Cleveland was packed with excitement Friday night! The Guardians night game, Nicki Minaj at Rocket Mortgage Field House, and the first-ever co-headlining concert with Rod Stewart and Billy Joel at the newly-renamed Huntington Bank Field were just some of the events taking place in the city.
Finding parking downtown was quite the challenge, but once parked, it was well worth the hassle! The scale of these stadium concerts is incredible—with massive stages, gigantic video screens, and an excellent sound system, they filled the stadium with clarity and high energy despite its size.
The show started right on time at 7:00 PM, with Rod Stewart taking the stage first. Stewart has always been an excellent showman and, even in his senior years (not giving away his age), remains an excellent performer. His production was impressively complex and featured a large ensemble on stage, including dancers and singers (some of who have Broadway backgrounds) and a full band including saxophone, guitar, bass guitar (electric and stand-up), violins, harp, set drums, percussionist, keyboard, vibes (on “Maggy May”) and several background vocalists.
During Stewart’s extravagant costume changes, the background vocalists took the spotlight, leading the audience in a sing-along with fan favorites. Stewart would introduce performers throughout the evening as they were featured. It was a well-choreographed production as they moved seamlessly across the expansive stage.
Stewart’s set included many of his famous hits and many covers that are oft-confused as Stewart originals. Some of Rod’s songs performed included “Forever Young” (including an Irish jig from the backup singers), “Tonight’s the Night,” “Young Turks,” and, of course, “Maggie May.” All were performed as the more extended, more complex concert versions of the original recordings, and all of them had most of the 45,000 fans singing with them. “Maggie May,” in particular, featured violin, vibes, and mandolin. Stewart also covered several songs, including Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut is the Deepest” (which featured a solo violin and solo harp), and Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately.”
Stewart had several costume changes during the show, including one with the colors of the Ukrainian Flag to which he dedicated the song “Rhythm of My Heart” to the citizens of Ukraine. Another dedication to Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie was the cover of her song “I’d Rather Go Blind.” During costume changes, the backup vocalists covered an excellent version of The Pointer Sisters'”I’m So Excited” and The Eleventh Hour’s “Lady Marmalade.” In addition, a few excellent Sax solos were performed, including a cover of The Persuaders’ “Some Guys Have All The Luck.” Stewart closed his set with “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.” (This wasn’t the last we would see of Rod! He reprised himself during Billy Joel’s set.)
Billy Joel took the stage promptly at 9:00 PM, launching into his nearly 2 ½ hour, 24-song set-list with “Movin’ Out.” His performance primarily featured his classic hits, with a few snippets of covers mixed in. The crowd was fully engaged, with nearly everyone in the stadium singing along to his songs, knowing both the music and the lyrics by heart.
Joel was methodical throughout the show, taking time to connect with the audience by sharing stories of his career and commenting on specific songs. Early on, he took the time to show all eight awards that his production team had earned for their work on the CBS 100th Madison Square Garden show, highlighting awards in lighting, video, and sound.
Later, he stepped away from the piano and stood to sing “Innocent Man.” He introduced the song, explaining that he did not expect to be able to perform the song after his 30s, let alone today, because of the higher voice register required. He jokingly asked the audience to excuse him if he messed it up. (NOT the exact word he used!) But as he was ready to begin, his lead guitarist started playing Keith Richard’s opening riff to the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up.” Joel sang a snippet from that song but admitted he was no Mick Jagger. As he performed “Innocent Man,” most of the 45,000 fans helped him with the high notes, which Joel did appear to hit (I just listened to the iPhone video I shot to confirm!)
Stewart came out with some of his dancers to perform his hit song, “Stay With Me,” with Joel joining in the fun, too. This was especially moving since these two mega stars have no history of performing together. This show, in Cleveland, was the first time. Joel then moved into a medley of old songs covering songs like Solomon Linda’s “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and The Regents’ “Barbara Ann.” Many of Joel’s musicians, including saxophonist Mark Rivera and the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Crystal Taliefero, stepped up to the mics for this a capella set. All the singers lined up at the front of the stage for this performance.
Back to Joel’s original music with “The Longest Time,” featuring a switch to jazz (including a solo by Carl Fischer on flugelhorn) and later in the same song, a trumpet solo by Fischer as well. Fischer re-appears soloing on more songs later.
Later, during Rivera’s saxophone solo in “New York State of Mind,” he also walked out to the stage front. Rivera performs another solo on “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.” Taleifero performed harmony with Joel in “The River of Dreams” while playing percussion. She returns to sing solo the Tina Turner cover “River Deep Mountain High.” Mike DelGuidice stepped away from his guitars and keyboard to perform a magnificent a capella, in Italian of “Nessun Dorma” (Giacomo Puccini cover). In the final song of the main set, just before the encore, Joel straps on his harmonica and performs “Piano Man.” Almost everyone was out of their seats, singing with Billy and illuminating their cell phone flashlights, which was a beautiful sight to see at this very large venue.
The encore featured five more hits; “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “Uptown Girl,” “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” “Big Shot,” and “You May Be Right,” with fans still dancing and singing along.
After the final song, the musicians waved to the audience as they left the stage. Joel lingered on stage for what seemed like several minutes looking out onto a standing ovation. Although he looked tired, he also seemed a bit melancholy and emotional as if he was having difficulty saying goodbye and leaving the stage. He looked moved by it all. I wondered, since he retired from the Madison Square Garden shows (100 of them) that he may have been thinking this would be his last visit to Cleveland. (We hope not!)
The stage was as expected for a stadium show: quite massive, and behind it were five equally gigantic video screens, ensuring that everyone had a great view of what appeared to many as tiny people on stage. The video screens also had images and video of thematic pieces like of Joel’s “It’s Just Rock and Roll to Me” video clips from 40 years ago in his all-red suite. Also, several of the same live video of a side view closeup of his hands on the keyboard.
The performers, especially during Stewart’s set, moved all over the vast stage, and the lighting was coordinated almost flawlessly with all the constant motion. As mentioned, the audio was amazingly clear for a venue of this size. When both Stewart and Joel talk to the audience, it is very easy for them to understand. I am fortunate enough to have seen many bands for decades, and years ago, this was not the case. You pretty much did not understand a word they said back then, so I, for one, really appreciate the hard work that goes into setting up these large venues to create this amazing result.
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