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"BJ Meets EJ"
By: Steve Bornfeld
(February, 2001)

The Bitch is Back. Stone-cold sober, as a matter of fact.

And he'll sing us some songs with the "Piano Man."

They'll sing us some songs February 17th, 2001 and February 18th, 2001.

'Cause we'll all be in the mood for some greatest-hits melodies, and they'll have us feelin' alright. It's sure to be a pretty good crowd, for a Saturday and Sunday, and the management at the MGM Grand Garden Arena will give them a smile. 'Cause they'll know that it's them we'll be comin' to see, to forget about life for awhile.

And let's hope they don't go changin' to try and please us, they've never let us down before. We just want someone that we can sing to, we want them just the way they are.

Everyone will be there. Even that girl who's got electric boots, a mohair suit - you know we read it in a magaziiiiine, oh, oh - as well as Bu-Bu-Bu-Bennie and the Jets.

We'll remember when rock was young, when we and Suzie had so much fun, holding hands and skimmin' stones. We had an old gold Chevy and a place of our own, but the biggest kick we ever got was doin' a thing called the Crocodile Rock. While the other kids were rockin' round the clock, we were hoppin' and boppin' to the Crocodile Rock, well.

Ah, the old days. Remember?

We wore matador boots, only Flagg Brothers had 'em with the Cuban heel. Iridescent socks with the same color shirt and a tight pair of chinos. Oh, we put on our shark skin jackets, you know the kind with the velvet collar, and ditty-bop shades, yeah. We were keepin' the faith, yeah.

We'll enjoy them to the fullest, inhibitions be damned.

You know they say there's a heaven for those who will wait. Some say it's better but we say it ain't. We'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints - sinners are much more fun. And only the good die young.

And yet, these guys are survivors, aren't they?

Don't you know that they're still standing, better than they ever did? Looking like true survivors, feeling like little kids? They're still standing, after all this time.

Of course, for all the upbeat tunes, there'll be some mood shifts in their repertoire.

They'll turn them on, turn them on, turn on those sad songs. When all hope is gone, they'll just tune in and turn them on. They'll reach into the room - just feel their gentle touch - because when all hope is gone, sad songs say so much.

Well, we guess that's why they call them the blues. Time on our hands could be time spent with them. Laughing like children, living like lovers, rolling like thunder under the covers. Yeah, we guess that's why they call them the blues.

But they'll also teach us how to rebound from despair.

You know, it's not always easy livin' in this world of pain. You're gonna be crashing into stone walls again and again, but it's all right, it's all right. Though you feel your heart break, you're only human, you're gonna have to deal with heartache.

We'll even hear the inspirational story of how someone saved, someone saved, someone saved a life one night, sugar bear. They almost had their hooks in him, they nearly had him roped and tied, altar-bound, hypnotized. But sweet freedom whispered in his ear, "you're a butterfly, and butterflies are free to fly - fly away, high away."

And, without a doubt, they'll teach us about love and relationships.

They'll tell us, guys, that we should tell her about it. Tell her everything we feel. Give her every reason to accept that we're for real. We should tell her about it, tell her all our crazy dreams.

Let her know we need her, let her know how much she means.

Even if you're pursuing an uptown girl, and you can't afford to buy her pearls, maybe someday when your ship comes in, she'll understand what kind of guy you've been - and then you'll win.

However, be very wary of the wrong woman - say, that island girl who's as black as coal and burns like fire. The one who wraps herself around you like a well-worn tire. You'll feel her nail scratch your back just like a rake: You'll be one more gone, one more John who made the mistake.

And when it's clearly over, just tell her that you don't wanna go on with her like that, you don't wanna be a feather in her cap, just one more set of boots on the welcome mat. She'll just have to quit 'em if she wants you back, 'cause you don't wanna go on with her like that.

But mainly, they'll blow us away with the classics.

Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk, next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways - it's still rock and roll to us.


"Hip Pop Delights Arco - '70s Piano Masters John, Joel Go 'Face 2 Face'"
By: Chris Macias
(February 1st, 2001)

What happens when two of rock and roll's best-selling piano men come together for one marathon show? A surefire marketing opportunity? An evening jampacked with music? How about some of both.

Welcome to the "Face 2 Face" tour, a double-billed outing featuring Billy Joel and Elton John, with the two playing both together and in individual sets. The concert rocked a sold-out crowd of 17,500 at Arco Arena on Wednesday night, and those who had shelled out for tickets definitely received their money's worth in a show that stretched over three and a half hours with nary a stop.

For a double bill, Joel and John make an easy pair: two piano-playing pop stars who scored wild successes in the 1970s and spent the years since in various states of acclaim. John spent much of the 1990s singing big hits for Disney's animated flicks, while Joel went searching for a musical life in the classical realm.

But Wednesday's show was less about showcasing recent craft than jazzercizing with nostalgia. The bulk of music from both performers came from days gone by, mostly the 1970s. But that's just the way the audience liked it.

Decked in a bright-orange coat that seemed better equipped for deer hunting than playing piano, John kept a colorful presence but was focused most squarely on the music. He didn't chat much with the crowd, but sang nearly note-for-note renditions of his biggest hits, including "Crocodile Rock," "Philadelphia Freedom," and "Tiny Dancer."

John's voice sounded full and clear, if at times on the conservative side. He copped out on hitting the high notes in "Tiny Dancer," "Rocket Man," and "Crocodile Rock," though the crowd was happy to supply the latter's "la la la la" chorus.

