Humans use time capsules as a means to communicate with the future.

Humans use time capsules as a means to communicate with the future.  Two living time capsules from the pop music industry performed last Thursday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Acquaintances of the two once larger-than-life rock stars include The Beatles, Don Henley, Steven Tyler, Tony Bennett, Roger Daltrey, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the late Freddie Mercury,
Rod Stewart, and tons more musical talent than can be listed here.

Teaming up for their third Face 2 Face tour, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Elton John and Billy Joel shook the crowd alive with a three-and-a-half hour set of toe tappers, laments, party standards, and a few covers to boot.

John, a stoic statue of his former self –which included concert pranks such as dancing on top of his piano, playing from underneath, playing one-handed, tossing his piano bench, and dancing with the band members – didn’t say much during the performance, however, he let his very recognizable music do his talking.

Joel, on the other hand, shot back and forth with the audience like he was playing at a Long Island bar ready to pour beer in his Steinway if he didn’t pony up with the drinking music to their liking.  At one point in the show, he deadpanned, “I’m not Billy Joel.  I’m Billy’s dad.  Billy couldn’t make it tonight,” referring to his baldness and age.

The two entered the stage comically – Joel to “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and John to “Hail, Britannia” – and set the mood appropriately.  The duo opened with John’s “Your Song,” his first U.S. No. 1 hit, followed by Joel’s “Just the Way You Are,” from the No. 1 1978 album, 52nd Street.

The two finished a four song set together with John’s 1974 lament, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” and Joel’s synthesizer and saxophone saturated anthem, “My Life.”  The two often traded verses and sang the majority of the other’s song.

Joel then exited, leaving John for the first of two solo sets the two would play.  John’s set began with the crowd favorite “Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” from his 1973 album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

His solo set included hits such as “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting),” “Daniel,” “Rocket Man,” “I’m Still Standing,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Crocodile Rock,” and the title track to  Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.  John dedicated “Rocket Man” to rapper Eminem, who was present.

Eminem, born Marshall Mathers III, recently told Rolling Stone that he confided in John for assistance with drug addiction.  John and Eminem collaborated at the 2001 Grammy Awards, where John joined in on a keyboard and vocals during a live performance of “Stan.”

Joel then took the stage alone with his touring band and cranked out his familiar hits, turning a loud concert into a sing-a-long.  Joel and his band blasted away at “Only the Good Die Young,” “Allentown,” “She’s Always a Woman,” “She’s Got a Way,” “The River of Dreams,” and the rarely-played “Zanzibar.”

Halfway through “The River of Dreams,” the band stopped, and immediately blazed through a cover of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll,” which the crowd met with thunderous applause and cheers.  For the last two songs of his set, “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Joel ditched his nine-foot plank and picked up a Gibson Les Paul, taking a more traditional front man role.

During the performance of “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” images of the things, places, and people mentioned flashed across a large screen hoisted above the stage.  When Joel sang the lyric, ‘England’s got a new Queen,’ a large image of John flashed and sent the crowd into laughter.

Interspersed with Joel’s blue-collar, guitar-heavy set were more of his jokes and bantering, comparing the cheap seats to Kalamazoo, and jokingly admonishing the folks in the expensive seats for text messaging.  He then reminded those in the expensive seats that they had several tons of lighting equipment hanging above them, to which the crowd replied with thunderous laughter.

Joel then dipped off the stage for a second then returned with John and they proceeded to rip through a set that had the young and old alike singing along.  Such tunes included John’s flamboyant anthem, “The Bitch is Back,” Joel’s party standard, “You May Be Right,” John’s romantic ballad, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues,” and Joel’s 1983 hit “Uptown Girl,” after which Joel screamed “Monroe, Michigan!” in reference to his ex-wife of nine years, Christie Brinkley.

The two finished with a pair of Beatles covers – first with “Birthday,” prior to which John dedicated to all in attendance with birthdays recent, current, or upcoming.  The duo then ripped through the Fab Four’s “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” Paul McCartney’s Beach Boys-inspired parody.

The bands then left the stage for the night and the duo finished with a pair of classics: John’s ode to Marilyn Monroe, “Candle in the Wind,” and the title track to Joel’s 1973 Piano Man album.

While the two are now happily married again – John to his civil partner, David Furnish, and Joel to his third wife, Katie Lee Joel – and old enough to sit around, do nothing, and make money doing that, the two are still touring.

Joel, 60, has not released an album since 1993′s River of Dreams and John, 62, who has publicly ‘retired’ three times from touring hasn’t seem to quit yet.  The two are old enough to be grandfathers to some in attendance at their shows, and that doesn’t seem to miff them one bit.

Plus, as living time capsules, they keep communicating with every note they play, every line they sing, and every sellout performance they give.

Robert Youngs, a Western Herald photographer, is a junior majoring in Journalism, and is a classic rock music buff who collects vinyl albums.  He can be contacted at robert.c.youngs@wmich.edu.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=6176

Posted by HeraldAdmin on May 31 2009. Filed under A & E. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com