Elton John & Billy Joel - Live In Cleveland 5/23/09

First things first, man is that an old photo! They look NOTHING like that anymore! Now back to the regularly scheduled program already in progess.

Oh boy, do I feel lazy. I know I don't post everyday like some blogs to but if I don't post every other day I feel like I'm a real schmuck. That said, I don't post every other day either so I already feel a little schmuckish to begin with, but until this becomes my job, which I'm sadly certain it won't, there will be long breaks and short breaks between posts, although the long breaks are probably not all that long be regular internet standards. Anyway, there will be another post this coming weekend about an album very dear to me and my woman which has never seen release. Pretty damn convenient since that's what this blog is all about, eh?

Since I'm beating myself up for not posting regularly, I'm giving a little gift tonight that I posted for some friends at another site. This is Elton John and Billy Joel's show from this past Saturday. I was at this show in what would normally be called the nosebleed seats, although they were more like the aneurysm seats due to the position of the stage in regards to my location. That said, we had a very good screen and the sound was great so I didn't miss too much.

I've seen Billy Joel several times over my life, dating all the way back to 1984 at the Richfield Coliseum. I've always loved his music and I don't give a damn what elitists have to say about his pop-music career, he's a great songwriter and doesn't get the credit he deserves. He's also a great entertainer and makes it a habit to talk to the audience and keep them involved. I can't say the same for Elton John though, as he barely spoke to the audience, didn't introduce his band, played a number of songs that only die-hard Eltonites would know and took many of his songs to an attention breaking point by making them last forever. I like Rocket Man as much as the next person but it doesn't need to last nearly fifteen minutes. I'm sure you can tell which part of the show I enjoyed more, although I must note that when Billy and Elton shared the stage and vocal duties on each others hits, they were amazing. The finale of Candle In The Wind and Piano Man was simply beautiful.

I know this isn't much of a review but I'm tired and I've been working all day. That said, I am pleased to present to you the complete show and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Also, unlike my Wilco post, while this show is split into multiple files, these ones are independent of each other, which is to say you can unzip each on it's own. So, please feel free to indulge yourself in this wonderful show.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5