page 8
daily nebraskan
thursday, november 17,
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Review by Casey McCabe
Entertainment Writer
A large and enthusiastic crowd was treated to an
intimate evening with the Piano Man himself, as Billy
Joel took the stage at Omaha's Music Hall Tuesday
night.
The audience soon was to become enthralled with
Joel's introspective style of music, and he received
several standing ovations during the show, capped by
three encores from the crowd who seemingly would
not let him leave the stage.
Billy Joel started in music with 12 years of class
ical piano training. Developing out of this he has
become one of the top keyboards artists in the
country, and audiences are quickly captivated by the
amazing lightning quick accuracy with which he races
over the keys of his grand piano.
His first album, Cold Spring Harbor was released
to excellent reviews, but did not move well, much of
which Joel thought was because of poor producing.
His fear of the studio ended two years later with the
recording of Piano Man, a gold album which gave him
his first hit single with the title track.
He soon developed a following, and has in no way
disappointed his fans with the succeeding albums,
Streetiife Serenade, Turnstiles and his latest effort
The Stranger.
In Joel's Omaha performance, he played a great
deal out of Ms large repertoire and seemed to focus
more on the four-year-old Piano Man L.P. than his
current album. Like much of his work, Piano Man
was highly autobiographical. Joel spent part of his
career as the piano player in a bar called "The Execu
tive Room" in downtown Los Angeles.
Photographs by Bob Pearson
Two real crowd pleasers off the album were "Cap
tain Jack" and "The Ballad of Billy the Kid." He also
shined in the sensitive "Southern Highland Falls" and
in the old time piano boogie of "Root Beer Rag."
Donning sunglasses, a cigarette, and the piano bar
mood, Joel went into "New York State of Mind," be
fore a backdrop of the famous skyline of his home
town. Along with "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," one
of his encores, the two songs are indicative of his re
cent move from California back to New York.
He appeared fairly loose at the show, and enter
tained the audience with his off-the-cuff humor and
an amusing parody of the typical rock star. Another
unexpected pleasure was the performance of band
member Richie Cannata, who accented and under
scored Joel well with his sax, organ and clarinet work.
The friendly crowd did not let his work go unnoticed
as he received his share of ovations too.
Though Joel's show seems to focus on his piano,
he also is an expert song stylist. His lyrics, though
maybe too often cynical, are thought provoking and
have' the rare ability to capture a crowd. Also working
to his advantage is the chance to headline in smaller
auditoriums, which produces a much more positive
situation than trying for the big time, which does
not lend itself to his style. Some may remember his
Lincoln appearance ,3, few years back to a sparse
crowd at Pershing Municipal Auditorium.
All in all it was a pleasant evening with a top notch
performer. Maybe Billy Joel has given up on the big
time, but he's found that even a frustrated kid from
Long Island can find happiness with a piano and a
satisfied crowd.
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