The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Joel show prompts mixed reviews of SunTrust Park
Music legend calls venue ‘nice, big, beautiful stadium.’
Music legend Billy Joel christened SunTrust Park with its first musical endeavor Friday night.
Much like the Atlanta Braves’ opening day at the new stadium earlier this month, the first concert held at the venue prompted mixed reactions.
Those who arrived hours early on Friday were greeted by long lines at all of the restaurants in The Battery, the dining and entertainment district outside the ballpark. Fans who ditched the idea of a restaurant meal headed inside the stadium to ... more lines — regardless of the concourse, the food selection or the fact that it was still 90 minutes before Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness would open the night of music.
Joel, who took the stage shortly after 9 p.m., was marking a return to Atlanta only two years removed from his last sold-out performance (at Philips Arena) and along with nearly doubling the crowd size.
“This is a nice, big, beautiful stadium. Look at this,” Joel, a devout baseball fan, said as he slowly spun on his piano stool and prompted his crackerjack band – capable of falling in with his every audible – through a few bars of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
“You’ve also got some nicesized bugs here, too,” he continued, picking up a fly swatter from the top of his black grand piano and waving it around like Zorro with a mesh sword.
The concert was a 30-plus song setlist over two and a half hours, capped with encores featuring “Uptown Girl,” “Big Shot” and “You May Be Right.”
Some of those in the soldout crowd of more than 37,000 gave a thumbs-up to the ballpark.
John Levinson, 53, of Brookhaven, said he enjoyed the “intimate setting” of SunTrust Park. “The staging and lighting were a home run, and while Billy looked aged, he had great stamina and had a lot of fun engaging with the crowd during his ‘fielder’s choices’ of songs. ... I felt he just hit it out of the park.”
Despite some notes getting lost in the air – the norm at any stadium concert – the sound was strikingly clean from various vantage points, including the 300 and 400 levels. A few fans disagreed on social media, with one complaining that the sound “stunk” on the 200 level and another saying there was too much reverb at his section on the 100 level.
In addition to the (mostly/ depending upon where you sat) crisp sound, live video monitors near the concession stands were seen by many as a welcome accoutrement while biding their time to buy a soda.
“As far as stadiums go, it’s a good venue,” said Peter Conlon, president of Live Nation Atlanta, which promoted the concert. “It’s built in a way that’s more showfriendly than most (stadiums).”
Conlon, who noted that Joel spent much of Friday afternoon hanging with his crew at the ballpark, credits the “crescent shape” of the seating area to create a cozier vibe.
“Billy is about as hot as you can get right now,” Conlon said, mentioning Joel’s string of ballpark sellouts around the country and his residency at Madison Square Garden. “This is a great show to open with.”
Smyrna resident Gerry Maurice, who has seen Joel perform at that MSG residency, enjoyed the excitement of the larger venue, but felt the stadium staff was “not organized,” though she praised the quick golf cart service that aided her trek from parking lot Braves 11.
Navigating the signage and gates proved challenging for the 75-year-old, and an hourplus wait to exit the parking lot with her two daughters after the show had her saying “never again.”
At least the staff has a few months to knead out the kinks until the Metallica concert at SunTrust Park in July.