Word: joel
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Even during the few slower numbers that Joel interspersed throughout the performance, he managed to maintain the emotionally charged energy of the rest of the show. "Lullaby," off the new album, seems destined to be a classic, and the choice to segue directly from the slower moving ballad to his new single, "A River of Dreams," enabled him to get the crowd swaying to its compulsive beat without loss of momentum...
Unfortunately, Joel could not continue this level of performance indefinitely. After a frantic version of "Pressure," which left the crowd frenetic, Joel seemed to run out of steam temporarily. He wandered into another song from the new album, "Shades of Grey." Joel seemed to realize that the slower song did not quite fit into the act, and even apologized at length for playing the unfamiliar song so early in the tour...
...follow-up songs--"Downeaster Alexis," one of the better tracks off the Storm Front album, and "Shameless," one of the worst--were similarly uninspired. Not that Joel didn't try. During the latter, he featured his guitar player in a long solo, while he himself sang much of the song in a dramatic duet with his vocalist. But the showmanship which had otherwise served to enhance the music could do nothing to salvage these lacksadaisical performances...
...Joel did eventually come back as if recharged by the music itself and took the audience up to new heights. The latter half of the show featured Joel at his classic best. In an amazingly heartfelt "Goodnight Saigon," Joel recaptured his previous energy. (And when, due to a technical glitch, Joel's piano failed to rise from the pit onto the stage, he simply jumped down and played from below...
However, the best moments of the concert all came at the end. Taking out his sunglasses and strutting around for an incredibly soulful rendition of "An Innocent Man," Joel played the crowd for all he was worth. From there on, he seemed as if a man possessed, and blazed through "You May Be Right," "Only the Good Die Young," and "Big Shot...