Bathurst Living Legend Tony Lewis is well known in the community for his presence in local sporting circles, notably in the basketball, Australian rules football and touch football scenes.
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What many may not know, however, is that Mr Lewis could very well hold the title of Bathurst’s biggest Elton John fan.
Mr Lewis owns every single album that Elton John has produced, and has seen the music legend a grand total of eight times in concert.
As pre-sale tickets for Elton John’s Bathurst show went on sale last Friday, Mr Lewis was one of the first to score tickets to the monumental concert.
Mr Lewis is understandably excited about Elton John's visit to Bathurst next year, in what will be his ninth brush with the legendary musician.
“I would travel anywhere to watch him, but to have the opportunity to see him in my home town is just tremendous,” he said.
“Many of my friends have expressed immense amazement towards the news, and a massive kudos has to go to Bathurst Regional Council for bringing an event like this to the town."
Mr Lewis’ first Elton John concert was in 1979 when he was 19 years old and living in Albury.
“I remember travelling by myself from Albury to Melbourne on the train, seeing the concert at Festival Hall and hopping back on the train to head home the next morning,” he said.
“As a teenager, ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ was the first vinyl record I ever bought.”
Since 1979, Elton John has toured Australia fifteen times, and Mr Lewis has attended concerts at seven of those tours.
Mr Lewis recalled a notable event in his life where he passed up Elton John tickets to take part in a preliminary final with his over-30s basketball team.
“We lost the preliminary final, and my friend in Sydney rang me before the game to let me know that I had passed up front row seats,” he said.
“You’ve got to draw a fine line between loyalty to the team and front row tickets to Elton John.”
Mr Lewis eventually got his wish to sit in the front row for an Elton John concert during his ‘Face to Face’ tour with Billy Joel in 1998.
With such a sensational legacy in the music industry, Mr Lewis expects that Elton John's concert will be filled to the brim with plenty of his signature songs.
“The guy is an absolute legend, and ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ has shaped my life musically,” he said.
“Elton’s voice and personality is second to none, and this concert is going to put Bathurst on the map.”
Tickets for Elton John’s Bathurst show go on sale to the general public tomorrow.