The Piano Man, A Gypsy, and Three Girls from the Midwest

When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes along, you take it. And then throw in more adventure on top of it.

‘They’re not getting any younger, and neither am I.’ Or, as Stevie Nicks sings in that bohemian vibe of hers, “Even children get older…and I'm getting older too.” These were the first thoughts that jumped into my mind when the Sirius/XM radio channel I was listening to announced that Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks would be performing around the country – together! Together! These are musical icons that have been a big part of my life for… well… let’s just say a long time. Did I mention that they would be touring together?

AND…they would be appearing in Minneapolis. Right in my back yard. Now, one of my daughters lives in Minneapolis, so that is literally in her back yard. But for my other daughter and me, it’s just a hop up the interstate from Des Moines. In less than four hours - boom! We’re there.

Only a few moments after hearing the announcement on the radio, I was on the phone to my daughters saying we are going. Not asking if they wanted to go but stating that we are going. Yep – save that date! Right now! As my girls were growing up, any road trip – no matter how long or how short – was not an “official” road trip unless Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Vol I & II was playing in the car. Maybe it was on 8-track (sad, but true), cassette tape, CD, or sometimes, through the grace of the Sirius/XM Radio Gods, the Billy Joel Channel, which comes and goes a couple of times a year. (And yes, I have written numerous letters to those Sirius/XM people pleading with them to keep it on always – even dead people have a channel for goodness’ sake - but so far to no avail.)

Anyway, the plan was set (in stone) and the tickets needed to be purchased. Right then. That moment. But because no one really knows how the ticket purchasing system works (and really, do we even want to know?), the site refused to recognize my credit card. I was so frustrated – I had to have those tickets and they had to be for good seats. With the concert being held at US Bank Stadium (home of the Minnesota Vikings), I did not want to be part of the 60,000 folks attending but sitting up next to the ceiling. Luckily, my husband was watching this frustrating encounter play out and walked over to me with his credit card in hand. Viola! His card worked just fine. So now I owed him a zillion dollars instead of the credit card company. But because he is a very sweet person, he offered up those tickets as a birthday gift to me so I could see this amazing concert AND have a cherished girls’ weekend with my daughters. Priceless.

The concert was as fabulous as I’d known it would be. How could it not have been? Our boutique hotel was a mere walking distance of six blocks from the stadium, we had a super-delicious dinner of flatbread pizzas and local craft beers at an Irish pub connected to said hotel prior to the concert, the weather was Minneapolis-in-November nice, the merchandise line moved quickly (HAD to have my official t-shirt so the world would know I had been there), and our seats were in an awesome location. There were women everywhere all Stevie’d up with black wing-sleeved dresses and amazing hats covered with flowing ribbons, bows, glitter, feathers…just bejeweled to perfection.

One of many amazing hats in honor of Stevie Nicks

Then it was lights out, and Stevie took the stage first with her mic stand dripping with beads and jewels, being joined almost immediately by Billy as they sang the duet she and Tom Petty are famous for: Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around. Mesmerizing. Then again on her own, she performed an amazing show lasting almost two hours complete with musical and video tributes to Christine McVie and Fleetwood Mac that brought some of us to tears with the memories.

Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks in Minneapolis

Then the Piano Man took the stage. He can still hit some of those high notes, danced with his mic stand, had the entire stadium ablaze with cell phone lights, and the close-ups of his fingers flying over those piano keys…sigh…   We all sang along with Billy for over two-and-a-half hours, even though it seemed like just a few minutes had gone by. But, as is true with most concerts, we felt it hadn’t been enough time, even though it turned out it had been, as the lights came back on and we had to leave the stadium, heading back to the hotel with all the joy of the night and the lyrics of the songs stuck in our heads.  

For sure, sleep that night was short after dancing and singing through a concert lasting over four hours, but it being a girls’ weekend and all, there were more adventures to be had. So the next morning we arrived very early at the MOA (Mall of America) for breakfast and strong coffees (honestly, the coffee those girls drink would incinerate my brain, so a London Fog tea for me) to get us fired up as we headed out to conquer all three floors of that ginormous mall. We tell other people that can’t and shouldn’t be done in one day, and really I would not recommend it, but we did it! Seeing as we are old pros at the MOA, we know the name of that game, and know to wear our most comfortable and sturdy sneakers and to have a plan. We had our lists, our priorities, and so much fun as we – on purpose – shopped the entire MOA on a SATURDAY only SIX weeks before Christmas…all the while putting over six miles on our fitness trackers.

Only the first round of many of shopping bags we dropped off in our hotel room at the MOA

Exhausted, but with one more day to go and more fun awaiting us, we headed to my daughter’s home in Minneapolis to celebrate the birthday of her 4-year-old son. There was fabulous Mediterranean food from a local restaurant for lunch and cupcakes from a famous-name bakery at the MOA during birthday party time as he opened and played with the gifts of his dreams. Although as he told us later, he really has only one dream in life: to be a garbage truck driver. We all have goals! But I think the gifts came in at a close second.

However, for me, the dreams of my weekend had been fulfilled: special girl-time with my daughters, crazy-but-fun Christmas shopping together, and attending a never-to-be-forgotten, once-in-a-lifetime concert.

I have seen Billy Joel in concert many times – every chance I’ve had, I’ve taken. The time before this was with one of my daughters in February of 2022 in Las Vegas during Covid times. Worth every mask-covered moment! Why is he my guy? Because I believe he truly has written the stories of our lives in song form. I once heard someone say, “No matter how difficult the world becomes, we always have Billy Joel.” My thoughts exactly. And when I’m at one of his concerts and the people in all 60,000 seats are singing all the words to all of his songs, it makes my heart so happy. Even though we are all different, in those moments we are all the same. It’s like the Piano Man sings, “…it’s me they’ve been coming to see to forget about life for a while.”

Thanks Billy and Nicky for letting us do exactly that.