The music of Ween and the music of Billy Joel come from two vastly different universes, yet on Thursday night, May 28th, these worlds collided at Brooklyn Bowl. Three years after his departure from Ween, Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween) has unexpectedly decided to share his love for the music of the ‘Piano Man’ with the world. Performing the hits, and nothing but the hits, Gener has embarked on a brief stint of ‘Gene Ween does Billy Joel’ shows and scheduled two nights, the first of which was at the beautiful Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

As the lights went out, keyboardist Will Bryant began the rapid-fire piano introduction of “Prelude/Angry Young Man” while the crowd roared with delight. After the long intro, out runs Gene Ween dressed in his finest Billy Joel attire. Sporting blue jeans, a black blazer, and a shirt and tie; Gene has truly perfected his Billy Joel look. Something that 45-year-old Gene Ween even joked about during the show. “I’m slowly morphing into Billy Joel so this was inevitable” quipped the good-humored lead singer as the audience laughed with amusement.

The evening was jovial and the voices were many and mighty, as Gene Ween and his six-piece band pummeled the crowd with smash hit after smash hit. The band was tight, the vocals were strong and concert-goers sung along with each and every lyric of these well-known songs. Focusing on some of Joel’s biggest hits from the 70’s and 80’s, the band ripped through a remarkably cohesive set of Billy Joel classics.

After a terrific opener, the band followed up with a red-hot rendering of the 1982 smash hit “Pressure” from The Nylon Curtain. Then jumping back to the early days of Billy Joel, the band carried out a fantastic rendition of “Captain Jack.” After hanging on his every word, the crowd was then treated to three more gems of Joel, “Movin’ Out,” “My Life” and “You May Be Right.” Song after song, the audience basked in the ironic glory of the madly-eccentric Gene Ween, delivering these radio-friendly rock mega-hits with exceptional perfection.

The mood was positive and the morale was high. It was almost as if the band and the crowd were all on the same level. As if we all met up one special night to celebrate and sing along with popular songs from the most unusual cover band to ever take the stage.

Gene talked about his love for Billy Joel’s music as the show progressed. Just before a blistering performance of “Sometimes A Fantasy,“ he briefly discussed some childhood memories which included Joel’s music and how thrilled a 10-year-old Aaron Freeman was when the album Glass Houses was released in 1980. Poking fun at Billy Joel’s infamous temper-tantrum from the famed concert in Moscow, keyboardist Will Bryant added the enraged screams of Joel’s humorous hissy-fit peppered in between the vocals during the second verse.

“From a town known as New Hope, Pennsylvania rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand,” sung an ebullient Gene Ween during “The Ballad of Billy the Kid,” replacing Billy’s Long Island lyrical references with his own. Followed by a warm interpretation of “Just The Way You Are” and a boisterous version of “Big Shot,” the band ended the jam-packed set with the iconic “Piano Man.” Here’s footage of “Big Shot” from a previous Billy Joel-themed performance:

In typical Billy Joel fashion, the band returned for two encores featuring “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,” “It’s Still Rock n’ Roll To Me,” and “Only The Good Die Young.” Wrapping it all up was a final intimate rendition of Billy Joel’s earliest hit, “She’s Got A Way” from the 1971 album Cold Spring Harbor.

Brooklyn Bowl proved to be the perfect venue for an occasion such as this. Throughout this memorable show was a highly-festive atmosphere. The look of pure joy on Gene Ween’s face was simply priceless, and the feeling was mutual. Everywhere you looked were smiling faces. We’ve never seen Gene so radio-friendly. Who would’ve thought that someone so left-of-center would have such a deep appreciation for an artist so middle-of-the-road? While we are all in hopes for a Ween reunion, it is indeed nice to see our old friend Gene Ween up there, still having fun and still full of surprises. We all were in the mood for a melody, and he got us feeling alright!

Setlist: Gene Ween Does Billy Joel at Brooklyn Bowl, May 28th, 2015

Prelude/Angry Young Man, Pressure, Captain Jack, Movin’ Out, My Life, You May Be Right, She’s Always A Woman, The Stranger, Don’t Ask Me Why, Sometimes A Fantasy, The Ballad Of Billy The Kid, Just The Way You Are, Big Shot, Piano Man

Encore 1: Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, It’s Still Rock n’ Roll To Me, Only The Good Die Young

Encore 2: She’s Got A Way

– Words By Joseph Conlon
– Photography by Vinessa L Photography