Billy Joel and Elton John

I have always considered myself a fortunate person but never really a “lucky” person. By fortunate, I mean that with a little hard work, the big things in life have worked out for me; getting through a challenging undergraduate program successfully, getting decent jobs, having a great house and nice car, etc. But when it comes to situational luck – hitting the jackpot, winning contests, getting picked for things, etc. – things usually don’t turn out that well for me. I’m told that’s because my last name is Repnyek and I’m sure that one of my ancestors did something that doomed the lineage but you never know.

That all changed for at least one night. Right after I moved to California for my temporary work assignment, I discovered that Billy Joel and Elton John were once again on tour and would be coming to the Honda Center in Anaheim in a few months for two shows. I was able to get a cheap ticket in the last row of the top section. Since I didn’t know anyone, I went by myself figuring it would be a fun evening to just hang out en enjoy some good music.

The night of the concert rolls around and I end up going to the arena earlier to get some dinner before the show starts. As I arrive, I’m abhorred to find that I have to pay $20 for parking (cash only) but suck it up. After I get frisked on my way into the arena, I find an overpriced pizza and park myself on top of a garbage can and chow down when these two guys approach me. I was wearing my New Zealand All Blacks golf shirt and the the conversation that ensued went as follows:

Them: “Are you from New Zealand?”
Me: I held up my finger to tell them "Wait while I finished chewing"
Them: “Sorry. We waited until your mouth was full before we came up to you.”
Me: “No problem. No, I’m not from new Zealand.”
Them: “Oh. Well, are you a Billy Joel and Elton John fan?”
Me: “Yeah” (Thinking, well, I am at their concert)
Them: “Who do you like better?”
Me: “Well, I’ve always been a Billy fan but Elton John has really grown on me over the past few years.”
Them: “Well, I work for Elton John. So you like Elton John right?”
Me: “Yes”
Them: “See, that was easy. Where are your seats at?”
Me: “Last row, top section. Can’t get any further.”
Them: (Pulling a stack of tickets from their back pocket) “Well, how would you like to sit in the front row?”
Me: “Uhhhh…SURE”

They hand me a ticket for the front row….I could…not…believe…it. It was one of those moments where you just have pinch yourself because you can’t believe it. I immediately try to call everyone I know while I wander around aimlessly waiting for the show to start. I finally head to my seat which sure enough is in the front row right in front of Elton. It was amazing. There were a few other people who had the same thing happen to them. It would seem that if they don’t sell out the $2k + tickets for that area, they have to fill the space so they just upgrade people.
The only bad part of the whole evening was that as I was walking out of my apartment, I figured I didn’t need to bring my camera because my seats were so far away. I was kicking myself hard that I made that decision! Thankfully, I had a business card on me and gave it to the guy sitting next to me and he as kind enough to send me a couple of pictures that he took.

To make the night even better, I had noticed a couple of empty seats near me. As the lights went down for the concert to begin, I saw two shadows sneak in a sit down. Those shadows would turn out to be John Stamos and Kevin Spacey! They were so close…and I was definitely star struck. Later, when Billy Joel came on, I made my way to the front of the stage and was right in front of him. He sang Allentown, I went nuts, and segued into We Didn’t Start the Fire. As I was singing along, I noticed Kevin Spacey had made his way next to me and was singing along with me.



The whole experience was surreal and it was an adrenaline rush the entire night. It took me a whole day to recover from the experience. I’m fearful that my life has now peaked and I will never be able to enjoy a concert ever again because it will pale in comparison ☺ .