The Piano Men

I would love to take you all with me to a concert! How about it? I have hired a limo, a pink per Grace's request, to take us....hop in! the Diet Coke is all iced up and ready!

Let's head down the road to Cincinnati. It will take less than an hour to reach the US Bank Arena.

Can you feel the crowd's excitement?

Two of the best pianists in the world is enough to keep all of the folks gathered buzzin'. Toss in the fact that they are also two of the world's best songwriters AND entertainers....then, just for good measure, add the fact that they are, well, Elton John and Billy Joel,

and you've got yourself a crackin' good time!

Yes, our seats are to the back of the stage but we are pretty close and can see

really well! Whoo Hoo! This is going to be great!

In front of a sold-out crowd Elton John and Billy Joel began the show together, baby grand to baby grand. The stage was just incredible, with everything set on elevators to bring the band in (and out) when they were needed, giving Elton and Billy the intimacy of only the two pianos on stage occasionally. Wow. To see them play Piano Man together was amazing. But to hear the crowd singing it A Capella was equally wonderful. They played for over three hours and 15 minutes with very little break between sets. Not bad for men their age huh? Elton is soon to be 62 and Billy turns 60 in a couple of weeks. This 52 year old lady loves that...heck, for just a little while I could have sworn I was back in 1974! Of course I weighed less and had longer hair...hmm...but that could describe Billy and Elton as well! And we can all still rock and roll right?

They started it all off with a duet of Elton's Your Song. Next up? The song we

had sung at our 1978 wedding, Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are.

Elton began his solo set with one of my favorites, Funeral for a Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding, the very song he opened with the first time I saw him in concert. That was in 1974 if you are trying to keep track! Billy Joel opened his solo set with the rousing Angry Young Man and made lots of fun wise cracks with the audience.

From what I have heard, the tickets to this show sold out in less than 20 minutes back in December and this crowd got more than it's money's worth. 36 songs in all, each one a classic.

Here is a peek at the set list from the show....

Set list: Elton John/Billy Joel: "Your Song""Honesty""Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me""Ode To Joy" "My Life" Elton John: "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding""Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting""Burn Down the Mission""Madman Across the Water""Tiny Dancer""Goodbye Yellow Brick Road""Daniel""Rocket Man""Levon""I'm Still Standing""Crocodile Rock" Billy Joel: "Prelude/Angry Young Man""Movin' Out""Allentown""Zanzibar""She's Always A Woman""Scenes from an Italian Restaurant""I Go To Extremes""River of Dreams""We Didn't Start the Fire""Be Bop A Lula" "It's Still Rock N' Roll To Me""Only the Good Die Young"Elton John/Billy Joel:"The Bitch Is Back""You May Be Right""Bennie and the Jets""Birthday" "Back in the USSR""Candle in the Wind""Piano Man"

It was a wild ride from start to finish and I am thrilled that

we had the chance to experience it all.

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q

Springsteen Saturday Night

The next several posts will be about our Saturday night with The Boss! If you wish to hear the videos below, just press the mute button on the music player. Of course, The E Street Band is wonderfully loud so it may well drown out the lovely New York Philharmonic strings anyhoo! Here is a review from Ron Rollins of the Dayton Daily:

Springsteen in Cincinnati, March 22

By Ron Rollins | Sunday, March 23, 2008, 09:56 AM

There were a couple of nice surprises at Bruce Springsteen’s US Bank Arena show Saturday night, including a version of “Lost in the Flood,” from his earliest days and which he doesn’t perform very often.

The initial reports on the show on the irritatingly complete fansite http://www.backstreets.com assessed the concert as a disappointment … judged mostly from the pacing and speed with which Bruce tore through some of the songs. One fan called the show “perfunctory.”

Maybe, but I think you’d have to be a hardest of hardcore to feel that way. The crowd was very into it, and was appreciative of Springsteen’s efforts — which, while they aren’t what they were when the guy was a bit more spry, were more than satisfying in my book.

Springsteen mixed up the set list as he’s known to do, bringing in good stuff from all through his varied career, and reminding one and all just how much material he has to choose from. From the heavy guitar clang of “Radio Nowhere,” off his newest CD, “Magic,” to the cool-as-ice, jazzy jam of the oldie “Kitty’s Back,” with tons of good stuff sandwiched in between, he and the deservedly fabled E Streeters put on a great show.

Hey! Yours truly stumbled into some tix for the Columbus show on Monday, so I’ll bring in another report.

Here, meanwhile, is the Cincy setlist, courtesy of backstreets:

Darlington County

Radio Nowhere

Lonesome Day

Gypsy Biker

Magic

Reason to Believe

Candy’s Room

Prove It All Night

She’s the One

Livin’ in the Future

The Promised Land

Be True

Lost in the Flood

Devil’s Arcade

The Rising

Last to Die

Long Walk Home

Badlands

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Glory Days

Born to Run

Dancing in the Dark

American Land

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Kitty’s Back

We had a wonderful Saturday night thanks to my brother and sis in law. On Christmas they gave us Springsteen concert tickets and a gift certificate to The Hofbrauhaus , a restaurant just over the state line into Kentucky at "Newport on the Levee". We enjoyed a delicious dinner, traditional German music and just being by ourselves for a change! It was like being 20 and on a date again! Okay, except for the bad knees and the extra weight...so it was ALMOST like being 20 again. Baby, I was "born to run"! Then it was onto the US Bank Arena to see Bruce Springsteen and the *Original * E Street Band! The crowd was the best I have ever seen at a concert. No wild partying, no drunks, no smoking. Just thousands of happy people there to hear fantastic music and see one of the greatest bands ever. Bruce is 58 years old and the guy can still do it all. Am I gushing? Super concert and a sweet night with my darlin' husband. I have lots of pictures from the rest of our Easter weekend to share. I also have some from last week...and such a busy week it was! From "Lord of the Dance" to "The Boss", it was 7 days of music, dance and good food. Happy smiles and a blissfully happy Susie Q. One for the books. I hope your weekend was a sweet one too. I will be hopping by to visit soon! Until then, stay well and be good to yourself!

Love and Hugs, Susie Q