Bottle of Red Bottle of White

By the time I leave the world I hope to see all the artists who made it richer. Hard to believe I had yet to see Billy Joel in concert as he was/has been omnipresent in the soundtrack to my life.

My neighborhood friend Lenore happened to have two tickets and invited me to go. So on Saturday night we yapped and yapped our way to the Intuit Dome, so much so we didn’t realize Waze was taking us in the exact opposite direction (my previous night’s Waze destination in Oxnard) until we were on the 101 N. Ooops. Oh well. This calls for more yapping.

She told me our seats were behind “The Wall,” although she didn’t know what “The Wall” was but in my mind it couldn’t be good. Who wants to sit behind anything at a concert?             

I told her how my friend Aileen doesn’t pay any mind to the row and seat number on her ticket. She helps herself to an empty seat of her choice and if she’s asked to move she finds to another. Chutzpah. I can’t do that. But I don’t mind if I do it with Aileen. Here’s how close she got us to Mick.

Our seats were indeed behind a huge screen-like scrim and if you squinted you could see what looked like a piano down below. Did someone say nose bleed?

That said I was going to have a good time no matter what. I had a gummy in my purse. I was with a super fun gal. But it wasn’t Ok with Lenore. She had a clever idea. She would check the venue site and see what seats were still available. If they hadn’t sold by now they (probably) wouldn’t. I like it!

Now, as much of a go-getter as you might think I am I get nervous doing stuff like that. When you’re a kid it’s no big deal. But when you’re adulting it’s pretty embarrassing if you get caught. But I was like … Let’s go!

We departed The Wall and scurried down A LOT of steps], then circled the arena in pursuit of a section called “The Club,” balancing our beer and pop corn. The signs in the Intuit are (no pun not intended) not very intuitive. After much scurrying I suggested it felt like we’d circled the entire arena. Then we looked up and saw a sign for The Wall and we realized we had. Full circle. Much laughing ensued. Spillage of beer. Laverne and Shirley except we were … Lenore and Shelly.

But we eventually arrived at “our” extremely favorably-located EMPTY seats. Better (IMO) than floor seats where everything is level and everyone stands and dances throughout a whole show.

Down we sat. If we got caught and asked to show our tickets we could either say our phones died (both of them) 🤓 or that “There were people in our seats and they wouldn’t move. So instead of causing a scene, we came down here.”

We chose the latter. No usher would venture to go all the way up into nose bleeds BEHIND THE WALL to check our story. Nobody is working that hard these days.

By song #3 nobody we hadn’t been busted so we figured we were in the clear. I ate my gummy and relaxed.

Just in time.

Here’s Billy.

Billy can play the piano upside upside down with his eyes closed. He’s been doing it for so long. It’s his happy place. It’s like being in his oversized filled-to-the-rafters living room.

He’s surrounded by cream-of-the-crop players and singers. Most of them do both. He performs from a revolving (not constantly) disc on the stage so we take turns seeing his face.

He announces he won’t be playing any new stuff (cuz there isn’t any … except that one lovely-enough - “Turn the Lights Back On” - but he doesn’t play that) cuz he knows we don’t want to hear new stuff. It’s never as good. We cheer at this news. He’ll have us feeling alright in no time.

All my favorite artists from my past trigger different memories and emotions. Todd taps into crushes. High school. First kisses. Kisses I wish I got, etc. Billy doesn’t do that for me. He pulls me into the tapestry of his life. His world with unforgettable stories. I don’t get sentimental … just nostalgic. Perhaps it’s our Long Island connection.

And being a songwriter, l can’t help but revel in the level of his craft, the fluency and abundance. He’s still hitting the high notes although he tells us before embarking on “Innocent Man” that he might not just to save face in case he doesn’t. But he does.

It’s a testament to Billy’s body of work that he plays so much material and still doesn’t get to classics like “Just The Way You Are,” “These Days,” “She’s Always a Woman.” But he does give us “Allentown,” “Vienna,” “Uptown Girl,” “New York State of Mind,” “Say Good-bye to Hollywood” and 26 MORE Songs!

John Mayer comes out for “This is the Time.” What a treat. And then Axl Rose spells us with “Live and Let Die.” The house is electrified. Horn player and back-up singer Crystal Taliefero steps away from her horn and mic to give us “River Deep Mountain High.”

But there’s one ‘bonus’ performance that absolutely takes my breath away. Billy’s guitar player Mike DelGuidice slips into "Nessun Dorma" the aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot.

I literally stop breathing.

I want to film it to share with you but I am so verklempt I can’t. But someone else did. How does sound like that come out of a human?

The day after the concert I research all the different versions of “Nessus Dorma” I can find. Then I get in my car, put down the top and drive the curves of Mulholland blasting the different versions one after the other, the dark sky and white stars above me. Pavarotti, Bocelli, Aretha Franklin, Sarah Brightman, Jeff Beck! (I skip Michael Bolton, can you blame me?) That melody (yes, melody, where has melody gone?) moves me to tears even though I’m happy. It’s the most powerful painfully passionate piece of music I have ever heard. I am obsessed.

But with all the versions, Pavarotti included, I love Mike’s the most. I love that it caught me off guard and swept my heart away. Isn’t that what music is supposed to do?

The night was worth every penny we didn't pay for those seats. 😳

There’s a common thread in all the women in my life: they are game … always up for a challenge. An adventure. In pursuit of hilarity. It’s good for the soul.

And our souls needed this night — Billy helped us forget about life for a while. Cuz there’s a lot of chaos in the Universe right now and if you’re human you’re feeling it.

I’ve been to taking stock and surrounding myself with things that bring me joy be it music, friends, places, food, mediations in cathedrals of my own. Because if things don’t go the way I believe they should I have backup — a treasure trove of love and goodness.

Thank you Billy and friends, and Lenore for this superb night out.

Next week, Joni.

Thanks for staying with me. You can subscribe to my blog here. Get a signed CD or a copy of “Confessions of a Serial Songwriter.” And here’s My Serial Songwriter Facebook Page! I’m just not that into X 💋

PS … The Clams (CherryStone, Steamer and Clams Casino) will be having a reunion concert like we do every 4 years the night before the election. We call ourselves the “Clams” because of all the mistakes I make. 😊 If you want a pick-me-up on the eve of another nail-biting election join us. I’ll be live streaming on my Facebook page from my Laurel Canyon driveway at 6:30PT