John's ballads, which included "Tiny Dancer" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," were especially solid and sentimental without descending into schmaltz. But John and his six-piece band also had a punchy rock sound up its collective sleeve, with a blaring rendition of "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)" and the stomp-in-your-seat grooves of "All The Young Girls Love Alice" and "Philadelphia Freedom."

Too bad that in the heat of the moment, Davey Johnstone, one of John's back-up musicians, suffered from "lead guitarist" syndrome and shucked around the front of the stage and flicked his picks into the audience at every opportunity.

Joel cranked up the show's levels of showmanship and energy. Not even midway into his first song, Joel had kicked his piano stool to the side of the stage, much unlike John, who spent most of his set parked in front of his piano. Joel also seemed at ease being goofy with the crowd, improvising a silly song about "Sacramento" and doing a hammy Elvis imitation before launching into "We Didn't Start the Fire."

Joel's piano chops were plenty meaty, full of lickety-split cadenzas and rolling rhythms. Joel's piano style was flashier than John's, and Joel was happy to show it off. He took a karate-chop approach to his keyboard during some riffs in "Prelude/Angry Young Man," and ripped through a solo in his set-opening "I Go To Extremes."

Joel and his eight-piece band also stretched musically, traversing through tempo and mood shifts in "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" and "New York State of Mind." Back-up work from saxophonist Mark Rivera also added some jazzy flourishes to his set.

Performing as a duo at the show's open and close, Joel and John didn't harmonize as much as they traded verses. They alternated the lead vocals on such tunes as "Just The Way You Are" and "Your Song," and their full, tenor voices meshed well. John also finally let loose during the duo's closing set, tickling Joel as he tickled the ivories. But what didn't work were the sometimes dated keyboard sounds that filtered behind Joel and John. In all, there were more cheesy synthesizer tones than in a stack of Emerson, Lake & Palmer records.

Overall, the show was well-paced. Other performers on the concert circuit should note the speed at which Joel and John switched sets. It seemed that before you could say "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," John's band had left the stage and Joel and his crew were kicking in to "I Go to Extremes."

Still, the show might have been a wee tighter if both Joel and John had trimmed two or three songs each from their sets. But these are small quibbles. After all, every penny counts in a concert market where it's not uncommon to spend nearly $100 face value per ticket.


"Elton, Billy Rule At Arco"
Piano Superstars Deliver Over Three Hours of Pop Hits
By: David M. Meyers
(February 1st, 2001)

Any two competent musicians spending an evening playing a litany of classic Billy Joel and Elton John songs would provide intrinsic entertainment value...but take well over three hours of the genuine articles, and you've got pure musical ecstasy.

The two piano men met "Face 2 Face" in front of a sold-out Arco Area Wednesday evening, and when the crowd finally poured out around 11:15pm, each fan understood precisely why the two superstars might expect folks to shell out big bucks to see them perform.

And each pop legend - together and apart - delivered exactly what the crowd wanted.

Even the initial raising of the pianos from beneath the stage garnered a standing ovation, clearly foreshadowing what was to come. With smiles on their faces, and an obvious respect and admiration for each other, Joel and John entered together and began the evening with heartwarming renditions of "Your Song," "Just the Way You Are," and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." Taking turns singing verses and swapping piano solos, the two played as if they were one.

John then took center stage. Dressed in a surprisingly plain orange jacket and black shirt, he was neither showy nor chatty...but he was brilliant. As is customary in his solo shows, he poured on a heavy dose of older classics, using tunes from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Madman Across the Water" to supplement his many more-popular hits. John and his band were in complete control of the crowd, bringing them up and down with ease.

As John's band left the stage, it was Joel's turn to hog the spotlight. Those possessing his "Millennium" CD would've recognized most of the tunes and arrangements, but that in no way lessened the crowd's appreciation; after all, that's what they came to hear. Perhaps in tribute to the Elton-of-old, Joel was the consummate showman, giving the crowd his best Elvis impersonation (while doing a brief version of "Don't Be Cruel"), and often kicking back and talking to the crowd.

He also composed an impromptu blues song about Sacramento, using words like "pimento" and "memento" to delight the crowd. Even Sacramento Kings coach Rick Adelman - in attendance with his family - must've been pleased when Joel remarked, "I hear you have a pretty good basketball team here." (Though I imagine Adelman's delight diminished when Joel jokingly informed the crowd that it was just a ploy for applause, and was actually more upset about the Giants losing the Super Bowl.)

After Joel finished his set, the crowd expected the two to team for a few more joint numbers, and was not disappointed. An hour later, after rocking the crowd with their biggest hits (including a remarkable trading of piano solos on "Bennie and the Jets"), Beatles tunes and "Great Balls of Fire," the two concluded the evening apart with sweet renditions of "Candle in the Wind" and "Piano Man."

If any negative existed to be drawn from the evening, it's the realization that opportunities to experience similar performances are all too rare.


"Elton John, Billy Joel Stick To Golden Oldies"
Slick Concert Takes No Chances With Success
By: Joel Selvin
(February 2nd, 2001)

Rock wasn't supposed to grow old like Elton John and Billy Joel. Rock was supposed to grow old like Neil Young, still cranky after all these years. Or Van Morrison, always mad about something. Or Keith Richards, gleefully slipping further into retox.

