The Piano Man sings us a song, talks up a storm

Brookline, MA He is known to millions of fans around the world as a multi-talented singer and pianist, writer of more than 200 songs and producer of more than 10 albums. But for last night's Irvine Auditorium audience, Billy Joel will always be remembered as the Entertainer. With his trademark New York accent, Joel joked and sang his way through three hours and 25 minutes of intimacy with 1,800 lucky fans. While the evening was billed as a lecture, rather than a concert, Joel delighted the audience with renditions of his familiar classics. He even introduced the beginnings of a new song he is in the process of composing. He likened the experience to observing the birth and growth of a child. "My way of writing is that the music always comes first," he explained, adding that the idea behind "River of Dreams" actually came to him in a dream -- which he expanded upon in the shower. "We do this alchemy with noise," he said. "It happens somewhere between the head and the groin." He added that moments of genius often come from genuine mistakes. "Only you can screw up in your own unique, individual way," he said. Joel played selections from each of his 14 albums, while also showing the crowd that he has not lost his sense of humor after 25 years in the music business. He joked about everything from his ex-wives, to his first gig in a piano bar, to his most embarrassing moment onstage. "My pants ripped -- and I wasn't wearing any underwear," he explained to a roaring crowd. And to open the show, Joel was dragged onstage in imitation of the heart attack he supposedly suffered on March 26, as reported in The Daily Pennsylvanian's annual joke issue. All joking aside, though, the highlight of the evening -- at least gauging by the audience response -- was when Joel performed his own work. In response to the question, "How has your music changed over your career?", Joel played songs from most of his albums, beginning with 1971's Cold Spring Harbor and ending with 1993's River of Dreams -- an unprecedented medley, he told the crowd. The emotion and power of his songs reminded everyone why Joel has sold millions of records worldwide and won six Grammy awards. After singing part of "Allentown," he referred to 1982's The Nylon Curtain as a "transitional" album, and the one he is most proud of. His rendition of 1986's "This is the Time" brought cheers from the crowd -- as did the performance of "And So it Goes," off of 1989's Storm Front. Joel's performance was not limited to songs from his own albums, however. He played selections ranging from a Gilbert and Sullivan opera in which his parents had met as college actors to the first piece he ever played on the piano at age four. Joel accepted many questions from the crowd, including a request from Media, Pa., resident Mike Krissinger. Krissinger told Joel that it had always been his dream to play the Beatles' "Oh, Darling" with the singer -- who then invited the awestruck fan onstage to play with him. Following Krissinger's lead, College junior Jonathan Zucker requested to play and sing onstage with Joel -- much to the crowd's chagrin, who seemed amused by Zucker's attempts to compete with Joel's vocals. But when University of Connecticut freshman Joe Giacometti played "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" with Joel, the audience greeted Giacometti's efforts on the piano with a standing ovation. The evening had its somber moments too -- such as when Joel alluded to suicidal thoughts as a young adult, when he wrote 1971's "Tomorrow is Today." And on another more serious note, Joel reminded the crowd to "try to do what you love -- or else you're wasting a lot of time." To conclude the evening of "Questions and Answers? and a little bit of music," Joel played "Piano Man" -- harmonica and all -- perhaps his best-known song. It was not nine o'clock, and it wasn't a Saturday, but the time will be remembered as a night for many to hold onto for many years to come.

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