Page 12 - Irish Examiner USA

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2019 Billy Joel Woos Both Singer/Songwriter

10th, Gilbert O’Sullivan’s

July Sides Of The Irish Sea

| EXCLUSIVE By Belated Tour Comes To
EXAMINER PETER KELLY at City Winery To The

Wembley Stadium,
Audiences Great
London and Aviva

IRISH Stadium, Dublin Appreciation
ew York’s piano man-
turned global music icon
Nhas just completed his
Anglo-Irish extravaganza at
Wembley Stadium.
Some 60,000 sing-a-long fans
filled the renowned north
London football ground, in a
re-run of Joel’s Dublin Aviva
Stadium event exactly a year
ago to the day. And the warm
summer night’s scheduling
wasn’t accidental.
Both venues celebrated the
sprightly 70-year old New
Yorker’s affinity with all things capital’s police required to State of Mind to Allentown.
Irish and Britannic, as Billy Joel manage traffic around the Each was boosted by 60-foot
frequently made local refer- venues’ sprawling Billy Joel fan screens as backdrop to depict
ences and whipped up crowds base. scenes from each song. This
who danced along in the aisles The once blue-collar bal- more than added high voltage By Brad Balfour
and terraces. Whimsical genu- ladeer turned musical million- to the delivery, as he donned orIrish-Englishsinger/songwriterGilbertO’Sullivan,his appear-
flections to both capitals and aire delivered as promised - electric guitar, stepping away ance this week at City Winery was a long time coming. It was a
countries were made, with ren- with his gritty power ballads from his resident piano. F43 year-long delay for that matter. Last time the soft pop-rock
ditions of Raglan Road, fol- including those to celebrate the And in true Joel form, after a pianisthadtouredhere,ithadbeenmorethanfourdecadesagoandhis
lowed across the Irish Sea with grafting underdog rendition of She’s Always a fanshadhungeredtoseehim.Nowinhis50thyearasamusic profes-
Rule Britannia and We’ll Meet (Downeaster Alexa, Woman to Me, the Bronx sional, O’Sullivan (born Raymond Edward on December 1st, 1946),
Again ensuing. Allentown, Vienna). Followed native endearingly introduced finally launched an American tour long coming for his enduring sup-
New York’s finest even of course by his foray into his- Wembley’s adoring stands to porters sinceitwascancelledlongago.
managed a well timed (and tory educator (We Didn’t Start his (fourth) wife Alexis and As noted in Wikipedia, his most successful recording period
even better received) swipe at the Fire, Leningrad). their (second) daughter who was between 1970 and 1980, though he has since recorded 10
the political classes, something Most affecting - and have accompanied him to the studio albums up to 2015. Speaking in 2009, he noted, “I write
his audiences on both sides of inevitably so, was his signature UK for the past fortnight. pop songs. That’s all I want to do. I have no interest in just tour-
the Atlantic will appreciate. track Piano Man, making him Billy Joel began the London ing, and living in the past.”
The Entertainer’s choice of compete for audience decibels summer’s night with self-dep- For those enthusiasts who packed this downtown music
both nations’ premier sports as the vocally-stretched crowd recating humour - that he’d just palace, this Waterford-born music-maker clearly delivered his
arenas to showcase, is testa- out-sung him. be playing “basically the same curious blend of keyboard-based melodic tunes which alternate
ment to his popularity this side But if this was Joel in his twi- old shit.” But the energetic between romantic proclamations such as “Claire,” life-affirming
of the Pond. As indeed is Joel’s light years, he wasn’t showing piano man’s magic reminded rockers like “Get Down” and his slightly melancholic composi-
capacity to reliably fill them. it. His energetic two-hour set that his now half-century-long tions such as his global hit, “Alone Again (Naturally).”
Tickets went on sale nine included vintage hits from brand remains a very special Establishing himself in the early ‘70s, the tall and still gangly
months beforehand, with both Uptown Girl to New York vintage indeed. C frizzle-haired performer continued to have hits everywhere but
the States. As one of a crop of soft rock singer/songwriters such
as Leo Sayer and Jim Croce who emerged in the pre-punk ‘70s,
O’Sullivan survived — and still has a full mop of what appears to
be his real, though graying, hair while maintaining this ardent
fan base. It displayed its passion as the crowd hooted while his
hands plunked out the keys to a slew of familiar tunes in the
nearly two-hour set.
Accompanied by Irish guitar virtuoso Bill Shanley, the duo
delivered — though he proclaimed that he has a full band ready
to join him if there’s enough support for another tour — once
which will come sooner than another four decades.
For this commentator, his music had a nostalgic, pre-rock
feel, written to supplement his odd high pitch nasality. Though
he doesn’t really have —at least at this time — a robust melodic
voice, his songs are geared to bring out the best of his skillset.
Pleasant and sometimes poignant, everything seemed light-
hearted even when the lyrics expressed dark emotions. But for
the audience there, including quite a few aging hipsters, they,
the crowd was as pleased as punch to see this long absent anti-
star. C