Billy Joel Concert Gives Opera Fans Pleasant Surprise
When you think of a Billy Joel concert coming to Las Vegas, you think of all his hits over the years. Piano Man, Uptown Girl, Big Shot, etc. What you…
Musician Billy Joel performs at Madison Square Garden on December 18, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images)
[Brad Barket] / [Stringer] via Getty ImagesWhen you think of a Billy Joel concert coming to Las Vegas, you think of all his hits over the years. Piano Man, Uptown Girl, Big Shot, etc. What you might not expect is something out of an opera. Well that's exactly what fans got at the Billy Joel concert at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Halfway through the set...after The Longest Time and My Life...before It's Still Rock and Roll To Me and We Didn't Start The Fire...there was Nessun Dorma.
Billy Joel Concert Included...Some Opera?
Nessun Dorma is probably one of the most famous operatic arias in history. It's from the final act of Turandot, Giacomo Puccini's famous opera. This tenor aria is often associated with Luciano Pavarotti, who has performed it flawlessly hundreds of times. But not this time...this performance was done by Billy's secret weapon.
His name is Mike DelGuidice. For the entire first half of the show, he was hiding in plain site. Standing onstage, playing his guitar, singing back up. The first time fans noticed him was when he rocked the vocals to ZZ Top's Tush, which was the interlude performed during The River Of Dreams. Check it out...
I think every woman (and half the men) in Allegiant Stadium at this point said "Who. Is. That?" A hunky version of Billy with vocals to match. And it makes sense...DelGuidice is the vocalist and pianist (yes....he plays piano too!) for a Billy Joel tribute band in New York called Big Shot.
And Billy was gracious enough to share more of the spotlight with DelGuidice. This is where the fans got the real surprise. DelGuidice performed that beautiful aria with Billy Joel accompanying him on piano. And I tell you, fans emerged from that euphoric moment with that "what just happened" feeling.
I think we're going to continue to see big things from this guy. And thanks to Billy Joel for always bringing us surprises in his shows. We love you Billy!
The Setlist For The Billy Joel Concert
- Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
- Pressure
- The Entertainer
- Vienna
- Don't Ask Me Why
- Zanzibar
- Allentown
- Just the Way You Are
- Say Goodbye to Hollywood
- The Longest Time
- New York State of Mind
- The Downeaster Alexa
- She's Always a Woman
- My Life
- Only the Good Die Young
- A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum cover)
- Sometimes a Fantasy
- The River of Dreams (with 'Tush' by ZZ Top interlude)
- Nessun dorma (Giacomo Puccini cover) (Mike DelGuidice Vocals)
- Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
- Piano Man
- We Didn't Start the Fire
- Uptown Girl
- It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
- Big Shot
- You May Be Right (with “Rock & Roll” by Led Zeppelin interlude)
And check out Mike DelGuidice on piano!
DelGuidice wasn't the only surprise Saturday night. Billy Joel also touched fans with this cover of Procol Harum, in tribute to the late Gary Brooker. Brooker just passed away a month prior from cancer.
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