But not Billy Joel and Elton John, who opened a sold-out three-stop Northern California swing of their joint tour Wednesday at Sacramento's Arco Arena, both well fed and expensively tailored, with Sir Elton in that silly toupee. Performing at matching grand pianos on a semicircular stage, the more than three-hour concert may have been a surefire crowd pleaser, but the whole thing was just too Vegas for any real rocker to choke down.

When these guys were at the height of their powers more than 20 years ago, you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing a record by one of them. It was not the golden age of Top 40 broadcasting. John and Joel always represented the rise of cultivated craft over inspired insanity. They weren't exactly hacks, but they weren't taking any great risks or breaking much ground with their safe, conventional pop-rock blends.

So even if their tandem concert struck a resonant chord in their now middle-aged fans, it was really nothing more than a couple of golden has-beens coasting through a milk run of a payday. Neither bothered playing any new material - Joel hasn't even made a new record in 12 years, and if it weren't for Disney animated features and Princess Diana, nobody would have heard anything from John either for the past decade. They just did what they've always done - a little slower and a few notes lower - and the crowd loved them.

After opening the show together, seated at dueling pianos, singing each other's songs, a sedate John in a Marlboro red suit and blue shades took over the stage, launching a more-than-10-minute version of the heroic overture "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding," the opening tracks to his classic 1973 double album, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." John didn't veer from the safe and sure, putting together a program that hewed closely to big hits like "Philadelphia Freedom," "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer" (memorably reprised in the recent film "Almost Famous") and a set-closing "Crocodile Rock" and "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)" (apparently nothing from his catalog is too cringe-worthy to perform).

His band included not only stolid veteran guitarist Davey Johnstone, his longtime musical director, but also slamming drummer Nigel Olsson, returning to the lineup after many years. The crisply efficient six-piece unit featured no fewer than five vocalists, who swathed John's sometimes timid tenor in blankets of harmonies.

Without a moment's intermission, Joel pranced onstage after John's exit, jumping into "I Go To Extremes," his fingers flying up and down the keyboard, even bumping out a rudimentary passage with his butt. Joel was full of personality - or himself, depending on your point of view - but he doesn't have as many hits to play as Sir Elton.

Still they have found some kind of synergy in their dotage, an association that has been keeping them in front of large audiences since 1994. Clearly they share a lot of fans, who are overjoyed at the double bill. John and Joel toy with it - singing each other's songs during their own portions of the program and coming together for a happy, generous songfest at the concert's close, singing everything from Joel and John songs to some of their favorites Beatles hits.

It was John Lennon, in fact, who said it, but if genius is pain, these guys are definitely not hurting.


"Dueling Ivories Serves Piano Pair Well"
Elton John & Billy Joel Pound Through Each Other's Pop Hits, Doubling The Fun at A Sold-Out Show In Oakland
By: Deirdre McGruder
(February 5th, 2001)

When you see the two together, you wonder why you never put it together in your head before.

The similarities of Billy Joel and Elton John, I mean.

They both have two first names for monikers. They are musical counterparts, masters of well-crafted, eternally hum-able, piano-driven pop with unforgettable melodies that at times lean toward Beatle-esque hooks. They share a staggering number of Top 10 hits, multi-platinum albums and Grammys. They have voices that are evocative and unmistakable, and careers that have spanned almost four decades. They've had their share of flared tempers and petulant moments, plus health, financial and relationship troubles. And both have come through those troubles, happy and healthy, on the other side.

The two are touring on the aptly named "Face 2 Face" tour, and they made a stop at Oakland's New Arena on Friday and the San Jose Arena last night for two sold-out shows.

They've toured together, off and on for a few years now, but it's still got to be fun, trying to playfully one-up each other every night. They're obviously good friends. When they were together on stage, at the beginning of the 3½-hour show and at the end, John and Joel faced each other across the expanse of their pianos, issuing little challenges through the keys and batting lyrics from each other's songs back and forth like musical tennis.

As Joel succinctly put it, "This gig doesn't suck."

The American came out in all black, except for a lime-green pocket square. That was his uniform for the night. The British one came out in black slacks and a lime-green blazer covered in a maze pattern. He couldn't help himself, of course; he would later change into hot-pink and cream ensembles.

They began the show together with the sentimental "Your Song," a classic John tune, then traded songs several times throughout the show - for instance, John would later perform an irresistibly poppy "Uptown Girl," and Joel a gritty, soulful, gospel-tinged "Take Me To The Pilot" - and it was easy to forget who originally sang what. They effortlessly made the other's songs their own, and it showed the power of a well-crafted pop tune.

Hmmm. If times ever get really rough, they could always record each other's songs. It's just a thought.

The show was illuminated by a great light package with well-timed dramatic effects, but at times they were near blinding and I wished that, like John, I'd worn shades. Well-placed cameras often zoomed in to capture the musicians' fingers as they flew over the keys for the two big screens overhead.

The most fascinating thing about the show was the difference in personalities. John wore loud colors - that was to be expected - and while his performance was energetic, it was extremely controlled. He was very professional and made little small talk, just sat down and began a seemingly effortless run through a string of hits - "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "Philadelphia Freedom," (which dragged a little, but the audience still loved it) "Rocket Man," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Tiny Dancer," "Sad Songs (Say So Much)," "I'm Still Standing" - no medleys, thank goodness.

