perhaps that gig won’t be talked about in quite the way they wanted it to be…’