Dead Elephant Centre Stage


Ever since suffering the minor trauma of having Billy Joel cancel on me at Wembley, and then a mere two days later, him informing the world's entertainment media that he would retire from the live circuit I was sure that my chances of seeing him in concert were little better than my chances of seeing Elvis. So when in 2006 he decided to brush the cobwebs from the Steinway and head out on the road again all I had to do was wait my turn but of course I didn't forgo the opportunity to chant "liar, liar" quietly to my self in response to him leaving me feeling so jilted and bitter all those years ago.


The location was the American Airlines Centre, Dallas and the stage was set; and as had become the feature of this tour, the stage opened up before us and Billy Joel, hammering out the lightening staccato introduction to Angry Young Man rose majestically, and with a good deal of aplomb, from the bowels to be greeted by rapturous applause and a startling amount of standing considering the average age of the crowd. On the subject of standing, I was soon to learn that this was a past time rather frowned upon in the nose bleed seats, whose occupants bore steely glares into the backs of undesirable "standers" and they proceeded to carry on with haughty airs despite knowing few, if any, of the words.


With the examples set by the plethora of other aging stars doing the re-rounds at present I was under no misapprehension as to the energy level that would be present and as predicted it was not the brake failed rollacoaster that it once may have been but instead the energy levels merely built into a slow crescendo like thunder grumbling and rolling in the distance; in fact for the first twenty minutes the tottering and groaning piano stool was less of a spring for him to bounce around on but more an oppressed little crutch that appeared to be a perpetual appendage; but ultimately this didn't truly matter as, at the end of the day, it was Billy Joel in person doing the stuff that millions have loved for years. The operative statement here is that the enjoyable music was the music that people knew and loved while disappointingly the one unloved item was the sole new creation-the dead elephant; a huge invisible carcass, hogging the limelight and creating an awkward sensation that everyone experiences yet of which few speak. This animal even has top billing on i-Tunes and is called Christmas In Fallujah.

Christmas in Fallujah is Joel's anti Iraq war song which superficially seems like a safe bet considering the ever growing populist movement opposed to Iraq but it is really carried off in the most crass manner. It contains non of the subtle lyricism of Elton John's "Daniel" (Vietnam), instead it is built in very square verses and full of clunky, preschool rhyme.
Equally it contains non of the tongue in cheek humour of Dylan's "Talkin' John Birch blues" (McCarthyism), rather it comes across as an in-eloquent rant; this feeling is in no way diminished by the performance and gravelly vocals of Cass Dillon, the American Idol contestant sound alike, charged with singing this song. The only bit of rest bite was when, at the song's end, it was met with a smattering of gentle booing; a rather taboo response to a badly handled taboo subject. Suffice to say the momentum of the show, which already had struggled to get off the ground, was stinted for a number of songs and was only regained as the show neared its close.

Ultimately it was a crowd pleasing performance full of classic tunes delivered in a professional manner which captivated the attention-an affair ultimately marred by a death at the elephants' tea party.