Fan report by Stephan Heimbecher.

I still remember July 8, 1994 when I saw my first Elton/Billy "Face 2 Face" show at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Back then the show concept was fresh, new and exciting. Today, almost 15 years later, the concept is basically still the same ... and so was the set list.

The show began with the "Aida" music during which the two pianos were lifted up from underneath the stage, which still is a magic moment that always gets an enthusiastic reaction from the crowd. Then Billy marched onto the stage to an American military march, followed by Elton who did the same accompanied by British military march music. Same as back in 1994.

The two piano men then launched into "Your Song" with Billy - wearing a suit and a tie - singing the first verse. When Elton started to sing, the accoustic feedback from his microphone almost smashed my eardrum. This technical problem didn't get fixed almost until the end of Elton's set.

But it weren't only the technical glitches that made this concert special. One could easily tell that this was the first night of the "Face 2 Face" tour, as the second song, "Honesty", was completely off-beat. The timing between Elton's and Billy's piano playing simply didn't exist so that they completely ruined this wonderful song - at least for me. I say back to rehearsals, guys!

What I liked was the new very open stage design with the two bands being mixed together instead of being seperated on the two sides of the stage. Above the stage is kind of a screen banner and some more screen elements are integrated into the stage, i.e. they are in between the musicians on stage.

Both Elton and Billy didn't talk that much on stage. Just a brief "Good evening, Jacksonville" (Elton) and "Hey, Jacksonville" (Billy) before they were joined on stage by their band members. Elton stated at the beginning of his set that "it is great to be on the road with Billy again". And during "Rocket Man", he improvised a little bit and sang "J-A-C-K-S-O-N-V-I-L-L-E". From that point on I only listened to the rest of the show from the outside corridor as my daughter Amy (5), who attended her first ever Elton/Billy concert this night, couldn't stand the loudness any longer. And it was really extremely loud - at least on the nosebleed seats that we were in.

What I had seen so far was a brilliant light show during Elton's set, which ended with the whole arena singing the "lalala" part of "Crocodile Rock". The highlight in Billy's set for me was "Zanzibar", a song I have always liked. And tonight we got an excellent live version of that song. While Elton had played approx. 80 minutes, Billy's set was almost exactly 60 minutes long. And one thing missing from earlier "Face 2 Face" shows was them singing a cover version of a song of their concert partner. Too bad! Only Billy did a little bit of "Take Me To The Pilot" during "River Of Dreams".

After three hours and 20 minutes the show ended with the mandatory "Piano Man". Quite frankly, I was a bit disappointed that the concept was more or less the same as 15 years ago - in fact it was less than that. I hadn't expected a whole new show, but at least a few new songs/elements would have been nice. Let's wait and see if and how the show will develop over time.

Following is the complete set list of the Jacksonville show on March 2, 2009:

Elton John/Billy Joel (solo)

• Your Song
  
• Honesty

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