Nov. 30, 1977 review: Billy Joel in the Aud concert bowl

 


Not every bright idea works when it comes to staging a concert, but this one was wildly successful. Promoters wound up using this large, but surprisingly intimate set-up for many a future show. 

Nov. 30, 1977 

Dynamic Joel in a Perfect Setting 

          Billy Joel became the first entertainer to try out the shortened concert-bowl version of Memorial Auditorium Tuesday night and it turned out to be a perfect fit. It fit so well he wound up taking four encores.

          In seating for 9,200, there sat maybe 5,500 middle-class high school and college kids who dig Joel’s East Coast suburban brand of thoughtful discontent. That’s more than twice as many as can squeeze into the Century Theater, where Joel originally was scheduled.

          For anyone accustomed to the vastness of the Aud, the curtained-off arrangement (actually, tall dark-blue cloth screen panels were used) was a pleasant surprise.

          The stage stood just south of center, close enough to see Joel’s pranks at the piano, but not close enough to see him sweat. The sound system, hoisted to the level of the light grid above the stage, produced only slightly more echo that it would have in the Century.

          It worked great for Joel. The singer-songwriter from Long Island went on without an opener and come off without a break. Enthused by the size of the crowd and the fact that he had the next day off, he condensed a childhood of piano lessons into more than two hours of breakneck technique on the keys.

          Joel, dressed like a junior executive in a light blue suit and tie, danced around Rocky-style between numbers, giving little triumphant punches in the air. He shook hands with the people down front, led them on an unexpected singalong in “Captain Jack” and accepted two bouquets and a drink from a bottle.

          When he wasn’t imitating Sylvester Stallone, he’d try a bit of comedian Steve Martin (“We’ll get to that,” he told a catcaller. “This show is all planned for maximum effect.”). To tease, he started up Randy Newman’s “Short People.”

          He made clippity-clop sounds to introduce “Billy the Kid.” For “New York State of Mind,” he donned sunglasses and sang in Ray Charles’ style.

          The concert underscored what an incredible collection of fine tunes Joel has written over the past five years. It seemed like he trotted out all of them, from “Piano Man” onward.

          They alternated between wordy, alienated rockers like “Movin’ Out” and tender, understanding ballads such as his new hit single, “Just the Way You Are.”

          The rockers generally went twice as fast as the recorded versions. Joel and his backup quartet sprinted through things like “Travelin’ Prayer” and the Brenda & Eddie section of “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.”

          Complimenting Joel’s flash was second keyboard man Richie Cannata, who also executed several stunning solos on baritone sax. All in all, Joel in the concert bowl was ideal. More performers ought to be served up that way.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Billy Joel in Nassau Coliseum Dec. 11, 1977.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Billy Joel had recorded his fifth album, “The Stranger,” with his touring band over the course of just three weeks that summer, using Paul Simon’s producer Phil Ramone. Released at the end of September, it already was taking off like a rocket. It eventually would go 11 times Platinum, surpassing Columbia’s previous best-seller, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

          So no surprise that Joel’s date had to be moved to a larger venue. But where? Buffalo had no middle ground between the 3,000-seat concert halls and the arenas. Sectioning off the Aud, in retrospect, was a brilliant solution to the problem.

          Joel’s band was the crew from the album – Richie Cannata on sax, Doug Stegmeyer on bass and Liberty DeVitto on drums. Amazingly, there’s no song history for this date on setlist.fm. Here’s what he did less than two weeks later in Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, though he only played two encore songs that night.

          The Stranger

          Somewhere Along the Line

          Summer, Highland Falls

          Piano Man

          Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

          Travelin’ Prayer

          Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)

          Still Crazy After All These Years (Paul Simon cover)

          Just the Way You Are

          Prelude/Angry Young Man

          New York State of Mind

          The Entertainer

          Vienna

          Root Beer Rag (instrumental)

          She’s Always a Woman

          I’ve Loved These Days

          Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)

          The Ballad of Billy the Kid

          Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

          Captain Jack

          Say Goodbye to Hollywood

          Only the Good Die Young

          (encore)

          Get It Right the First Time

          Souvenir

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