Piano men on tribute tour

TWENTY-five years on, the acclaimed Elton John and Billy Joel tour Face to Face is being recreated for Australian audiences with a special tribute concert.

Musicians, Greg Andrews and Anthony Mara, will bring the two-hour show to regional Victoria this August.

Renowned Elton John and Billy Joel tribute performers, the pair have leveraged their creative partnership to create an authentic experience based on real live concert recordings.

Andrews said that recreating this tour to celebrate its 25th anniversary had been a wonderful experience because the audience response had been fantastic.

“There’s parts where we will share each other’s songs, so it’s exactly that recreation of what happened when they performed in ’98,” he said.

The musician said he and his counterpart have a lot of fun on-stage which fed into the audience enjoyment of the show.

A classically trained pianist, Andrews made the transition to performing Elton John’s music 15 years ago after being told he looked like the singer.

“I’m very privileged to perform these songs,” he said.

“To see the joy these songs give people and that people just love hearing these songs it’s one of those joys of performing.

“I know I’m not Sir Elton, but I try to do it in the most respectful, authentic and knowledgeable way so people appreciate even the stories that I tell along with it.

“We’re all fans at the end of the day.”

Face to Face will be on at the Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts on 12 August. For more information and tickets visit the WPCA website.