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Billy Joel wows Cardiff with timeless hits and new song

Pirineus
Billy Joel wows Cardiff with timeless hits and new song

As I wandered the bucolic streets of Cardiff on a bright, sunny Friday, the city was packed with people drinking in bars and dining al fresco, with almost every restaurant speaker playing Billy Joel on repeat.

The Welsh capital was transformed into a huge community in recognition of the 75-year-old music legend, who was set to perform in front of almost 75,000 fans at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium that night, his first concert in the country.

I can’t pinpoint exactly when I first knew I was a Billy Joel fan, because his music has been in the ether for my entire life — nearly 40 years. But when he released his latest song, “Turn the Lights Back On,” in February, I was amazed at its longevity and captivated by the song’s message, which asks: Can anyone really keep the flame alive for so many years?

When I found out he’d be playing in Cardiff this month, fresh off the completion of his historic residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden, it didn’t take long to convince my friend Maayan Hoffman to be my partner in crime. This trip was planned weeks in advance and the anticipation grew as the days went by.

When news broke of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, we both shared our concerns that what we had been waiting for for months could go up in smoke because one of the country’s most hated enemies had met his demise. So when we boarded the plane from Israel, we were uncertain whether we would be able to return due to an imminent Iranian attack.

Billy Joel performs after receiving an award at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Centennial Awards in New York, November 17, 2014. (Credit: REUTERS/LUCAS JACKSON)

All of that was temporarily forgotten as Joel, the supreme entertainer, regaled the ecstatic crowd. The audience was multigenerational; it was common to see grandparents, parents and their children singing along to every word of songs like “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” “Only the Good Die Young” and “Big Shot.”

Joel is, of course, known for his hits that have stood the test of time. Who hasn’t screamed the lyrics to “Piano Man” after perhaps having a few too many drinks at a bar late at night?

It’s become clear, however, that much of their catalog is built on unexpected hits; songs that didn’t get much airplay when they were released but are now fully enshrined in the Great American Songbook.

“That song only became a hit in the last two years or so,” Joel said with a modest shrug as he introduced his 1977 song “Vienna.”

The crowd erupted in applause as the first few chords of the previously little-known track from their monster album The Stranger became an iconic song. It made me wonder how many artists are able to release music five decades ago, only for many of the songs to be newly discovered and loved by millennials and Gen Zees to the point where it is now their third most-streamed song on Spotify, garnering over 450 million streams on that platform alone.

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ANOTHER AMAZING accomplishment is how Joel has managed to remain relevant despite having released only one new song since 1993. At 75, he may not be able to move around the stage like he did when he was dressed as a younger man, but his clear, soulful voice filled every corner of that arena, as you would expect from an artist in the prime of his life.

In Cardiff, Joel didn’t invite a mega-celebrity on stage, as he is known to do at many of his Madison Square Garden shows. Instead, he brought a very special guest, his eight-year-old daughter, Della Joel. The way they sang “My Life” made it clear that Joel’s legacy will live on through his children.

“I guess it’s her life now,” he joked as his daughter walked off stage with a confident stride after impressively belting out many of her father’s hits.

Despite the accolades, accomplishments, and sold-out arenas, perhaps the most impressive aspect of Joel’s career is how he manages to make people feel. It’s nearly impossible to be unhappy while listening to his music, even the songs that are specifically about depression and life’s disappointments.

In such turbulent times, when even a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna is canceled due to the threat of an imminent ISIS terrorist attack, these moments of pure communal joy cannot and should not be taken for granted.

ONE THING we probably didn’t have in common with the other attendees, other than the other Israelis who flew in especially for the show, was our post-concert concerns.

How many have thought they might be trapped in Cardiff? How many have wondered if their families would be safe if rockets fell on their hometown while they sang and danced to these beautiful songs?

Unfortunately, this is something unique to Israelis, where every life decision is planned with the caveat that the event may not happen because the country is in a state of war and that this is a sacrifice we have been asked to make until Hamas surrenders.

As we continue to wait for Iran to “do its part,” I am grateful to have had the experience of a lifetime and that we are a nation strong enough to withstand our lifetime’s planning around terrorism.

Billy’s Final Words

As for Joel, in “The Entertainer,” he sings, “Today I’m your champion, I may have won your hearts, but I know the game, you’ll forget my name, and I won’t be here in another year, if I don’t stay on the charts.”

While most of his songs have been prophetic, how lucky are we that this one wasn’t? Even though he hasn’t been on the charts in decades, we still clamor for him as if he were at the height of his career.

This means he is much more than an artist. He is a legend.



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