Elton John And Billy Joel Entertain Seattle

There are certain concerts that once you see, you never forget. Last night we saw Billy Joel and Elton John perform at the Seattle Center. We originally had tickets to see them last November, however Elton came down with the flu and cancelled at the last minute. These two giants of rock have recorded enough material to perform into the wee hours of the morning and they almost did. Although the two piano players meshedwell as they played together, both at the beginning of the show and the later encore, their solo acts were a contrast. John apologized for cancelling the first performance, but rarely addressed the audience. When he did, it was very formal. He stayed for the most part at his piano without the stage antics that he was known for early in his career.

Billy Joel on the other hand, showed a little New York spice, making barbs about some of his previous Seattle venues (the Tacoma Dome and the now defunct Fresh Air Tavern), he freely spoke to the crowd and turned his piano to each side. He shocked the crowd with a raucus version of Seattle icon Jimi Hendix's classic "Purple Haze". He also introduced his band. Elton did not.

To wet our appetites for the performance, we watched Elton John perform with Lady Gaga on TV last Sunday on the Grammy Awards.