Column: Billy Joel ashamed of tribal casino gig

Tuesday, March 10, 2009  

"I must confess I have Billy Joel's entire catalog of CDs and vinyl LPs. As a high school kid in Ohio in the 1980s, I loved his songs and lyrics, especially his older stuff.

I was honored to get invited to his February opening-night gig at the sparkling The Show at the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa.

Tribal chairman Richard Milanovich and the entire Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians have every reason to be proud of the facility.

So, I was a bit surprised to see these quotes from Rolling Stone magazine's Web site that made their way into Saturday's edition of The Desert Sun:

“We did some stupid casino gig in Palm Springs for one of the high rollers there. These private gigs are like doing a bar mitzvah. They're not fun because they're for private audiences, not paying audiences. They're not your audience. They don't know your stuff. They're there just to say they were there.

“I feel like a slut when I do them, but you get paid like a really good call girl. When I walk offstage, it's like the walk of shame.”

But no one wants you to feel like a call girl. Here's a suggestion: If you're so ashamed for taking the Tribe's money that night, why not return it?"

Get the Story:
Uptown Boy, why not return the tribe's money? (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 3/8)

Related Story:
Billy Joel disses The Show (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 3/6)