certainly not your kind of music... but glad you saw his talent and that 'it' factor... that is, the man can entertain... ALTHOUGH.. he's much older today than the last time I saw him so not sure how he's kept that going for him.
I'm a huge Elton fan, as you know... so not sure you can help me out here but I was curious which (3) songs it could have been that you recognized. Going to try to guess here.... no doubt I'lll miss by a mile.
Almost certainly "Tiny Dancer"?
This next probably a long shot but I'm going to say "Benny And The Jets"?
For the last 'guess' I'm going with my LEAST liked song he ever played - "Rocket Man"... I hated it... BUT, most people love it.
By the way... the way you describe seeing Elton, and why, is precisely how I saw Elvis Presley. I was never a fan... but always appreciated the man's talent. My wife had seen him probably 6 times before he came to Fresno and she forced me to go. Got there, listened, I was impressed... he was good, very entertaining, and he WAS Elvis Presley after all.