As I meandered through the bucolic streets of Cardiff on a bright and sunny Friday, the city was packed with people drinking at bars and dining al fresco, with almost every restaurant loudspeaker playing on loop. The Welsh capital had turned into a giant appreciation society for the 75-year-old music legend, who that night would be performing for nearly 75,000 fans at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, his first show in the country. I can’t exactly pinpoint when I knew I was a Billy Joel fan as his music has been in the ether my entire – nearly 40 year-old – life.
However, when he released his latest song, “Turn the Lights Back On,” in February, I was amazed by his longevity and captivated by the message of that song, which asks: Can someone really keep the flame alive for so many years? When I discovered he would be playing in this month, soon after completing his historic residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden, it didn’t take much to convince my friend Maayan Hoffman to be my partner in crime. This trip was planned weeks in advance and the anticipation mounted as the days went by. When news broke out of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, we both shared our concerns that what we’ve been looking forward to for months may go up in smoke because one of the country’s most detested enemies had met his demise.
So, when we embarked on the plane from Israel, we were not quite sure if we’d be able to come back due to an imminent Irania.