Elton and Billy @ the ACC

Last night I attended the "Elton John – Billy Joel Face2Face tour" concert at the Air Canada Centre. Piano men Elton (the Brit) and Billy (the Yank) have been touring together on and off since 1994 and the two men (now both in their 60s) can still deliver a powerful one-two punch. The evening was bookended by sets featuring the duo seated at grand pianos face to face, trading verses of songs alternately drawn from each of their catalogs. In between those duet sets were the two solo sets—the first featuring Elton and the second featuring Billy.
Elton, despite his reputation for flamboyance, was the more subdued performer (costume wise, only one change of shirt!), placing the emphasis on musicianship and on his very early 70s catalog. His set featured lengthy jazz and blues inflected versions of many of his songs, extended with multiple breaks for piano and guitar solos. John kept the chat to a minimum and ably demonstrated his mastery of the keyboard. Billy, on the other hand, enjoyed a free repartee with the audience and hamming it up. He joked about SARS, the acoustics at Maple Leaf Gardens and even threw in a Gordon Lightfoot impression for good measure.

Joel’s tight set for the most part featured faithful renditions of all of his radio friendly pop 45 hits, with the exception of “album cuts” Zanzibar and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, which really showcased his capable band (with a particularly strong horn section) which he took obvious pride in introducing (most hailed from places close to New York; although there was one player from Windsor and another very versatile female band member from Gary, Indiana).

In the final set, the duo played cover version of Beatles tunes “Birthday” and “USSR” (not the obvious choices since Elton’s cover version of “Lucy In The Sky with Diamonds” was a massive hit and he also released a live version of “I Saw Her Standing There” (performed in duet with John Lennon) as a B-side to that single. Conspicuous in their absence from the Billy’s set list were ballads “Honesty”, “An Innocent Man” and “New York State of Mind”. Among the favourites Elton eschewed were “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word”, “Philadelphia Freedom” and his cover version of The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” (from Tommy). John also chose not perform anything from his Oscar winning Disney film / musical play soundtracks.

The stage design-- open to seating behind the stage-- featured a very wide stage dominated by a curved LED screen hung above and used for lighting effects and to project live images of the performers and other animated and photo footage linked to the song selections. All tolled, the dynamic duo performed 35 songs in a programme that ran over three and one half hours. It appeared everyone left satisfied, having seen two rock hall of fame performers performing well past their primes yet managing to escape with their legacy firmly intact.

SET LIST:

Set 1: Elton John & Billy Joel together on stage

1 Your Song
2 Just The Way You Are
3 Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
4 Ode To Joy/My Life

Set 2: Elton solo

5 Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
6 Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
7 Burn Down the Mission
8 Madman Across the Water
9 Tiny Dancer
10 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
11 Daniel
12 Rocket Man
13 Levon
14 I'm Still Standing
15 Crocodile Rock

Set 3: Billy solo

16 Prelude/Angry Young Man
17 Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
18 Allentown
19 Zanzibar
20 Don't Ask Me Why
21 She's Always A Woman
22 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
23 River of Dreams
24 We Didn't Start the Fire
25 Be Bop A Lula/It's Still Rock N' Roll To Me
26 Only the Good Die Young

Set 4: Elton and Billy together

27 I Guess That Why They Call It The Blues
28 Uptown Girl
29 The Bitch Is Back
30 You May Be Right
31 Bennie and the Jets
32 Birthday
33 Back in the USSR
34 Candle in the Wind
35 Piano Man