Two of my Idols

I saw Billy Joel! It was amazing! On Wednesday night this week my family all came down to Cape Town and the four of us made the trek beyond the proverbial “boerewors curtain” to the Bellville Velodrome where Billy Performed.

Billy Joel formed a large part of the soundtrack to my childhood. My mom has always been a big fan and her enthusiasm for his music definitely found it’s way down to me. Seeing Billy live has always been a big ambition of mine. When I moved to New York for a year I found myself living on Long Island, which is where Billy Joel grew up. Loved by Long Islanders and heralded as a working-class hero, I thought my chances of seeing him live were looking pretty good.

Until September 11th that is. A few months after my arrival, and before I’d had an opportunity to hunt down a Billy concert the 911 attacks happened. In the aftermath a number of artists, especially those who originated from New York, did benefit concerts to raise money for the victims of the attacks. Billy took to the stage with Elton John and whisperings abounded about how shocking Billy looked. A few days later the news landed that Billy Joel had booked himself into Rehab for alcoholism. As a result, he took a bit of a break and there were just no live shows to go to.

Until that he decided to come to Cape Town that is! The concert was amazing! It was so great to be there with my mom and the two of us danced and sang along to every single song. Billy didn’t disappoint either, entertaining the crowd with jokes between numbers and giving his all to his performance. He looked great and at the age of 50-something he kept it going through a long set. The sound was great, the crowd was wild and the lighting was spectacular. It wasn’t a cheap concert, but it was worth every cent.

He played all the greats, “Honesty”, “River of Dreams”, “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, “The Entertainer” and “New York State of Mind” to name just a few. The latter being the veritable theme track to my life. His grand finale was his famous track “Piano Man” which was so incredible! Live piano music has been having a huge emotional effect on me lately, but hearing Billy play that famous riff while the whole crowd sang the chorus was something I won’t forget anytime soon. My only regret is that Carlz and Bec couldn’t have been there two, because I know how much they both also enjoy his music.

Then, in a fortunate twist of fate, I found myself at another concert last night (Friday night.) Thanks to some kind dealing on the part of Mike’s friend Ryan, Amanda and I secured over selves a couple of tickets to “Unite of the Stars 2006”. The setup and crowd was a little different to Billy but we had a really great time as we drank our bodyweights in sickly sweet alco-pops. There was an unusual but really great line-up of acts including BananaRama (“I’m your Venus, I’m your Fire”), Patrizo Buanne (shittin’ sexy Italian dude who sings like a freakin’ canary), Shane Ward (“No Promises”) and Marcos Hernandez. But the headliner, the one we were really there to see, was Will Young.

Willy, like Billy, was wonderful. His show was incredible and like Billy he didn’t disappoint. The show was great and he came across as a really nice person. There were bits of chatter and absolutely no pretensions. He’s a little more camp than I anticipated, which isn’t so say that he’s very camp, and devilishly good looking.
All in all, several great performers, two amazing concert experiences. Eat your heart out Rihanna!