Musical Road Trip: Billy Joel Takes on Wahoo Territory

Live from Charlottesville, Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena, February 23

Recommended beverage
to go with this show:
We hit the Starr Hill Brewery just up the road before the show;
The Jomo (a German-style lager) was outstanding.

This has been a good weekend for the University of Virginia. On Saturday, they beat Georgia Tech, but the night before, in that very basketball arena where the Cavaliers— otherwise known as the “Wahoos”—play, Billy Joel and his band rocked the arena in a rollicking two-hour-plus set. Packed heavily with 70s stuff, the concert featured 23 Joel songs, including enough goodies for the discerning fan.

Joel’s voice sounded in top form, though he snuck a few puffs from an inhaler now and then and frequently reached for the water bottle. A decade ago, he had trouble hitting some of the high notes but he continues to hit them, almost effortlessly, on this tour, most notably during “An Innocent Man.” He also clearly was having fun up there, joking with the crowd throughout the show about his age, looks, and spiked cost of his car insurance, talking as comfortably as if he was sitting in your living room. “I’m Billy’s dad,” he joked, adding that he didn’t have much hair anymore but that now he has more head.

He also promised a rocking show despite what the Roanoke Times predicted. It turns out, on its short list of things to do that week, a Roanoke Times columnist wrote, “Aww, yeah. The Piano Man will ROCK you. With his, uh, hard-driving, um, head-banging piano.”
As I see it, the paper could have rejected publishing this assessment that could only have been written by a 15-year-old intern, but then they’d be forced to publish something regionally appropriate like, “well, hold on dere, son, I ain’t heard of no Billy Joel; I thought they said it’d be a HillBilly Show.” At any rate, there was a brief head-banger portion, as Chainsaw—Billy’s long-time roadie—rocked the house as he has on every show this tour with a cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” while Billy indeed rocked the rest of the show with classic, melodic, intelligent rock.

The setlist has remained fairly standard on this tour, which started early last year, though he has changed up a half-dozen songs here and there, offering surprise oldies. “Root Beer Rag” was a nice addition on Friday. Last year, in Boston, I was thrilled to hear “Stiletto” and “Sleeping with the Television On,” tossed in. And, in DC, it was a treat to hear “Captain Jack.”

I did have an anticlimactic-climactic moment at the show. Billy offered fans a choice between “Summer, Highland Falls” and “Vienna.” He rattled off the two options and we’d then vote by cheering. When he asked about the former, my scream seemed to be a solo; then he got some cheers for “Vienna” so he went with that one. I was thrilled to hear Vienna, but “Summer, Highland Falls” is my favorite Billy song and well, if I was at the Garden in New York, I’m confident everyone there would’ve voted with me.

Truth be told, much of the Charlottesville crowd seemed unfamiliar with the material during much of the show’s first half. What I deem as classics, such as “Zanzibar,” “the Entertainer,” and “Everybody Loves You Now,” seemed to be lost on the good folks of this town. But I had much respect for the Wahoos that night (I didn’t get one pissy glance from wearing a U-Maryland sweatshirt or Yankees cap).

I’ve been a Billy Joel fan my entire life. His music has helped me through dark times and helped me celebrate the happy ones. It warms my heart to know that Billy himself is in good spirits, seemingly happy in life. He’s been sounding fantastic vocally, which must be a product of his current contentment. “It’s either sadness or euphoria,” he sings in the song he didn’t sing that night (because the crowd chose Vienna!) I’m glad that emotional dilemma no longer plagues him and these days he generally feels the latter. “And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives,” that’s what all of us hope for.

on a personal note: These were my first-ever floor seats for a Billy show!

SETLIST

Prelude/Angry Young Man
My Life
Everybody Loves You Now (from the album Cold Spring Harbor)
Entertainer
Allentown Zanzibar
New York State of Mind
Root Beer Rag (piano instrumental from the 1974 album, Streetlife Serenade)
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
An Innocent Man
Don't Ask Me Why
She's Always A Woman
Keeping The Faith
I Go To Extremes
The River of Dreams
Highway To Hell (AC/DC cover sung by his roadie)
We Didn't Start The Fire
Big Shot
It's Still Rock and Roll To Me
You May Be Right
Only The Good Die Young
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Piano Man