Attending a Billy Joel concert is like eating at Cheesecake Factory.  You always know what you are getting.  A good quality show, with few surprises. 

Now being the old geezer that I am (L4LM writer David Melamed calls his old man The Jamfather), I’ve seen Billy Joel play many times. The first being in 1974 just after his second album, Streetlife Serenade, was released.  He put on a terrific performance that day, playing passionately. But, time has mellowed The Angry Young Man.  Billy is still as irascible as ever, but the anger has been supplanted by humor, sarcasm and self-deprication.  It’s kind of hard not to like the guy.  He understands the crowd is there to see him play the old stuff and he delivers what they want…you have to pay the bills. 

It’s been 13 years since his last studio release and over 20 years since his last hit single. After singing “The Entertainer,” an early song from 1974, Billy remarked with some amusement that the song, the theme of which is about a singer who has to constantly strive to be on the charts or his music goes to the discount rack, is still selling out big venues to an adoring crowd.  Well, it’s a pretty simple reason.  Billy has written scores of really great songs.  He is a master of melody and lyrics; telling great stories that we can all identify with.  His contribution to music is enormous and while it’s easy to chide Billy for a host of things, we have to give his due as being one of the all-time greats.

I attended the Tuesday May 27th performance at the ever-beautiful, classic The Hollywood Bowl (ironically, the last time I attended The Bowl was to see Phish last August).  Billy mostly stuck to the classics sprinkling the set with songs that referenced LA or Hollywood (Say Goodbye to Hollywood, Miami 2017, New York State of Mind).  His band was really hot with a wonderful horn section that definitely added textures to the performance.  Especially worth mentioning was the very talented Crystal Taliefero playing percussion, saxophone, harmonica and vocals..she really shined on the congas contributing much spice and soul. 

As for Billy’s playing, he is a remarkable pianist showing continued great dexterity.  Billy admitted during the show that his voice has slipped from tenor to baritone and he could not quite hit the high notes, but it really did not matter. “New York State of Mind” was a particular favorite; even after playing it a billion times, he performed it with a depth that radiated pure emotion.  Playing Everybody Loves You Now was an obscure treat from his first album Cold Spring Harbor.  A very good song that needed to see the light of day…a nice treat.

Billy played some covers throughout the set.  There was a snippet of Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” (he stated that one of his first gigs in LA was opening for Bill Withers).  Later, he played Elton John’s “Your Song,” which was nice, since the pair have toured together several times. Billy joked during the line “I don’t have much money” with…”Bullshit”…implying that Elton is filthy rich.  And later, the segue to The Beatles classic “A Hard Day’s Night” from “The River of Dreams” was great fun. 

I really liked Billy giving a nod to Frankie Valli with Uptown Girl – which has always been a wonderful tribute song.  The Four Seasons sort of got lost over the course of time.  And while Jersey Boys has partially resurrected their glory, back in the early to mid-1960s’ The Four Seasons were huge with dozens of hits..give Billy credit for giving them their due.

So a good time, it was entertaining and fun.  After attending so many jam oriented shows with people half my age, it was nice to attend a concert with my contemporaries and with my wife who clearly enjoyed herself (she gets a headache if a guitar solo is more than 15 seconds).  Yeah, no surprises, but like the Cheesecake Factory..a satisfying meal.

 

Set List:

1.Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)  

2.Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)  

3.Your Song/Everybody Loves You Now   

(Elton John cover)

4.Zanzibar   

5.New York State of Mind  

6.All for Leyna  

7.The Entertainer  

8.Where’s the Orchestra?  

9.Allentown  

10.Say Goodbye to Hollywood  

11.She’s Always a Woman  

12.My Life  

13.Don’t Ask Me Why  

14.Keeping the Faith  

15.Scenes From an Italian Restaurant  

16.The River of Dreams/A Hard Day’s Night  (Beatles cover)

17.We Didn’t Start the Fire  

18.It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me 

19.Big Shot  

20.Piano Man  

Encore:

21.Uptown Girl  

22.You May Be Right  

23.Only the Good Die Young  

-Richard “The Jamfather” Melamed

[Photo credit: LA Times]