Billy Joel ushered in the new year with elegance and grandeur, teaming up with Jason Bonham to deliver a mesmerizing performance of Led Zeppelin's iconic "Whole Lotta Love." The concert, held at Long Island's UBS Arena on Tuesday, December 31st, marked a unique and memorable end-of-year spectacle for Joel, distinguished by several highlights.
Preceding Joel's main event was Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening, setting the stage for an evening filled with musical magic. The veteran performer's extensive setlist included a plethora of beloved classics, interspersed with rare gems from his extensive discography. Among the lesser-heard tracks was the 1982 song "A Room of Our Own," which received a rare outing. Even more elusive was the 1974 tune "Souvenir," which saw only its thirteenth performance in the past four decades.
However, the evening's most notable moment wasn't one of Joel's own compositions. Roughly a third into his set, Joel introduced a special guest and a special song. "We're going to bring someone onstage to join us for the next tune," Joel announced to the eager crowd. "We always have a blast playing this one, especially with this guy. Please give a warm welcome to Jason Bonham. You all know this classic. It's not exactly a piano song."
As Bonham took the stage to play drums on a song his father made famous over half a century ago, Joel's long-time guitarist and vocalist Mike DelGuidice stepped into the spotlight to deliver the lead vocals, allowing Joel to take a subtle backseat. While it wasn't unprecedented to hear Joel perform "Whole Lotta Love" (he had previously done so at the same venue during his previous New Year's Eve celebration), the rendition seamlessly blended into the night's set, which also featured covers of The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" and Derek and the Dominos' "Layla," the latter serving as a fitting prelude to the midnight countdown.
The concert also capped off a monumental year for Joel, who not only concluded his record-breaking ten-year residency at Madison Square Garden (amassing $266.7 million from 1.9 million ticket sales across 104 shows) but also released "Turn the Lights Back On" – his first new lyrical single in nearly two decades.
