Funny how the right song by the right artist at the right moment can lighten your mood.
Nothing about Saturday’s jaunt to Virginia Beach to catch Billy Joel at the amphitheater – his first to the Hampton area in more than 20 years and his inaugural Va. Beach stop – was fun.
First was the blinding monsoon that nailed us from the airport area to Williamsburg. This wasn’t just rain. It was turn-on-the-hazards-and-actually-drive-15-mph weather. So what should have taken 20 minutes to drive clocked in around 40.
<<<<< Billy Joel - NOT taken at Virginia Beach, but this is basically how he looked.
Then came the obligatory stop at Fatburger in Chesapeake, four miles from the amphitheater exit and a necessity because this is the only Fatburger in the state – and the closest until New Jersey.
Make that, WAS the only Fatburger in the state, and now I’m glad I go to Jersey so frequently.
The best burger chain in the nation closed its sole area location last Tuesday. Sign on the door. Nothing but a counter and some chairs inside the vacant shell of a restaurant. You want to talk mopey? That was me.
So on we traveled to the amphitheater, skidding to a halt at least three miles from the turn into the venue’s parking area. This was at 7:25 p.m. By 8, we were still a solid mile away, inching in traffic, nervously glancing at the clock, since Joel was slated to hit the stage at 8:10.
We scampered into the venue about 8:12 p.m., and quickly realized that somebody obviously told Joel to hold off for a few minutes. But, even with all of the people still jammed up in traffic, the amphitheater was overflowing with hordes of boomers – many with their kids, many more with their beers.
You could tell from some accents – and the license plates in the parking lot – that a lot of these folks came south (and east) just to see Joel. Usually, I’m the one traveling to see him (as I’ll do next month for his special “Last Play at Shea” concert in New York), so it was cool to only have a 100-minute drive to endure.
But, cranky as I was from the hard drive, mourning my favorite burger joint and getting nauseated from the stop-and-go traffic for 45 minutes, as soon as Joel thumped onto the stage around 8:20 p.m. and attacked his piano for the sweeping “Prelude/The Angry Young Man,” all of that aggravation dissipated.
Joel is playing a couple of outdoor gigs – he’ll hit Hershey Park in Pennsylvania July 10 – to fine-tune the sound for the Shea shows (July 16 and 18). Though the Virginia Beach Amphitheater is a third the size of Shea’s 55,000-plus capacity, the sound resonated crisply and cleanly, even in the back rows of the amphitheater.
As always, Joel, clad in a dark blazer and jeans, his gray goatee the only sign of his 59 years, addressed the close to 20,000 fans as if they were hanging out in his living room (and with his paychecks, his living room might actually be the size of the amphitheater).
“This is my first time playing Virginia Beach,” he said, eliciting the standard “Omigod, he said the name of our city!” screams from the crowd. “I once drove through Virginia Beach and got a ticket. Going 48 in a 35. With New York [license] plates.”
A beat. A smile. And then a thank you directed at the folks sitting on the massive lawn seemingly miles from the stage for, “buying those seats in Baltimore.”
But Joel also knows that this is an audience who doesn’t need flashy effects – though a spinning array of lights were incredibly effective with their well-timed punches – so he and his seven-piece band simply rolled through a catalog of songs rivaled by a select few solo acts (Elton John, Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney and…that’s probably it).
His voice strong and husky, Joel belted out “The Entertainer,” ignoring the irony of one of the great American pop composers of the past four decades singing “Today I am your champion/I may have won your hearts/But I know the game/You will forget my name/And I won’t be here/In another year/If I don’t stay on the charts.”
For the record, Joel’s last studio album came in 1993.
He seems to be surviving just fine.
He did arrange Saturday’s set list to pair his “New York” songs – the eerie “Miami 2017” (the “carrier from Norfolk” line finally got its due with a swell of lights) and signature “New York State of Mind” (with Mark Rivera’s saxophone practically a character in the song).
Then came the like-minded “Downeaster Alexa” and “Allentown” – the former taking on the plight of impoverished fishermen and the latter his love letter to the blue-collar Pennsylvania town that fought to survive after the demise of the manufacturing industry.
Even though Joel has sung those songs – not to mention radio staples “My Life” and “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” – a gazillion times, he never appeared to be in robot mode. Instead, he rocked back and forth on his piano stool, scrunched his eyes shut when squeezing out a lyric and improvised vocal runs during many songs.
He also looked tickled when the audience blasted the chorus of “She’s Only a Woman,” grinning like a young musician who had never heard his lyrics bounced back to him before.
Although his fingers – constantly shown on the big video screens via a piano-cam so we could witness his prowess up close – look like plump, stubby sausages, they’re still amazing at their craft.
As he headed into “Root Beer Rag,” the rollicking instrumental from the “Streetlife Serenade” album, Joel told the audience members that they were excused to head to the bathrooms. If you were one who did, you were a fool to miss a masterful three minutes in pop piano playing, as Joel’s hands zipped around the keyboard, a blur of knuckles and veins.
Toward the latter part of the two-hour show, Joel strapped on a guitar and launched into a bit he’s been doing for years. After a humorous introduction about a “special guest” who was going to perform a “religious number,” Joel brought out Chainsaw, a beefy roadie who thundered through a rather impressive version of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”
Was it fun? Absolutely.
But would we rather see it cut in favor of adding “I Go to Extremes” or “Pressure” or “Big Shot” back into the set?
Duh.
The final chunk of Joel’s live show, when he indulges in some silly Elvis-style hip-swiveling for “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me” and “You May Be Right,” seemingly ramps up the energy level to its peak.
But then comes the epic “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” a classic Joel piece in its melodic structure, shifting tempos and colorful storytelling, and, just in case you need a reminder, demonstrates why he’s such a durable icon.
Set list:
Angry Young Man
My Life
The Entertainer
Zanzibar
Miami 2017
New York State of Mind
Downeaster Alexa
Allentown
Don’t Ask Me Why
Keeping the Faith
Root Beer Rag
Movin’ Out
Captain Jack
River of Dreams
Highway to Hell (sung by Chainsaw)
We Didn’t Start the Fire
It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me
You May Be Right
ENCORE
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Only the Good Die Young
Piano Man
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