Wellington officials were fairly sure that their 30th anniversary celebration on Friday, Jan. 2 would prove popular with area residents and draw an impressive crowd.
What was not expected was how an impromptu, two-song performance by a music legend would lead to a viral moment, catapulting images from Wellington’s party around the world.
It came during the final musical performance of the evening, the Billy Joel tribute band Turnstiles, playing on the Wellington Amphitheater stage.
Turnstiles frontman Tony Monaco described what came next as “a miracle in my eyes.”
“There have been times that I’ve said that it was possible that Billy would come,” Monaco told the Town-Crier. “With the 30th anniversary event, I didn’t even think that Billy would come. It wasn’t on my mind at all.”
As the evening went on, there was a rumor floating around the amphitheater that Billy Joel was in the crowd. Not impossible, mind you, since he has a home nearby with his wife, equestrian Alexis Roderick Joel.
A skilled entertainer for decades, Billy Joel has been out of the limelight since early last year, when he was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder that can lead to problems with hearing, vision and balance.
This past summer, Joel noted that he had been undergoing treatment and was improving.
His recent difficulties were a key factor that made Joel’s unexpected, 10-minute visit to the Wellington stage go viral.
Monaco said that he was visited backstage before the show by Joel, along with his wife and their young daughters, Della and Remy.
“I was just dumbfounded,” Monaco said. “There were four of us from the band, and none of us could speak… I was numb, I really was. I couldn’t think of anything other than, ‘Oh, my God, he’s here.’ I wasn’t starstruck, it was disbelief.”
Honored to have his idol in the audience, it still was not clear to Monaco if Joel wanted to perform. They had casually discussed him perhaps coming up when the band played “New York State of Mind.” However, that song came and went without Joel joining them.
By this point, many in the audience had figured out he was there and were chanting, “Billy, Billy, Billy!”
That’s when Joel made his way up on the stage and picked out the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” seating himself at Monaco’s piano to perform, with his daughters dancing beside him.
“Then we were off to the races,” Monaco said. “After the song ended, I expected him to leave. But he decided to do another one.”
The second song was “Big Shot,” from Joel’s 1978 album 52nd Street.
Once the second song was over, Joel left the stage, and the band finished their set, wondering what it all meant for the future.
Monaco hopes that it means that Billy Joel will feel strong enough and well enough to return to the stage in some format in the not-too-distant future.
“If he’s going to play, he’ll have to do it within the constraints of his health. It will be different, but it will still be Billy,” Monaco said.
For Monaco and Turnstiles — which also includes guitar player Rob Arenth, bass player John Angelone, Ron Fattorusso on saxophone and flute, Jeff McDonald on drums, and Greg Reitano on keyboards and guitar — the sudden interest has left Monaco fielding an array of press inquiries.
He’s hopeful that it will lead to more gigs, like after they became the first tribute band to play at Madison Square Garden in 2024.
“I know it is going to impact us in a positive way, but I’m not sure exactly how,” Monaco said.
He has been performing almost exclusively Billy Joel music since Turnstiles formed in 2011.
“I gave up my own music and any other types of music to do Billy,” Monaco said. “Billy Joel’s music makes me happy.”
Learn more about Turnstiles at www.turnstilestributeband.com.
