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Billy
Joel To Open 2000 World Series With National Anthem
By: Mitchell Fink (October 19th, 2000) Talk about a "New York State of Mind." Billy Joel will be at Yankee Stadium Saturday to sing the National Anthem prior to Game One of the World Series. The last time Billy sang at the Stadium was in June 1991, when he sold the place out for a concert. Needless to say, he'll be playing before a sold-out house again. "Billy Joel, Bryan Adams Help Elton John Record Live Album" By: Contributing Editor Frank Tortorici (October 23rd, 2000) Billy Joel and Bryan Adams joined pop-rocker Elton John onstage Friday night to help him make a quickie live album that will be released in a month. John promised "the greatest hits live" for his shows Friday and Saturday at Madison Square Garden, and he delivered. He played nearly all of his best-known songs, including "Rocket Man" and "Daniel," during Friday's two-and-a-half-hour show, while telling the capacity crowd, "We're recording this for a live LP, so make a lot of noise." The 53 year-old British piano man also told the audience he's contemplating retirement. John said he'd release an album of songs co-written with longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin next year and then, after a tour with Joel, "that's it for me, that's the end, goodnight." John, who was fitted with a pacemaker for a heart irregularity last year, stayed mostly seated at his piano and wore only one outfit, a burgundy velvet jacket and black pants. Though there were few traces of the piano-hopping, tiara-wearing showman of the '70s, the music played was mostly from that decade, when John ruled the pop charts. He opened with the first four tracks in sequence from his most successful studio album, 1973's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." Fans were still filtering in as the ominous tones of the album-opening instrumental, "Funeral For A Friend" seeped through the arena, amid flashing red lights. "Love Lies Bleeding," recorded and performed as a medley with "Funeral for a Friend," had fans on their feet, where many of them remained for the night. Davey
Johnstone, John's bandleader and longtime guitarist, led an 11-piece
ensemble through the night's many hard-rocking songs, his long blonde
hair flowing around him, covering his face. There were plenty of ballads,
too: The audience sang along with "Candle In The Wind,"
and two songs later another piano was wheeled onstage for "I've finally decided my future lies/Beyond the yellow brick road," they sang together through loud applause. John called Joel "New York royalty, my dear friend and someone I admire very much." In between
the ballads, the group - also featuring original Goodbye Yellow Brick
Road drummer Nigel Olsson - performed the bouncing hit "Bennie
and the Jets." The live album, "One Night Only: The Greatest Hits Live," is due Nov. 21, according to Universal Records. A TV broadcast of John's New York concerts is planned later this year on CBS, although no airdate has been set. Friday's show also featured plenty of gentle majesty, including the beautiful "Tiny Dancer," currently showcased in "Almost Famous," Cameron Crowe's movie about a young Rolling Stone reporter. Most of the night's songs were played in front of projections of original album cover art. A pleasant surprise was the appearance of Kiki Dee, who re-created her #1 1976 duet with John, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." She performed jumping jacks at the side of the stage during the number. Adams, who helped rev up the '80s single "Sad Songs (Say So Much)," was just as rapturously received. John threw in a few more recent tunes, including his Oscar-winning ballad "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?," from "The Lion King." "We thought it would be boring to do all hits, so we'll sneak this one in," John said of the jaunty "Club at the End of the Street" from his 1989 album, "Sleeping with the Past." John
paid tribute to the late John Lennon by playing the Beatles' "Come
Together." He said: "This song is dedicated to the man who
got the most tumultuous applause when he played with us (at the Garden)
in the 1970s." He was referring to a legendary Thanksgiving 1974
show during which Lennon sang "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
and other tunes with John and his band. John also dueted with young Irish singer Ronan Keating on "Your Song," which John said was "written 31 years ago and started the ball rolling (for me) in the U.S." Johnstone
played a raunchy part on 12-string guitar during "I'm Still Standing,"
which took on special meaning given John's recent heart imbalance.
Sitting at the piano even for his most raucous song, John trotted
out rising singer Anastacia to run around the stage like he did in
his salad days during a duet on "Saturday Night's Alright "His stamina is amazing," Ann Forster, a 54 year-old fan from New York, said. Lynn Baxter, 40, of Birmingham, Ala., said: "I've never had an instant orgasm (until tonight). I don't know how a 53 year-old gay man could do that to a woman, but it happened during 'Come Together.' " "He's the closest thing to the Beatles that's left," said 48 year-old Kim Rogers, who traveled from Oklahoma for the show and who wore an EltonJohn.com T-shirt. |