In fact, John was so composed that when he showed a bit of his former flash by kicking his piano stool away to bang away during "Crocodile Rock," it was glaringly obvious it wasn't a move driven by impulse.

Joel was the goofy one. He slyly said, "I'm baaaaack" at start of his set, maybe because he was here two years ago, maybe because he was supposed to retire from rock and roll and concentrate on composing classical music, remember?

Anyway, he and his excellent band were obviously having a great time, and he mentioned they'd all been in the Bay Area for a couple of days, "having a little too much fun here, a little too much fun there." He'd woken up that morning to discover he'd bought handcuffs - and he couldn't remember where.

Joel kicked his stool away on the first song, "I Go To Extremes," which included a piano solo he played with his butt. He blew on his fingers after the lightning-fast piano pounding of "Prelude/Angry Young Man." He often played one-handed, with the other behind his back or doing something silly. He spent "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" making fun of rock singers who use their mic stands as accessories, twirling his and bouncing it from one hand to the other. At one point he dropped to his knees at the edge of the stage, much to delight of the females down front; one stole that lime-green pocket square, another boldly went for his belt.

His set was also a collection of favorites; it included the reverential "New York State of Mind," "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "The River of Dreams," "We Didn't Start the Fire," and "Only the Good Die Young."

But the highlight of the show was, of course, when the two living legends were onstage together. They zoomed through each other's songs, including "My Life," "The Bitch Is Back," "Piano Man," and "Bennie and the Jets," then threw in some Beatles ("Come Together," "A Hard Day's Night") and Jerry Lee Lewis ("Great Balls of Fire," what else?) for good measure. They broke it up with a fleet-fingered ragtime duet that seemed improvised and captured the essence of their joy at playing together; at the end of it Joel jumped up, yelling, from his stool, as if to say, "Are we bad or what?!"

Yeah, they're still bad. Those two fifty-somethings put on a show that was worth every bit of its exorbitant ticket price. And that's not something I say very often.


"The Piano Men Rock The Forum"
By: Evan Henerson
(February 8th, 2001)

The Inglewood air figured to be clogged with nostalgia for decades past. Figure: a couple of legendary pianists, now both in their 50s, one flamboyant, the other defiant; each with a veritable truckload full of recognizable pop hits to trot out. Why not give the folks what they can sing along to? Certainly anyone expecting new sounds out of Elton John and Billy Joel would have been bitterly disappointed at the duo's pairing.

But it's doubtful anybody jumped on the 405 feeling cheated late Tuesday night following the first of three sold-out John/Joel concerts at the Great Western Forum. Individually and while sharing the stage, the "Rocket Man" from England and the "Piano Man" from Long Island are still more than capable of rocking an arena. And they don't need technical gimmickry or spectacle to do it, just a selection of instantly recognizable quick tunes and some major honkin' speakers backing them up.

John took the stage first, weaving his way through many of his hits from the 1970s. Ever respectful of his own musical influences, John checked them off as he introduced many of the songs: Brian Wilson (for "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"), the Band ("Levon"), the Byrds ("Tiny Dancer"). He performed several tracks from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" including a new addition to the live repertoire: "All the Young Girls Love Alice."

Dressed in a rather sedate - for him - white suit and limping slightly from a calf muscle pulled while playing tennis (now there's a visual), John played without the manic flourishes that branded his early concert career. No "check-it-out-I'm-playing-with-my-elbows" piano acrobatics either. John is still in fine voice, although a strain showed slightly whenever he reached for high notes. And he doesn't get near any falsetto notes, leaving the audience to do the chorus work on "Crocodile Rock."

Energy-wise, the man still has much left in his tank. His set ended with a barrage of fast songs, each one quicker than the last: from "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" to "I'm Still Standing" to "Crocodile Rock" to "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)."

Nearly as prolific in the 1990s as in past decades, John didn't touch anything from his Disney canon ("The Lion King," "Aida"); in fact, his most recent song came from the 1985 "Breaking Hearts" album.

Joel primarily hung around the '70s during his 90-minute set, but he had an excuse - the man hasn't composed anything new since 1993. "I've been doing classical stuff, but I'm not going to lay any of that on you guys," he explained to the audience. "It's not the right milieu." Sporting a black suit and a gray-flecked goatee, Joel hammed things up quite a bit, twirling the microphone stand and attacking the keyboard like a data input worker trying to exact revenge on his PC.

He's a showman, too, mixing in a little Elvis, a little Beach Boys and plenty of vintage Billy Joel. The crowd took to it like catnip, especially the high-energy numbers: "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "Only the Good Die Young," and the history-spanning litany "We Didn't Start the Fire" (on which, it should be noted, Joel didn't flub a word).

The easy digestion factor of their respective work notwithstanding, the two artists aren't all that musically similar, so it was fun to see each take on a song from the other during the solo sets (John did "Uptown Girl"; Joel pounded out "Take Me to the Pilot"). The evening's final segment put both artists on stage, each behind a piano, splitting the lyrics on Joel's songs ("My Life", "You May Be Right") and John's ("Bennie and the Jets," "Candle In The Wind") with some Jerry Lee Lewis and Beatles thrown in for good measure.

No dueling piano work present or necessary - Joel and John have toured together in the past. Clearly they enjoy each other's company as much as each respects the other's musical abilities.

"This gig does not suck," Joel said at one point. No, it doesn't. Not in the least.


