Live at Philips Arena
February 28, 2015 • Atlanta,GA
Ryan Swerdlin Photography
The crowd at Philips Arena in Atlanta Georgia on Saturday evening was buzzing with anticipation. Billy Joel, six-time Grammy award winner, was in town to share some of the magic that Madison Square Garden has come to know and love on a monthly basis these days. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (1999) announced a slew of tour dates in addition to his stay at MSG that span all the way through December when he will return to the southern states and play Charlotte NC on the 5th (I may be making a road trip…). The Atlanta date of February 28th was just the 3rd show played outside of MSG this year and it did not disappoint.
Gavin Degraw opened the show and got the crowd on their feet. Even Gavin expressed during his set how much Billy’s music meant to him, and the first time he saw Billy perform live he said to himself that’s what he wanted to do…to be an amazing Entertainer.
When Billy took the stage, it was apparent that the man has not lost a bit of energy, excitement, or enthusiasm for performing live in front of his fans. The Arena was packed, literally. I have never seen Philips Arena sold out like this. All of the seats behind the stage were even sold out, which I am sure was flattering for the New York native. The opening of “Miami 2017” and “Pressure” set the mood that it was going to be a fun night in Hotlanta. Billy gave plenty of nods throughout the night to the southern crowd, riffing on “Georgia On My Mind”, “One Way Out”, and “Midnight Rider”. That was what made the show one of a kind. Billy was consciously making an effort to connect with his crowd, which you rarely see these days, especially from a veteran of the Rock N Roll game. Allowing the crowd to pick one song or another, who does that? Billy Joel does that. The crowd chose “Summer Highland Falls” over “Everybody Loves You Now” and “The Ballad of Billy the Kid” over “Keeping the Faith”.
The band assembled is also as top notch as their Piano Man. Mark Rivera oozed excitement with his sax work and was a familiar face to see given his past recording and tour history with Billy. Some stand out performers for me were Carl Fischer on various horns and Crystal Taliefero on percussion and saxophone. Carl absolutely nailed both of the trumpet solos in “Zanzibar” and had the crowd screaming for him to take a bow at the end of the tune. Mike DelGuidice who played guitar and sang vocals also brings with him a cool story. He is in a Billy Joel cover band in his spare time…when he’s not on tour with Billy Joel…some guys dreams are just dreams, some guys dreams become their reality, congrats Mike you are in the second category.
The remainder of the 20+ song set, packed with hits like “My Life”, “Vienna”, “The Entertainer”, “Moving Out”, “New York State of Mind”, “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant”, and “Piano Man” was simply a reminder of how amazing and timeless Billy Joel’s music is and will always be. The encore boasted a quad of crowd pleasers with “Uptown Girl”, “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”, “You May Be Right” and “Only the Good Die Young”. I am sure everyone in the crowd could name a song or two that they wanted to hear that didn’t get played, and that is what makes you realize that the man has more top 40 hits in his career than he has time to play in one evening!
