Saturday, February 15, 2014

Billy Joel and Elton John

Wow, the power of advertising.

I am not usually one to just jump at the chance to spend money, but I was somewhere online and saw that our local symphony was hosting Jim Witter, who does a concert called The Piano Men, celebrating the music of Elton John and Billy Joel.



K-ster and I are big fans of both.  I saw Billy Joel in concert in 1995 and we both  went to see Movin' Out, the musical Billy Joel wrote with Twyla Tharp around 2004-2005.  I knew I could get k-ster to a musical if Billy Joel's hits  were involved.

And we got a ride with my parents in their motorhome, so that sweetened the deal.

So, when I saw that this guy was coming to the symphony, I asked k-ster if he thought he would want to go.  He immediately said yes, and I immediately got tickets.  Very spontaneous and spur of the moment.

And can you believe I didn't even google or youtube him before I did it?????

It was TOTALLY worth it.

First of all, we loved our seats.  It's a local high school with a brand new auditorium, designed with the idea that the symphony would live there and that there would be state of the art performances given all the time.  I've performed in this auditorium and I've been to  a few shows there, but I have never had the view we had last night.

There is a section up top that is right over one of the entrances, so there are 3 rows of just 4 seats per row.  We got the front row which was perfect except for one little thing which I easily remedied.  There's a panel of plexiglass to keep you from falling onto the incoming people, and a metal bar on top.  Because I am so short, the bar was right at my eye level and I couldn't really see the stage unless I stretched up or ducked down to see.

Since we had winter coats, I folded k-ster's and mine and sat on them and it was PERFECT.

No one was directly in front of us.

Since there were only 4 seats in the row, no one had to climb over anyone because there was an aisle on both sides.

And I saw the orchestra from a perspective I have never seen before.

You can be sure those will be the first seats I look for if we ever go again.

I wasn't sure, with it being a symphony performance, how much rock and roll there would be but they did not disappoint.  In fact, as I watched and listened, I thought about how Billy and Elton how must have full orchestras for all of their recorded albums because there would have been some serious sound lacking if any of those instruments were missing.

He did a medley of both of their greatest hits from the 70s.  There wasn't a song we didn't know and the crowd was clearly happy with all of the music.  I think there were about 20 songs all together, 10 in each half.

The conductor was having a total blast  with it too and when he turned around to talk to the audience at one point, he said he was like "a pig in slop" conducting that music.

As for Jim Witter's voice?  Amazing.  He really sounded like both Billy and Elton but even more pure than both.  I could easily listen to him or Billy or Elton and be happy.

He was also a real entertainer.  He was funny and jovial.

At one point, a local high school student came out and played one of Billy Joel's classical pieces that he composed when he was in a classical phase about 10 years ago.  Do you remember that?  I swear I've heard it before but k-ster didn't recognize it.  I have a feeling it might actually be on the Movin' Out musical CD that I have.  This pianist was fantastic too.

My favorite part of this concert is that it was a great concert of both Billy Joel and Elton John hits, but the crowd remained seated, wasn't allowed to eat or drink or smoke and it was an enjoyable time.  The median age was like 80, so that's probably why.

I've been to concerts where you have to stand the whole time and it's wild and loud but this was not the venue for it and certainly not the crowd.

Maybe I've turned 80 recently too.

K-ster also had a really good time.

If the symphony would host this kind of fun at least once a year, I think we'd always attend!

I cannot recommend this guy enough.  If you get a chance to see them, you really have to go.  It is entirely worth every penny!

And now I wonder if I should just start jumping at every advertisement I see without checking it out first....

**all opinions and comments are my own.  I have not been compensated in any way by The Piano Men, Billy Joel or Elton John.**

Linking here:
http://www.myturnforus.com/2014/02/freedom-fridays-with-all-my-bloggy_13.html

2 comments:

  1. I totally would have loved something like that. I wish I had known about it because I totally would have gotten tickets, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds so fun. I can't believe you didn't mention it before. I would totally go to that.

    ReplyDelete

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