"Two Legends, A Gazillion Hits"
Elton John & Billy Joel Join For A Crowd-Pleasing Performance of Some of Pop's Best-Known Songs
By: Robert Hilburn
(February 8th, 2001)

What is it we want from Elton John and Billy Joel after all these years?

Hits...hits...and more hits.

Make that: old hits...old hits...and more old hits.

And the veteran piano men are certainly equipped to fulfill that request, as they showed in a generous, high-spirited show Tuesday at the Great Western Forum.

Between them, the two singer-songwriters have a remarkable 90 Top 40 hits, led by John's 57 - second only to Elvis Presley in the modern pop era. And they sang almost three dozen of them during the show. If you remember the song, the chances are they performed it.

When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members weren't singing their hits, they sang other people's hits - with Joel offering playful slices of such rock landmarks as Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" and Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze." For the encore, they played the Beatles' "Come Together" and "A Hard Day's Night," and saluted Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the original rock and roll piano men, with "Great Balls of Fire."

John also paid tribute to two '60s Los Angeles bands that inspired him. He dedicated "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" to the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, who was in the audience, and "Tiny Dancer" to the Byrds' Chris Hillman, who was also present.

Though John and Joel were rivals during the '70s, they work as partners rather than competitors. The result was a warm, relaxed affair, much like the pair's mid-'90s tour. It's such a crowd-pleaser that it sold out three nights at the Forum despite ticket prices that went into three figures.

"For the ticket prices of this show," Joel joked at one point Tuesday, "we should be in your living room."

Despite the aura of nostalgia, both musicians played with a conviction and force that brushed away many of the potentially troubling cobwebs.

They came out together at the start for John's tender "Your Song" and Joel's devotional "Just the Way You Are," sitting at facing pianos so long they resembled a pair of stretch limos.

For his segment, John and his five-piece band went through a dozen tunes, most of them from his '70s catalog.

Later, Joel and his equally vigorous band also stuck to the hits, but also ventured into the '90s for "I Go To Extremes" and "The River of Dreams."

If Joel was the more aggressive showman, John, whose mobility was limited by a recent tennis injury to his leg, asserted a stronger artistry. He's a more subtle pianist than Joel, and a more sensitive singer, even though his voice seemed hoarse at times Tuesday.

They are both composers with an extraordinary feel for accessible, highly melodic pop. However, Joel's music generally lacks the individuality and character of John's.

Joel's music has tended to be too derivative and is at times generic. His most distinctive feature is a sort of cocky self-affirmation that's reflected in both his lyrics and his hyperkinetic piano style. The approach serves him well in such songs as "My Life" but leaves him sounding pedestrian elsewhere.

John's music has a more soulful and graceful musical base, and his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin's best work contains intimate, unexpected phrases that give the songs a human and endearing edge.

Indeed, John's best music has much of the range, timelessness and cross-generational appeal of the Beatles' music. That's why he may be one of the few artists from the '70s who could light up the charts with a properly promoted hits package. Elton John's "1," anybody?


"Elton Outshines Billy At Costly Concert"
By: Steven Mirkin
(February 11th, 2001)

Elton John and Billy Joel would seem to be a natural pairing - both purvey a piano-based style of rock heavily influenced by early '60s pop, soul and the work of the Brill Building songwriters. But their current co-headlining tour (which landed at the Forum for three nights) ends up illuminating the divergent paths of their careers.

It's tempting to view the difference as one between English and American sensibilities, but there are other issues in play. John, the superior songwriter and singer, views himself as an entertainer. Joel, for all his protestations to the contrary, has ambitions toward something larger. He is one of the generation of American musicians for whom hearing Bob Dylan was the worst thing that could happen. Lacking the talent to be Dylan, Paul McCartney or even Harold Arlen, he has a facile way with a melody, but freights his songs with puerile political or social ballast. John, on the other hand, is confident and comfortable in his own skin.

Without an album to support, John was free to simply play his best material (he never mentioned the upcoming Universal reissues of late '70s and '80s albums; his only tacit nod in that direction was performing "I'm Still Standing"). Those songs (mostly written with Bernie Taupin) married John's two-fisted gospel-flavored piano to
brash rock melodies.

With longtime drummer Nigel Olsson back in the band, John's performance had a spark that was missing in John's 1998 Forum stand. Even slight material such as "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" were played with a soulful confidence and joy. Although he walked with a slight limp, John was still an animated presence, walking around the lip of the stage after each song to shake hands and wave to the crowd.

If John is a natural onstage, Joel (whose set followed John's without an intermission) came across as a forced performer. The clear crowd favorite, Joel mugged broadly, traded off-color remarks with his band, and engaged in stage antics - mimicry, and a tossed off series of half-baked covers - that would have been more at home in the Malcolm Wilson Room at the fabulous Mastic-Shirley Ramada Inn than an arena such as the Forum. His songs match his stage persona: pugnaciously arrogant, pathetically romantic and resolutely self-congratulatory. He was not helped by his lugubrious band. With Liberty DeVitto's overly emphatic drums leading the way, the band turned even rockers such as "We Didn't Start The Fire" into anthemic power ballads.

The two stars' affinities were highlighted in the duet sets that bookended the evening. In the first, John and Joel traded verses on their songs; the second focused on covers, including two Beatles tracks. Each also covered one of the other's songs during their individual sets.

