shooter521
Certified Glock Nut
So did any other INGOers besides MontereyC6 and me go to the show last night?
I was there with my wife Lori, who bought us tickets for my birthday (she's a keeper). This was my second time seeing them together, and her 3rd. It was about my 8th Billy Joel show in the past decade and a half. Yeah, you could say I'm a fan.
We parked in the Huntington garage a few blocks north of the Fieldhouse ($3.00 all night if you park after 5pm), and had dinner and drinks at the B-Dubs on Washington St. before walking back over for the show. There were "security" checkpoints outside the entrance, which basically consisted of dudes doing cursory visual inspections of women's handbags. No metal detectors, no patdowns (of either of us) or anything; there is a big sign at the entrance listing prohibited articles, but realistically you could've carried a f*cking howitzer in there if you could conceal it... Pretty visible police presence at the top of the steps right when you got in, but hardly any inside the venue itself.
The show started promptly at 7:45, with Billy and Elton doing a set of 4 songs together (2 from each artist). Then Billy left the stage and Elton did his set. I had the same problem this time as I did at the previous Face 2 Face show I attended - if you don't know the words already, you don't have a clue WTF Elton is saying/singing - his accent and clipped syllables combined with ridiculously loud volume and bad venue acoustics make for a lousy mix. Still, I did know the words, and his part of the show was fairly entertaining. I liked his long, long extended take on "Rocket Man," but my wife didn't care for it. He played until about 9:00, then it was Billy's turn.
Billy came out to thunderous applause, and warmed up the crowd with his normal schtick of making fun of ticket prices and giving shouts out to folks in the really crappy seats, including "those folks way out in Valparaiso". He then launched into a pretty standard set of his hits, punctuated in the middle by "Zanzibar," an older and more obscure song that featured some fantastic horn work. With all the times I've seen him in concert, I believe that was my first time hearing him do that one, and it was a refreshing change-up from the Top 40 80s/90s stuff. Billy played until about 10:30, then Elton came back out and the two did another set together, including the Beatles' "Today is Your Birthday" and "Back in the USSR," and closing around 11:00 with "Candle in the Wind" and "Piano Man". Lori and I left early to beat the rush (and because the garage we were parked in closed at midnight), and listened to the last two songs on the way out - the acoustics and volume level were actually better in the hallways than they were in the arena! Had no problem getting out of the venue or out of the garage, and were home by about 11:45.
All in all a good solid show, if not anything special (Marc Cohn at the Music Mill set the bar for an outstanding concert experience, IMO). Billy and Elton are both 60-ish and can still turn it on. Our seats were nosebleed-high but the view was good, and we had a bit of sport making fun of the drunk dancing chicks a couple rows in front of us (though I did feel bad for the gal with the cane who was sitting behind them and couldn't see for the entire show, despite having asked them to sit down or move).
For Lori's birthday in September, we're going to see Metallica.
I was there with my wife Lori, who bought us tickets for my birthday (she's a keeper). This was my second time seeing them together, and her 3rd. It was about my 8th Billy Joel show in the past decade and a half. Yeah, you could say I'm a fan.
We parked in the Huntington garage a few blocks north of the Fieldhouse ($3.00 all night if you park after 5pm), and had dinner and drinks at the B-Dubs on Washington St. before walking back over for the show. There were "security" checkpoints outside the entrance, which basically consisted of dudes doing cursory visual inspections of women's handbags. No metal detectors, no patdowns (of either of us) or anything; there is a big sign at the entrance listing prohibited articles, but realistically you could've carried a f*cking howitzer in there if you could conceal it... Pretty visible police presence at the top of the steps right when you got in, but hardly any inside the venue itself.
The show started promptly at 7:45, with Billy and Elton doing a set of 4 songs together (2 from each artist). Then Billy left the stage and Elton did his set. I had the same problem this time as I did at the previous Face 2 Face show I attended - if you don't know the words already, you don't have a clue WTF Elton is saying/singing - his accent and clipped syllables combined with ridiculously loud volume and bad venue acoustics make for a lousy mix. Still, I did know the words, and his part of the show was fairly entertaining. I liked his long, long extended take on "Rocket Man," but my wife didn't care for it. He played until about 9:00, then it was Billy's turn.
Billy came out to thunderous applause, and warmed up the crowd with his normal schtick of making fun of ticket prices and giving shouts out to folks in the really crappy seats, including "those folks way out in Valparaiso". He then launched into a pretty standard set of his hits, punctuated in the middle by "Zanzibar," an older and more obscure song that featured some fantastic horn work. With all the times I've seen him in concert, I believe that was my first time hearing him do that one, and it was a refreshing change-up from the Top 40 80s/90s stuff. Billy played until about 10:30, then Elton came back out and the two did another set together, including the Beatles' "Today is Your Birthday" and "Back in the USSR," and closing around 11:00 with "Candle in the Wind" and "Piano Man". Lori and I left early to beat the rush (and because the garage we were parked in closed at midnight), and listened to the last two songs on the way out - the acoustics and volume level were actually better in the hallways than they were in the arena! Had no problem getting out of the venue or out of the garage, and were home by about 11:45.
All in all a good solid show, if not anything special (Marc Cohn at the Music Mill set the bar for an outstanding concert experience, IMO). Billy and Elton are both 60-ish and can still turn it on. Our seats were nosebleed-high but the view was good, and we had a bit of sport making fun of the drunk dancing chicks a couple rows in front of us (though I did feel bad for the gal with the cane who was sitting behind them and couldn't see for the entire show, despite having asked them to sit down or move).
For Lori's birthday in September, we're going to see Metallica.
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