Only the good keep going

Mon, May 7, 2007

Billy Joel puts his Heart and Soul into last night's show.

By JAMES REANEY, FREE PRESS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST

Billy Joel playing the piano and singing his songs last night at the JLC to a very appreciative crowd. The Piano Man didn't need no special effects to play a jammed John Labatt Centre as if he owned it.

"That's it for the special effects. The piano goes this way. The piano goes that way," U.S. superstar Billy Joel said just seven songs into last night's terrific two-hour show. It was his long-awaited London debut.

Joel and his grand piano had just been rotated by stage machinery. It made the keyboard and singer able to face one part of the crowd and then continue the circle to face fans on the other side.

Joel had already sung Angry Young Man, This is My Life, a 1971 item called Everybody Loves You Now, The Entertainer, Allentown and Zanzibar before admitting to the boomer-heavy crowd of 9,500 fans that the piano moving around its circular mini-stage was the only "special effect" he had for them. The piano man did have another trick, as it turned out.

The 1970s superstar with 33 Top 40 hits started 20 minutes late at 8:20 p.m. Six minutes later, Joel had his first standing ovation for Angry Young Man. He had enough heat late in the main set to finish with a spectacular four-song run starting with We Didn't Start the Fire and ending with You May Be Right.

Last night's Joel, Joel, Joel extravaganza finally ended with Joel playing plenty of harmonica on The Piano Man, the encore finale. He turns 58 on Wednesday, something Joel mentioned to cheers.

Joel talked a lot and added little Canadian touches throughout the show. There was a flicker of O Canada in the piano intro to My Life.

There was a funny, brief reprise of The Entertainer as it might have been sung by Gordon Lightfoot -- "one of my heroes," Joel said.

He also referenced another great Canadian singer-songwriter with a little bit of Helpless, delivered in a faux Neil Young warble from a bad, bad karaoke night.

Joel referred to the seats behind the stage and its ramps as "Windsor" and he and his fine band made sure those fans had some face time, too.

The seats at the far end of the arena were "the Yukon Territory." Joel didn't have big video screens in his own setup for them, but in an arena first for a concert, the video images were carried on the video board in the arena's scoreboard. It is surprising no other act has tried this before.

That "special effect" worked well even if meant that, as viewed from Section 105, the piano man's hands were often seen in huge closeup near the Jiffylube motto "Oil change in mins."

Joel's concert last night called up memories of the show by British superstar Elton John last November, the best of 2006 in London and also a debut in this market.

I will say the American did try one effect Sir Elton didn't.

Joel's piano disappeared into the stage, the star strapped on a guitar, and out came a roadie to sing AC/DC's Highway to Hell.

It drove the crowd crazy and energized Joel to the point he tossed around the mic stand as he strutted -- sans piano -- for a few songs.

He moves a bit like Kevin James in King of Queens, but he's cool about it.

Then Joel's sleek keyboard rose to the stage surface once more and the amazing drive to The Piano Man was on.

We'll just have to see if Sir Elton tries to top that.

Joel has always put on great shows that I've attended going way back to the late 70's at Massey Hall. He does his Lightfoot shtick and the crowd goes wild..especially in Toronto! lol

Because he travels around the stage to different keyboards/pianos and dances along ramps and parts of the stage move as well he really can play to all sections of the audience.

The last time I saw him he had the piano come up out of the stage -- quite impressive! With Elton John there wasn't a lot of movement on stage but holy cow the music/band was incredible.

Joel's band is awesome and having seats 'behind' the stage and watching Liberty DeVito beat those drums is worth the price of admission alone.

I've never been disappointed at a Billy Joel concert and I'm glad he's obviously feeling better and doing what he does best.

I knew I liked Billy Joel for some reason other than his music. :)
I'll bet if you talk to just about any singer & songwriter from the 60s & 1970s they're most likely fans too. :cool:

that's cool to know... 3rd degree of Gord Lightfoot.

This also might be interesting.

Joel in his teen years was with a few groups.

1 of them was called The Hassles.

There was 1 song I don't know what it was called but it charted in the NY area but didn't do anything on the national charts.

I don't know if it was here on this forum or not but I understand that UA in the 60's didn't do all that well with many of the music people they had signed to their label even though I know Lightfoot was well known in Canada.

Anyway I wonder if Joel himself crossed paths with Lightfoot in those days?

Gord is 10 1/2 years older than Billy. Billy just turned 58 on May 9. (1949)
In 1965 Billy was 16 and Gord was 26 1/2..Seems unlikely to me and I've never heard either ever say they had met back then..or ever for that matter..
Toronto man singing folk and New York teen singing rock and roll..hmmm.
but Billy does do a little tribute to Gord in his concerts whenever he's up here in Toronto..

Maybe not but from what I understand Gord did a lot of his recording for UA in New York.

I remember Billy saying in a interview back in the mid 70's that his song "You're My Home" (from Piano Man, Nov 73) was his attempt at writing a Gordon Lightfoot Song. It does have all of the ingredients of one - and it is a very good song. Also, the title track to that LP "Piano Man" itself was his admitted attempt at writing a song in the style of Harry Chapin. Billy broke out in a very big way just a few months following the tragic loss of Jim Croce.

Speaking of Croce...I will be footing a substantial tab (happily I should say) for a party of 20 at Croce's Restaurant in San Diego in the next few days for my son's graduation from UCSD. I have known Ingrid Croce for some time now and she is a very sweet lady who really had her hands full for several years after Jim's passing. She is the ultimate host at this great - now famous" San Diego Restaurant located in the fashionable Gas Lamp District. Across the street from Croce's is a beautifully restored Bar/Eatery once owned by Wyatt Earp.

Billy Joel was an hour away from me and I didn't know about it??? Ack!! I agree Charlene, Liberty is a genius behind the drums... I can play along on my own set to some of the slower Billy Joel songs, but the other ones... fugghedaboutit.

Thanks for the info :)