While there appeared to be a mutual admiration between the two, these moves only accentuated John's edge in vocal prowess and piano playing - his insistent, open-voiced chording had an energy that Joel's attempts at jazzy runs lacked.

Marathon show ran 3½-hours - the least they could do given the exorbitant ticket prices and minimal production flourishes, save the two pianos rising from beneath the stage. By the time it ended, it was obvious that while the tour is being billed as "Face 2 Face," Elton John stands head and shoulders above Billy Joel.


"Piano Men Spin Magical Night"
By: Robert Schumacher
(February 14th, 2001)

They may skip a few of the high notes now and move a little slower around the stage, but Billy Joel and Elton John still know how to put on a magical show.

The two master piano men proved they have plenty of fancy finger work left as they sampled their sprawling catalogs of hits Tuesday night before an enthusiastic, sold-out crowd at America West Arena in Phoenix.

Joining forces for several tunes at the show's beginning and end, while performing generous solo sets in between, Joel and John put their matching grand pianos through the paces, all the while making it look so easy.

Of course, this pair of contrasting showmen - the British John in his red suit and matching glasses (he later changed into a blue polka dot number) and the American Joel in a more conservative dark outfit - actually have labored for decades amassing scores of pop classics that the Valley audience was primed to acknowledge.

The concert started with a nice touch: Joel taking the spotlight for a duet on John's "Your Song," and John up front during Joel's "Just The Way You Are." The two, who hugged before settling onto their facing piano benches, also teamed for a powerful version of John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," which showed off one of the more tasteful and effective light shows to visit America West in recent years.

The pair exchanged warm glances that seemed to illustrate respect for the talents that allowed them to charge up to $175 per seat Tuesday and split nightly fees reportedly approaching $1 million. (Joel later would joke, "For the prices you paid to come to this show, we should be playing in your living room!")

Joel's piano then vanished, allowing John and his five-piece band - which included longtime drummer/vocalist Nigel Olsson - to fire off such hits as "Philadelphia Freedom," "I'm Still Standing," "Levon," and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." More mellow moments in the set included early ballad "Tiny Dancer," "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," and "Levon," which culminated in a spirited crescendo.

John's voice seemed a bit more tired than Joel's, but the Brit's grittier singing was a perfect fit on rollicking versions of "Crocodile Rock" and "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)", which both sounded funkier than the studio versions. He smiled often at the crowd, which returned the good vibes, and John finally got around to kicking over his stool during Saturday Night.

Joel wasted no time in launching his own Jerry Lee Lewis-style assault on the furniture, knocking over his stool and smashing the keyboard with his rear end during the set-opening "I Go To Extremes," which featured keyboard pyrotechnics that would continue throughout the evening.

Joel proved that his voice can still soar on such classics as the energetic "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," the dramatic "New York State of Mind" and the soulful "The River of Dreams." His eight-piece band, featuring twin saxophones on several numbers, was smooth and soulful.

The East Coast piano man came off as the more mischievous of the two, trading smiles, playful looks and banter with the front-row fans throughout the night. He acted out the lyrics to "Prelude/Angry Young Man," slapping his head and pounding his chest, and did a full Elvis on "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me," shoving his microphone into the crowd to let a surprised fan sing the song's final line.

The party kicked up a notch when the two reunited to wrap things up. They complemented each other well on classy versions of Joel's "My Life" and John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues."

The crowd was full of frat-party smiles and dance moves as Joel and John raved up a take on the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night," while John's "The Bitch Is Back" found the American spinning on top of his piano and his British pal sprawled atop his instrument. Not bad for two guys in their 50s.

America West was still rocking after more than three hours of non-stop music, as press time for this review arrived.


"'Hope' Album to Benefit American Cancer Society"
By: Jim Bessman
(February 19th, 2001)

Spiritually uplifting new songs and orchestrations from Paul McCartney and Billy Joel are included on "Music of Hope," a collection featuring the New York Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra that is designed to benefit the American Cancer Society.

In stores today (February 13th, 2001), it features Ray Charles; pianists Andre Previn and Emanuel Ax; violinists Glenn Dicterow and Carmine Lauri, and conductors Kurt Masur, John Wilson, and David Snell. It was produced by Matt Singer and is available via Tim Janis Ensemble Records.

"Fighting cancer is such a universal cause, and we wanted to do all we could to help out," said Singer. "But another part of the concept was to create music to uplift people's spirits, inspired by some of the work I've done with (Janis). He has an amazing track record for music that heals the spirit. Many in the medical community rely on it to help people through chemotherapy and other such treatments.

Singer adds that each song was recorded specifically for this project. "I was so impressed with Billy Joel's piece "Elegy: The Great Peconic," performed by the London Symphony Orchestra," Singer said.

Discussions are in progress with PBS-TV for a fourth-quarter special, and there's a possibility for a "Music of Hope" concert with the New York Philharmonic.

Already confirmed is a nationwide tour featuring "Music of Hope" composer Janis, with local stops on March 19th, 2001 at Borders Books & Music in Geneva and March 20th, 2001 at Barnes & Noble in Arlington Heights.


"Billy Joel Slips Into a New York-New York State of Mind"
By: Norm Clarke
(February 19th, 2001)

So, you were wandering by New York-New York's dueling piano bar on Wednesday night and thought you were hearing a Billy Joel sound-alike.

Sorry, but you missed one of those to-die-for Las Vegas moments. That was the real deal - the "Piano Man" himself.

