The Piano Men

Billy Joel & Elton John
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Section 316, Row E, Seat 6
$99.50

My perspective on concert costs have changed over time. I last saw Billy Joel and Elton John together in 1994. I was still in college. Tickets were $46. I didn't need to look that up. I remember it, from fifteen years back, because I agonized over that price. My best friend Angela and I both wanted to see this show, but we were broke college students and we passed. They played three nights at Vet Stadium. After the first show, additional "good" seats were released. There was so much good buzz about the first show. I called Angela and told her I was having second thoughts about skipping this show. So was Angela. We bought tickets at the last minute, went, and had a great time.

This time, Roy and I bought cheap seats for the Face to Face tour, and they were $100 each. After we decided to go, I didn't bat an eyelash at the price.

I was going to pass on this show originally. I had seen them together before, of course, and we just saw Billy Joel a few years ago. Roy saw Elton John as his very first concert, on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour back in 1974. He's said that he's avoided seeing Elton John since then, because it could never live up to that first show. But after 35 years, Roy wanted to see him again. I was up for it and happy to go see them again.

The two singers have toured jointly a number of times since 1994. Any operational kinks have been worked out. They each have their full bands with them, with no lagtime needed to configure the stage between sets. The stage was empty; all of the equipment was underneath the stage, with elevated platforms to bring up the appropriate instruments at the appropriate time. Our view of the stage was unobstructed, but we were so high up, the lighting rigs blocked part of the screens.

The show started about 10 minutes late. A classical piece of music started to play on the loud speaker. We didn't recognize it, but figured this was a way to set the mood. I love how Yes concerts start with the finale from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite; it fills me with anticipation. (In fact, Roy and I walked down the aisle to that same piece.) I wondered if Yes was the first band to start their shows with a classical piece. The music ended and the house lights went down. The show was about to begin!

Billy Joel took the stage, and Elton John followed him. They greeted each other and the audience. Then, they each walked over to a grand piano and began playing. It was the same general setup as the last time I saw them - they did several songs together, each of them did their own set, and then they joined together for the encore.

The first song was Your Song, Elton John's first hit. It got off to a rough start. They traded vocals on it, with Billy taking the first verse. It was jarring; his voice was a lot lower than the original vocal line on the song, and it sounded rough. Elton has a lower register too now. They dealt with this throughout the show - Elton sang lower or let the audience sing along and Billy had a female backing musician do some of his higher parts. I didn't notice it being bad except for this first song, but it made me wonder what the rest of the show would sound like. I talked to Roy about this after the show, and he noticed it as well.

The next song was Billy Joel's Just the Way You Are. The two pianists were joined by a saxophone player. I thought it sounded really nice. The two full bands showed up for the next two songs - Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me and My Life. They had especially nice lighting during Don't Let the Sun; yellow and red glows in the audience.

Elton John played his full set next. Roy raved about the first time he saw Elton John, when the stage was all dark and he opened with the instrumental proggy piece Funeral for a Friend. I saw the setlist ahead of time, but Roy wanted to be surprised. Elton opened this set with that same opening. Roy was thrilled. Elton's guitar player Davey Johnstone is the same guy who played guitar on the album version, and he had a prominent role on stage. This song led into Love Lies Bleeding. Roy gave it a standing ovation.

I like both singers, but I've never gone deep into their catalogs. I'm familiar with all their songs that have gotten radio airplay, plus a few albums from each of them. I'm knocked out by how many well known songs they have. Even with each of them performing some "album tracks", I knew every song they played.

Roy's biggest complaint about the concert was the sound. It's his usual complaint about shows in big arenas. The bass drum dominated. When parts of the mix were inaudible for songs I knew well, I was mentally able to fill-in-the-blanks. I noticed that in a good way during Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which is my favorite Elton John track. He asked us to sing along, and I happily did, but I was hearing the song in my head as it should be. It actually sounded insignificant and quick in concert, when it should have lush harmonies and a dreamy atmosphere. On the less successful side was a couple tracks from Madman Across the Water, the title track and Burn Down the Mission. I don't know those songs well enough to really be able to play them through in my head and what I heard was lacking. The piano and guitar part of Madman sounded nice though.

Roy's favorite part of the night was Funeral for a Friend. My favorite part of Elton's set was Crocodile Rock. It was so happy. He can't handle some of the notes in there anymore, so he had the audience sing the "Laaaaa la la la la" part. Belting this out made me happy.

