Billy Joel and Sting – Amazing One Night Only in Tampa
Raymond James Stadium and the February Snow Full Moon played host to over 50,000 people for the Saturday night show of the two rock icons Billy Joel and Sting! The audience was a t-shirt mix of Joel fans, Police fans and fans of music to see both artists that went all the way to the top of the 300 sections. People were excited for this show, the first one of the Sting/Billy combo. Billy is also doing stadium shows with Stevie Nicks and Rod Stewart. He is wrapping up his residency at Madison Square Garden in July. Sting will be playing four more shows with Billy and touring Europe.
Starting the evening, Billy Joel came to the stage to introduce Sting, calling him “one of my favorite musicians of all time” and then joined Sting to open the show with a cover of The Police megahit, “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic!” Sting added a cowboy hat to his wardrobe and rocked right into another Police tune with “Message In A Bottle.” Sting brought out surprise guest & collaborator Shaggy to sing with him on his song, “An Englishman in New York” The audience went wild for Shaggy making an appearance. Sting played hit after hit, but of my favorites was “Heavy Cloud No Rain” with vocalist Melissa Musique. Sting has a great touring band and vocalists. He played a 15-song setlist that closed with the iconic “Roxanne” He led the audience in an extended sing-along. “Roxanne” is in the Grammy Hall of Fame. You can see the full setlist HERE. Everything Sting related is at www.sting.com
After intermission, Billy came back to the stage with his band for the second half of the show. This is a double bill, there was no opening act. The Piano Man opened with a rousing version of “My Life” right into “Movin’ Out.” The third song in was audience choice by applause, either “Just the Way You Are” or “Vienna”, which won by overwhelming applause. A tease of the first verse of The Stones “Start Me Up” got things rockin’. He played his new song for the second time live, “Turn the Lights Back On” to the Ray Jay lit up by cell phones! If that wasn’t enough, Sting came on to sing with Billy and the band. Dressed in a silver suit and pork pie hat, they performed the excellent, jazzy “Big Man on Mulberry Street.” His masterpiece and ode to the city, “New York State of Mind” is a goosebump moment with the magnificent saxophone of Mark Rivera to Billy’s piano.
“The River of Dreams” takes the audience through a musical interlude that changes from show to show. In Tampa, we got Crystal Tallefero singing “River Deep, Mountain High!” Bradenton resident and member of Billy’s band, Michael DelGuidice, takes the stadium into the world of opera with the mind-blowing Puccini’s “Nessun dorma.” Of course, “Piano Man” closes the set. They come back for a 5-song encore to bring the audience to their feet and dancing. It starts with Billy on guitar for “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” “Uptown Girl” and “Big Shot” were part of the encore. Closing it out with the fun rocker, “You May Be Right!” What a magical, musical night for Tampa Bay! For all of Billy’s dates check out his website at Billy Joel.
Photos from Vicky Sullivan