Joel, in town for this weekend's concert with Elton John at the MGM Grand, showed up at The Bar at Times Square at about 9pm, with his tour agent Max Loubiere and watched piano players Michael Cavanaugh and Conrad Hawthorne for an hour.

A huge fan, Cavanaugh said, "I had to sing "Piano Man" to the "Piano Man." He is every piano player's hero."

Then, with a now-monstrous crowd egging him on, Cavanaugh, a friend of Loubiere's, invited Joel to join the show - to thunderous applause.

Joel and Cavanaugh sang The Beatles' "With A Little Help from My Friends" and Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel."

With that, Cavanaugh bade farewell with "we're-not-worthy" bows and Joel departed through the mob.


"Dueling Pianos: John/Joel Concert Lasts for a Long, Long Time"
Joel Was Witty; John Seemed Bored
By: Doug Elfman
(February 19th, 2001)

Billy Joel and Elton John performed for almost four hours Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden. That was longer than last year's concerts by Bruce Springsteen and Prince, the play-all-night kings.

It almost seemed as if Joel and John were trying to assuage their guilt for taking up to $300 for tickets from a happy crowd of 13,500.

Well, Joel seemed guilty. Halfway through his greatest-hits marathon, he apologized to hundreds of people who were seated at his backside.

"Let's face it. With the prices you paid for these tickets, we should all be doing your kids' birthdays and bar-mitzvahs," Joel joked, wooing laughs. "But you do get to see me play the piano (with) a little ass thrown in."

The concert started with a punchy prelude. Joel and John played three songs together. Then came John with a band, then Joel with his band and finally a 10-song duel/duet from the both of them.

Joel smoked John as a piano player, singer and showman. He's 51 and spun in circles on his stomach, atop his black grand piano. John was a 53-year-old on automatic pilot. But they made for fine musical chemistry, if not good personal chemistry. They shared little camaraderie. Joel was charming and funny during his solo bit, but mum was the unsung word when John joined him.

Both men brought excellent bands, great light and sound shows, and giant video monitors that showed close-ups of their faces and fingers.

Joel came out in a black suit and wore one of those half-beard goatee things that's so popular with all those coffee-drinking slackers, as some of the whiter-haired crowd members might have put it.

Joel brought wit, too. He made a nod to his famous love life (who divorces Christie Brinkley?) He sang, "I'll always love you, and that's forever," while shrugging, during "Just The Way You Are."

John glowed in a turquoise suit and reflective sunglasses. He frequently played as a metronome, dutifully hitting his notes on syncopated beats. Even love songs had the rat-a-tat-tat quality of someone who's a bit tired of his material.

You could have goose-stepped to "Tiny Dancer." Goose-stepping takes the pretty out of ballads. John did have familiar tunes. But he didn't reach for high notes in "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," which he dedicated to his parents, who were present, he said.

John's player-piano delivery left his more cobwebbed material to wither. That stranded old soft-rock hits, "Philadelphia Freedom" and "Crocodile Rock." Crocodiles live long lives, but they look it. "Rocket Man" was livelier, but it's still a less compelling answer to David Bowie's creepy "Space Oddity."

Joel upstaged John with quicksilver hands, full voice and gesticulations. His working-class songs - the bluesy "New York State of Mind," the bittersweet "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" - were from a time capsule rooted in the streets of New York.

Joel sold them past their due-dates by singing as if he still wore a younger man's clothes. The old "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" sounded fresh with articulation: "Ma-ma, if that's movin' up, then I-I-I-I-I'm movin' out!"

Like many musical visitors, Joel played to the Vegas connection. He slipped on Elvis-type sunglasses, shook his hips, let his legs go akimbo, chopped karate motions and sang in an old-Elvis impression: choruses from "Viva, Las Vegas," "Suspicious Minds," and "Don't Be Cruel."

John returned for 10 duets/duels: Joel's "Piano Man," "My Life," and "You May Be Right"; John's "Bennie and the Jets," "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues," "Candle In The Wind," and "The Bitch Is Back"; and covers of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" and the Beatles' "Come Together" and "A Hard Day's Night."

Stylistically, John's days as a wearer of flashy dresses and powder wigs seem over. He smiled and bowed. He used to be Marie Antoinette. Now he's Celine Dion.

Musically, John's still an English fancy-pants la-di-da, prettily singing hippy-dippy words written by partner Bernie Taupin, such as, "You can't plant me in your penthouse. I'm going back to my plough. Back to the howling old owl in the woods, hunting the horny back toad." Dude, what?

Joel was a concise songwriter of regular-American emotions. ("Come out Virginia, don't let me wait. You Catholic girls start much too late," from "Only The Good Die Young.") And touching notions ("I don't want clever conversation. I never want to work that hard. I just want someone that I can talk to," from "Just The Way You Are.")

But then, Joel worked his way up from the hard world of bars, riding subways and buses, so when he sang, "I'm taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River line" in "New York State of Mind," you could imagine him doing that. Can you see Elton John on a Greyhound? Or plowing?


"AARP's Joel and John: Still Rock And Roll To Us"
By: Steve Bornfeld
(February 19th, 2001)

Aging is a beautiful thing.

Meat on the bones. Smarts in the brain. Depth of the heart. An AARP card.

