Flashback: Billy Joel, 40 Years Ago
In case you hadn’t heard, tonight’s scheduled Billy Joel-Elton John Face 2 Face tour concert has been postponed again. (The new attempted date for the concert at the Times Union Center in Albany is Thursday, March 11.) But at least the announcement was made two weeks ago.
And that’s probably a good thing, because the concert would have been postponed at the last minute anyway given the overdose and susequent hospitaliztion of Joel’s 23-year-old daughter, singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel in NYC on Saturday.
Still…
Just in case you’re jonesin’ for Joel, here’s a little something special for ya. We dug deep into the vast Nippertown Research Department, Deep Storage Facility to uncover this primo publicity photo of Joel and his bandmates when he made his Capital Region debut at the old and long gone but certainly not forgotten Aerodrome in Schenectady – 40 years ago.
We especially dig those crazy pants, Billy…
I recall the Areodrome, but not seeing that group. I did see the Jefferson Airplane. I remember the wild visuals they had on either side of the stage – done with a projector of some sort and colored gels and a convex dish setup.. rolled arouund on the gels and the colors projected on the wall. Wish I had some pics of those times!
Then of course there’s Billy’s getup in his next band – Attila:
http://www.raw-tcsd.com/images/joelatt.nl.26282.jpg
I also enjoyed a few good nights at Aerodrome but don’t remember the Hassles either.
Which one is Billy?
Hey, Bill, obviously those nights you spent at the Aerodrome have taken their toll. (wink, wink) But even with your remaining brain cells you should be able to recognize that Mr. Joel is second from the left – the guys with two different colored pant-legs.
Of course, the guy in the middle might well have been the inspiration for Joel’s hit, “Big Shot.” Or maybe rather Jean Knight’s classic … “Mr. Big Stuff.”