After I'm Still Standing, Roy told me that was the first song Elton performed that was from after 1974. Another "newer" song was in the encore. I don't have a good feeling for the chronology of most of Elton John's 1970s-era singles. I first heard them all from the radio decades after their release. But Roy was telling me he was surprised Elton played so many early tracks.

I could see the people on the floor standing up for about half of the songs. People up by the stage were standing and dancing for the entire show. Up in the second tier of seats, we all sat. I bopped around in my seat and sang along, but most of the people in my section sat still. The women next to Roy were talking throughout most of the show. The couple next to me were sending text messages.

I didn't like Rocket Man as much as I did last time. I specifically remember it. The band jammed at the end of it, and it went on for quite a while, and I loved every moment of it. I talked to another friend who went to the 1994 concert, and she hated the part, making fun of how indulgent and long it was. Did it sound similar to last night's version? I thought this one felt dragged out. I don't know if I changed or it did over the years. Roy liked it for about half its length, and then was ready for it to end.

Elton John surprised me a bit in his frontman behavior. I'm guilty of thinking of him more of a star than a musician, more standoffish. He reached out to the fans up front, quite literally, by walking along the front of the stage and shaking hands two different times. I also noticed him signing a couple autographs for people from onstage. He didn't speak to the crowd much, other than introducing a few songs. He did not introduce his band, which is too bad. Some of those people have been playing with him since Roy saw him the first time.

Elton's set was over. His stage set was lowered beneath the stage and wooosh Billy Joel's was raised. We maybe could have used a short break from the music, but there was a lot of music to fit in. Billy Joel's set started with Prelude and Angry Young Man. He's a more demonstrative performer than Elton John, more gestures and a few songs standing at center stage. It could be that Elton is too busy actually playing piano during the performance. Comparing the two, I'd say Billy Joel was in better voice that night (except for Your Song) and was a better frontman. He was certainly funnier. They tend to get lumped together as piano-based pop musicians. But Elton's music was artier and featured more lead guitar than I would expect. Billy Joel's had a lot of horns in the arrangements, which gave it almost a Springsteen-like feel in places. Both have great melodies and so many songs that I like.

Roy really could have used an intermission. He left during Movin' Out and missed part of the next song, Allentown. I didn't spend much time in the city of Allentown, but it's in my home state of Pennsylvania, so hearing it reminds me of home. I also remember the time Angela and I went to a Yes concert in Allentown. I redid the lyrics to "So we're seeing Yes in Allentown". The song reminds me of one of my favorite Yes concerts.

A few songs that stood out to me were:
- Zanzibar, which Billy Joel described as the one album track in the set and asked us not to all leave to go to the bathroom. The song reminded me of Steely Dan with the horns and the "Zanzibar tonight" vocal line.

- Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. I always like hearing that one.

- It's Still Rock & Roll to Me, which started with a different arrangement. I didn't recognize it until the vocals started. It sounded more modern. While it worked with the theme of the song, I'm not sure how much I liked it.

Billy told some of the same jokes that he did last time we saw him, commenting on the people in different parts of the arena. The people sitting behind the stage had a better view than you'd think, because the piano is situated sideways. They get a similar view to the people up front. And the people up front have several tons of lighting equipment up above them. Still humorous, and it made him appear down to earth by realizing we all had to deal with the annoyances of trying to get good concert tickets.

I get the feeling he could have played a set of completely different songs, and I still would have known them all from radio airplay and enjoyed it just as much. He has so many good songs. My favorite time seeing Billy Joel is when he was doing a tour of colleges and came to Penn. He talked to the audience, took questions, and played some songs by himself, just voice and piano. I think that's the only time I saw him play my favorite song of his, "Summer, Highland Falls".

My biggest complaint about the Face to Face show sounds like whining - too much music. This turned out to be a three and a half hour long concert. By the time Billy's main set was complete, it was three hours of music without a break. I'm sorry to say, it was overkill. I didn't need to leave to use the facilities, but a little mental break would have been nice. The first few songs of the encore, with Billy's and Elton's bands playing together, were wasted on me.

I got back into it when they played a couple of lively Beatles' covers, Birthday and Back in the USSR. The show ended with just Billy and Elton on stage playing piano, just like the show started. They played Candle in the Wind and Piano Man.

I think what I enjoyed most about this show was not the performances or the rock stars, but enjoying the songs themselves in a live communal setting. It still astounds me how much of each of their catalogs I know and how wide a variety of songs they each have.