And if the fan base at Saturday night's Billy Joel/Elton John re-teaming at the MGM Grand Garden Arena largely constituted the Revenge of the Widening Hips and Sagging Breasts Brigade, well, more power to us. This was the baby boom in bloom.

To hell with the looming Grammys, to Britney and Christina's Attack of the Teeny-Tarts, to Eminem's compost-as-art. There was something warmly reassuring about a couple seated behind this reviewer debating the musical merits of Neil Diamond as the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper..." and Martha and the Vandellas' "Jimmy Mack" blared, pre-show, over the loudspeakers. This was, blessedly, a Mosh-Free Zone. (It would only inflame our lumbago.)

There were no Ensure/Viagra cocktails at the concession stands, but plenty of beer - the mood-altering substance of choice among a crowd peppered with sport coats, ties, gray hair and high foreheads.

And the boys on the marquee? The Felix and Oscar of the pop-rocking chair set?

If, as a poet observed, working too hard can give you a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack, then there were surely double coronaries backstage.

This pairing is pure genius, a marriage of giants who defined a generation's music from polar extremes - a Long Island pug and a London glam-ham - and combined to put out more hits than John Gotti ever dreamed of.

In a four-hour filibuster that was sliced into quarters - John and Joel, then John, then Joel, then John and Joel - the duo debuted while twin pianos rose from the bowels of the stage to flank it, Joel entering to the strains of "Yankee Doodle Dandy," John to the British anthem. A roar worthy of the 'N Sync crowd welled up and rolled over
the crowd like a wave, breaking at the stage. (Hey, we've still got it.)

Joel was in basic black, John in a subdued (for him) powder-blue, rhinestone-dappled jacket.

In a neat conceit on the duets, each belted out the opening choruses of each other's hits, Joel on John's "Your Song," John on Joel's "Just the Way You Are," the latter announced by Joel as having been penned for his first wife and throwing off an amusing gee-whiz shrug at the line, "I will love you, that's forever." The haunting "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" closed out the opening salvo, as Joel faded into the wings and John tackled a 90-minute solo set that huffed and puffed and blew this house down.

From the echoing refrain of someone saved, someone saved, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" (sugar bear) to the silly but dance-happy confection, "Philadelphia Freedom," this was Iron John, fanning a ferocious fire under a crowd that, at the start, sported only the stray lighter, light saber or waving arm and wound up going full-bore bananas. John performs with the vengeance of a man who still owns the charts - and in the charts of our classic album collections, he still does.

Every distinctive piano intro triggered an avalanche of approval. Among the highlights: "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" (which is anything but sad), "I'm Still Standing" (which could double not only as his anthem, but the rallying cry of this generation), and "Uptown Girl" (his tribute to Joel). By now, the crowd was on its feet (the beers had kicked in) and stayed that way as the carny-style starter chords announced "Crocodile Rock" (let's hear it now: "Laaaaa-la-la-la-la-laaaa") and segued feverishly into Sa-tur-day, Sa-tur-day, "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)."

Though John tore through his set with laser-like intensity, Joel added a touch of Vegas shtick, gently elbowing the town in the ribs, right down to Elvis impersonations (he's not bad) and cheeky lounge-lizard piano riffs on "Mack the Knife" and "Lady is a Tramp." And while John was stationary at the keyboard, Joel prowled the stage, shadow-boxing with the mike stand, mimicking Marlon Brando and cracking wise. A more varied approach, yes, but at the expense of his abundance of hits.

"For the prices you're paying, we should be doing your kids' bar-mitzvahs and birthday parties," he quipped, referring to the $75-$300 cost of a ducat.

But Joel still did Joel: the boogie-woogie riffs of "I Go To Extremes"; the pulse-quickening piano stabs of "Prelude/Angry Young Man"; the defiance of "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" (the crowd re-revved up by now); the bluesy homesickness of "New York State of Mind" (which made this New Yorker want to get back to the neighborhood); "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant"; the loping rhythms of "The River of Dreams"; the frenetically abridged history lesson of "We Didn't Start the Fire"; "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" and the tune "dedicated to
the bad girls" - "Only the Good Die Young" (Hey Virgina, just send up a signal, I'll throw you a line).

Reunited for the finale, Joel and John (now in a hot pink, black-accented number) kicked the adrenaline into fourth gear with vrooom-vrooom versions of "My Life," "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues," the Beatles' "Come Together" and "A Hard Day's Night," Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire," "The Bitch is Back" (John posing, diva-like, atop his piano, while Joel executed some belly-flop spins on his), "You May Be Right," "Candle In The Wind" and Bu-Bu-Bu "Bennie and the Jets."

It all reached a sing-songy climax with a classic, the crowd swaying and warbling along, word for word - in spine-tingling a cappella at the memorable chorus - as its composer conducted from onstage. Put it this way:

They sang us some songs, they're the piano men; they sang us some songs Saturday night; we were all in the mood for some melodies; and they had us feelin' alright.

Hey, that's catchy. Set that to music right away.


Billy Joel & Trish Bergin Back Together?
By: Neal Travis
(February 26th, 2001)

It appears that passion-puzzled "Piano Man" may be on again - but who can be sure? - with Trish Bergin, the Long Island newswoman who had been linked romantically with Survivor cast member Dr. Sean Kenniff, who, apparently didn't survive her cut. The could-be couple was strolling through Midtown over the weekend with Joel's daughter by Christie Brinkley, Alexa, after eating at Vong.