Elton John at Notre Dame - May 3, 1972

This performance, at the Athletic and Convocation Center at Notre Dame, was broadcast live on FM radio. This was the exact month that everything broke huge for Elton, and he would never turn back. His new single "Rocket Man" first entered Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart in the issue dated May 6, 1972... three days after this show. It was Elton John’s third tour of the United States and he had three Gold albums to his credit (Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection, and Madman Across the Water) and was 2 weeks from releasing Honky Chateau. Elton himself had requested that The Dillards, a bluegrass band open up for him, perhaps reflecting the fascination with the American West that played out in Tumbleweed and Honky Chateau.

There are two other posters produced for this show. One, featuring a woman and a bird, was campus or promoter produced, another one from Raw Sugar Studio was an imagined poster made long after the event, and this poster, probably made bu the record company, UNI, to accompany the local poster. The bottom of these posters (called tour blanks) were intentionally left blank so that any venue could use one to promote the concert dates and times.

Legendary political cartoonist Ron Cobb designed this concert poster for promoting Elton John's concert tours in support of his landmark 1972 album Honky Chateau. Cobb's illustration work is synonymous with the underground newspaper movement of the 1960s and 70s, and it's not surprising that he would have been tapped to design the offered "site" poster for Elton's 1972 tour stops. Cobb's editorial/political cartoons appeared regularly in the Los Angeles Free Press and also regularly throughout member newspapers of the Underground Press Syndicate. He also designed the cover of Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album, After Bathing at Baxter's. The rendition of Elton John seen here is executed with Ron Cobb's signature flourishes, but with a deeper sense of realism and less caricature than he normally employed in order to capture the ferocity of Elton belting out a song on stage. The bottom of these posters were intentionally left blank so that any venue could use one to promote the concert dates and times.

The Notre Dame Observer wrote after the show:

“…’the real star was Elton John. Despite his initially raspy vocals…he always retained the spotlight whtehr it was on him or not. Taking on many different looks, John played piano on his knees, he danced, all the time continul pound poud of honky tonk emerging from the distinguished-looking instrument. Very definitely a maestro of rock piano John has a highly polisehed stle combining emotion and control. His many faces kept the crowd amused with their childlike aspects, a characteristic very evident in look of smugness that all but shouted,  “Look at me,” like a ten-year-old about to go off the high board for the first time.” – Joseph Abell