Brilliant yet inconsistent, this act is simultaneously very enjoyable and incredibly frustrating
After what was an evening of overall mixed emotions regarding this act, Uptown Girl: The Billy Joel Collection has definitely left an impression, for good or ill. Taking this performance to The Beacon stage, this group of musicians took the audience through the artist’s greatest hits.
Admittedly, this act was perplexing. Not so much in concept but more in execution. The idea is that the audience go through the years of Billy Joel’s life, picking music from certain points in history with a voiceover telling us which year we’re in before the main act comes on. A simple enough format, many acts do it. Something in the implementation felt off though. When our Billy for the evening Gaz Jenkins comes onstage, the audience is told this is Billy Joel and Jenkins acts as such. Again, nothing out of the ordinary for a tribute act. However, the accent is perhaps where this lost me. It’s definitely something one gets used to throughout the performance and at times it does feel fun but it also doesn’t feel entirely accurate. This is a man who is essentially acting like Billy Joel, trying to embody him in every sense of the word but unfortunately, Jenkins just didn’t sound much like him when he talked. It’s plain to see what he was going for and the attempt is respectable but it doesn’t quite land.
The act covers the most iconic hits, however this is where the inconsistencies come in. The first few songs didn’t feel right. The vocals were not out of tune or bad per-se but there were moments were vocals that should be soft felt harder than necessary, tonal inflections just not being where they needed to be. This was particularly noticeable on songs such as Moving Out. Having a good voice does not make an inherently good performer and vice-versa and while the performance element was there for this song, it was the emotion behind the music and the way it was sang that wasn’t for me personally. For The Longest Time is where the switch happened. This was truly incredible, without question one of the highlights of the night. Jenkins does in fact have an excellent voice and in moments like this, it really shone through, alongside his gorgeous acapella chorus. This was the song that really brought things back and it got better from there till the end of act 1 with classics like New York State of Mind, She’s Always A Woman and Scenes From An Italian Restaurant all being absolutely superb. There was even some light set for the latter, a table and chairs being brought in with two of the band being served a bottle of red just like in the song. This was a fun addition and things like this are where the act became delightful.
Unfortunately, act 2 went from being excellent to just shy of the mark at different intervals, hence my frustration. While Goodnight Saigon and Vienna were beautiful renditions other songs like Still Rock and Roll To Me lacked energy. While vocally brilliant, Piano Man was a let-down. This should have been a moment for Jenkins playing to really shine through with any other instruments either turned down or not present. Billy Joel isn’t called the Piano Man for nothing after all. However, his playing was somewhat overpowered by too many elements and it would have possibly just been better with the vocals, piano, harmonica and nothing else.
With all that being said, it is crucial to mention that the band were absolutely sensational. At several moments, it was easy to find myself thinking that people would actually love to hear just this band without any vocals as they really were just that talented. Kerry Williams on the saxophone was particularly skilled, with many solos going his way throughout the night. In all honesty, he could have his own solo show and it would be fantastic!
Closing on Uptown Girl, this was certainly a fitting tribute and thankfully ended things on a positive note, even adding in the well-known moves from the music video. Overall, this act has a lot of potential and some real standout moments but it still requires some work. If Jenkins were to revise certain aspects, the show could rise to greater heights. That being said, more casual fans of Billy Joel will likely still get a lot out of this as despite the inconsistences, there is lot to enjoy!