Billy Joel

Billy Joel is one of those rare breed of musicians who is so talented that he really doesn’t need to rely on his hits to sell out arenas- as fans of his will testify- every show is guaranteed to be enjoyable whatever he decides to sing.

Last time Billy Joel attempted to tour in the UK (with Elton John) he pulled out due to ill health. However after a gap of over ten years Billy finally managed to be healthy enough to do this tour.

The fans gave a rapturous applause for their piano hero- as the piano was raised up through a trapdoor in the centre of the stage. There is no doubting Mr Joel’s ability and talent- although questions do have to be raised about his dress sense- a mismatched dark suit jacket and denim blue jeans??? Clearly fashion isn’t his strong point! It is also near impossible not to notice the fact that he has very little hair now (or “more head”, as Billy himself claimed).

Billy ploughed through his vast repertoire that has made him gain that ‘legendary’ status, which pop acts of today could only dream of!! There were times when Mr Joel would explain why he wrote certain songs- although his fans didn’t need them explaining. Classic songs like ‘Zanzibar’, ‘New York State Of Mind’, The Downeaster “Alexa”, all performed with utmost conviction and such passion that even after all of these years- it seems as if The Piano Man still believes in the words that he written all those years ago.


Not only can he write really serious songs- he also has the ability to write feel good, dance-along pop songs such as ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, ‘I’m Moving Out’, and ‘My Life’. Billy introduced one song by saying ‘we haven’t played this next track for twenty years’- at which point everyone in the audience knew that he was about to belt out ‘Uptown Girl’, - yes it was incredible hearing the original artiste singing this rather than a certain tacky Irish boyband!!!

As with most legendary acts- they always try to give the fans something a little bit extra- and so there were plenty of surprises- At one point Billy threw his microphone high into the air towards a roadie called ‘Chainsaw’- who did the vocals whilst Billy slung a Les Paul guitar round his neck and rocked the NEC with the killer riffs of ‘Highway To Hell’. A cover version of Ac/Dc’s ‘Highway To Hell’ was certainly an unexpected surprise to say the least.

The show ended with Mr Joel sitting at his piano with a harmonica round his neck playing ‘Piano Man’. Which made a perfect end to what can only be considered an absolutely cracking show!!

FUTURE GIGS

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