Elton John & Billy Joel Back On The Road

By: Howie Edelson

Elton John and Billy Joel are back on the road with the latest leg of their Face To Face tour. After a troubling end of 2009, which saw both Elton and Billy fall ill -- along with Alexa Ray Joel's alleged suicide attempt -- all seems to be well with the "Piano Men" who'll perform tomorrow night (February 13th) at Oakland's Oracle Arena.

As crazy as it seems, this summer will mark 17 years since Billy Joel released his last studio album, 1993's River Of Dreams. According to Joel he's has sworn off rock songwriting to focus instead on classical works. Elton John believes that Billy still has more songs in his system: "He seems to say, 'Well, I can't do this anymore, I can't do this anymore.'But, you know, he's not a rock and roll artist -- he's a great songwriter, and great songwriters always write songs, and there'll be songs coming from Billy Joel's piano again. I'm always saying, 'Come on, come on, come on, come on,'but in good time, he'll do it again. In the meantime, he's gone off and done something else, and he goes and does lectures and stuff like that. He's enjoying himself. You know, he'll, he'll admit, 'I'm just coasting at the moment,'but I don't think that he's gonna be happy coasting."

Elton John & Billy Joel tour dates (subject to change):
February 13 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
February 16 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion At San Jose
February 19 - Salt Lake City, UT - Energy Solutions Arena
February 22 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
February 25 - Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center
February 27 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
March 3 - Wichita, KS - Intrust Bank Arena
March 9 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena
March 11 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center