Wow! This is the first word that came to my mind as I was leaving the Arena heading home from the SOLD OUT Billy Joel show at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH. If your wanting to see a big pyro show or 50 dancers with crazy costumes then you will be at the wrong show. Now if you want to see a man walk on stage with his band, sit down at his grand piano and play Hall of Fame hits over and over for almost 3 hours then you found the Billy Joel show.
One thing about a Billy Joel show is that each show is different. What do I mean by that, well he makes each show personal for that city, by changing the setlist each night. He plays small snippets of artists from the city where he is playing. He gives the crowd a choice of songs on what they want to hear.
There was no opener, only Billy and his band. The crowd was going nuts when lights of the Arena went to a blackout and 2 spot lights lit up a grand piano with the legendary Billy Joel sitting there ready to play his heart out to everyone in the venue. Down below you can find his setlist for this show. Billy has a sense of humor as he talked about the last time he was in Cincinnati which was 2006 with this other guy as he did his best impersonation of Elton John with "Your Song" The crowd laughed as Billy talked with Elton's accent.
Later on in the set Billy asked the crowd. "The next song I am going to give you a choice on what you want to hear. The first option is Big Man On Mulberry Street." As the crowd was somewhat excited. "Or the other choice is Vienna." The crowd erupted in excitement.
Another big moment in the show was when Billy and his band did their classic hit "River Of Dreams". In the middle of the song Billy goes into another song "Hang On Sloop" as the crowd went wild doing their O-H-I-O version. The SOLD OUT crowd was almost louder than the band.
Billy ended his regular set with probably his most famous song of all time "Piano Man". The crowd sang right along with the band. It was a pretty surreal moment that a song could be so moving. As Billy left the stage he got a standing ovation as nobody left the arena wanting more of this Legend.
Billy and his band came out for an encore about 5 minutes later with a little different twist. Billy played guitar on the next song "We Didn't Start The Fire". Billy stayed out front to sing a few more classic hits like "Uptown Girl", and "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me".
What person can play a 30 song setlist, and 6 encore songs? I will answer that question Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer
Mr. Billy Joel!
1. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)
2. Pressure
3. Your Song (Elton John Cover - Snippet)
4. Everybody Loves You Now
5. A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Procol Harum Cover - Snippet)
6. Vienna
7. Zanzibar
8. Say Goodbye To Hollywood
9. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
10. Funk 49 (James Gang Cover - Snippet)
11. Happy Trails (Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Cover - Snippet)
12. Everybody Love Somebody (Dean Martin Cover - Snippet)
13. New York State Of Mind
14. The Entertainer
15. Where's The Orchestra?
16. Allentown
17. She's Always A Woman
18. My Life
19. Sometimes A Fantasy
20. Don't Ask Me Why
21. River Of Dreams
22. Hang on Sloopy (Wes Farrell & Bert Russell Cover Snippet)
(O-H-I-O Version)
23. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
24. Piano Man
Encore
25. We Didn't Start The Fire
26. Uptown Girl
27. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
28. Big Shot
29. You May Be Right / Rock And Roll
30. Only The Good Die Young