Photo by Thomas E. Adamo
Last year, Jim Witter graced the ears of Moraine Valley with the sounds of “The Piano Men.” On February 11, fans were able to enjoy the sequel to last year’s performance when Witter returned to the Dorothy Menker Theatre with “The Piano Men II.”
The show was made up of two parts: the first being about the 70’s and the second part about the 80’s. This performance was also notable for being the band’s first show of 2012. Witter and his band opened the show with the score to Star Wars to pump up the crowd before performing the works of Elton John & Billy Joel.
The first half of the show contained plenty of classics including “The Stranger,” “Say Goodbye to Hollywood,” and “Movin’ Out” by Billy Joel as well as “Honky Cat,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Daniel,” “Crocodile Rock,” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John. During Witter’s performance of “Crocodile Rock,” audience members were able to volunteer to help sing backup.
During the first segment the band also performed a sketch where they took requests for popular TV show theme songs. Some of the nostalgia-inducing performances included the themes to “Gilligan’s Island,” “Love Boat,” “All in the Family” and “Happy Days.”
After the intermission, Witter brought the crowd into the next decade while the band performed plenty of 80’s hits, but not before performing a very special tribute. Earlier in the night the world learned of the death of Whitney Houston and after the break the band started things off with Joel’s “It’s Still Rock & Roll to Me” while a slideshow that contained a picture of Houston was displayed.
The second half included more classics including “I Guess That’s Why They Call it Rock & Roll,” “Sad Songs Say So Much” and “Empty Garden” by John as well as “An Innocent Man” and “You May Be Right” by Joel. The band also gave the crowd a little treat in the form of one more TV theme song by performing the classic theme of “Cheers.”
At the end of the show Witter introduced the rest of the band including Ian Tanner on bass/vocals, Darryl McWaters on drums and Tony Lind on guitar before sending the crowd off with Billy Joel’s quintessential hit “Piano Man.” The band then walked off the stage but the crowd wouldn’t have it as they continued to cheer for more.
Witter kept them waiting, but the crowd erupted when the band return to the stage for a three-song encore that included Joel’s “Uptown Girl” as well as “Let It Be” and “Carry That Weight” by The Beatles.
Overall, if you want to watch an upbeat and fun show that leaves you with that warm fuzzy nostalgic feeling, check out Jim Witter’s shows. Looking around at the audience I could see their faces all lit up with excitement and happiness. The band was extremely talented and definitely knew how to work an audience.
