Billy Joel returned to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Saturday, February 22, to play his first show at the venue since he mounted a 10-concert residency there in 2008. The event also was the Piano Man’s first full public performance in the state since the residency.
Joel and his talented backing band delivered an inspired 20-plus-song set packed with many of the Piano Man’s enduring hits.
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The show also included a few fan favorites and some interludes features segments of classic tunes by other artists.
Joel immediately got the crowd grooving with a version of his 1977 Top-20 hit “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song).” He then launched into another Top-20 single, his dramatic 1982 tune “Pressure.”
[RELATED: Billy Joel Teams Up with Stevie Nicks for One Night Only in New Orleans]
After “Pressure,” Billy addressed the audience, mentioning the 10-show stand he played at the arena in 2008. He then joked that he had “good news” and “bad news.” Starting with the bad news, Joel said, “We don’t have much new to play, so it’s the same old s—.” The good news, he quipped, was that fans didn’t have to listen to any “new s—.”
Joel also joked about the show’s “special effects,” noting that his piano rotated to face different ways at different times during the concert.
“[The piano] goes this way. The piano goes that way,” he declared. “Big f—ing deal!”
Joel proceeded to play “Vienna,” a non-hit from the 1977 album The Stranger that’s become a fan fave. Next up was one of Billy’s early hits, “The Entertainer,” from his 1974 album Streetlife Serenade.
Joel and the band then kicked into the first of several cover tunes played during the evening, a snippet of The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up.”
Joel Proves He Can Still Hit the High Notes
The 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer then introduced the title track of his 1983 album An Innocent Man. The song, which is an homage to doo-wop artists like Ben E. King and The Drifters, features a few extremely high vocal notes. Billy teased the audience about, at his age, possibly no longer being able to reach those notes. The crowd needn’t have worried though, because Joel nailed the notes with seeming ease.
“Zanzibar,” a jazzy gem from Billy’s 1978 album 52nd Street, was next, highlighted by a trumpet solo by Carl Fischer. That was followed by Joel’s anthemic 1990 homage to Long Island fisherman, “The Downeaster ‘Alexa’,” and his 1982 hit “Allentown,” a song that focuses on the troubles of Pennsylvania’s coal and steel workers.
Joel moved on to his classic 1976 ballad “New York State of Mind,” which featured a soulful solo by Billy’s longtime sax player Mark Rivera.
Joel’s Band Members Showcase Their Talents
Joel took a short break, letting guitarist/backing vocalist Mike DelGuidice to step into the spotlight.
DelGuidice proved to have some impressive vocal pipes, belting out a rocking cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.”
Later in the show, DelGuidice wowed the crowd when he sang the Puccini aria “Nessun Dorma” leading into a rendition of Joel’s classic 1977 tune “Scenes from a Italian Restaurant.”
Another Joel band member who got to show off their vocal skills was multi-instrumentalist Crystal Taliefero.
In the middle of a version of Joel’s gospel/doo-wop-inspired 1993 hit “The River of Dreams,” the band kicked into the 1966 Ike & Tina Turner soul classic “River Deep, Mountain High.” Taliefero raised the roof with her powerhouse vocal chops.
Besides her vocal talents, Taliefero also plays percussion, saxophone, and guitar in Joel’s backing band.
Back to Billy
After his brief break, Joel returned to stage and sang his 1978 pop smash “My Life,” from 52nd Street.
Billy noted that he sometimes liked to go off script, and began playing a version of Elton John’s “Your Song.” He then stopped a joked about the absurdity of the extremely wealthy Elton singing the lyric “don’t have much money.”
A rendition of Joel’s 1978 hit “Only the Good Die Young” gave Rivera another chance to delver a memorable sax solo. Billy followed that tune with his 1980 New Wave-influenced gem “Sometimes a Fantasy.”
Joel Winds Down the Concert with a Hit-Packed Encore
“Sometimes a Fantasy” was followed by the aforementioned versions of “The River of Dreams,” “Nessun Dorma,” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.”
Joel wrapped up the regular portion of the concert with a version his signature song and first hit, “Piano Man,” that had the whole crowd singing along.
Billy returned to the stage with an electric guitar for the show’s encore. The five-song finale began with his 1989 chart-topping earworm “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” An accompanying video featured a frenetic montage with film clips coinciding with all of the tune’s lyrics.
Joel then sang “Uptown Girl, his 1983 hit homage to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Next was a rendition of Billy’s first No. 1 hit, “It’s Still Rock and Roll” (1980), during which Joel demonstrated his skill at twirling a microphone stand.
A version of the 1978 classic “Big Shot” led into the concert’s final tune, Joel’s beloved 1980 rocker “You May Be Right.” During the song, DelGuidice got another chance to display his vocal talents, as the band launched into an abbreviated rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” before returning to “You May Be Right” to end the show.
Amazingly, Joel’s two-hour-plus set didn’t include several of his big hits, although no one seemed to be complaining.
Joels’ Upcoming 2025 Tour Plans
Joel’s has 16 upcoming shows on his 2025 tour schedule. His next concert is a headlining gig that takes place March 15 in Toronto, Canada.
Many of Billy’s shows are joint performances with either Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, or Sting. His itinerary is mapped out through a November 1 concert in Hollywood, Florida.
Billy Joel Set List, Uncasville, CT, Mohegan Sun Arena, 2/22/2025:
- “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”
- “Pressure”
- “Vienna”
- “The Entertainer”
- “Start Me Up” (Rolling Stones cover) (Snippet)
- “An Innocent Man”
- “Zanzibar”
- “The Downeaster ‘Alexa’”
- “Allentown”
- “New York State of Mind”
- “Whole Lotta Love” (Led Zeppelin cover) (sung by Mike DelGuidice)
- “My Life”
- “Your Song” (Elton John cover) (Snippet)
- “Only the Good Die Young”
- “Sometimes a Fantasy”
- “Amazing Grace” (cover) (Snippet)
- “The River of Dreams” (with Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep Mountain High” interlude sung by Crystal Taliefero)
- “Nessun Dorma” (Giacomo Puccini cover) (sung by Mike DelGuidice)
- “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”
- “Piano Man”
Encore:
- “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
- “Uptown Girl”
- “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”
- “Big Shot”
- “You May Be Right” (with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” interlude sung by Mike DelGuidice)
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