Aside from DelGuidice on lead vocals and piano, Big Shot was comprised of Tommy Byrnes (who was recently inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, as well as Nick Dimichino on bass, Carmine Giglio on keyboards and John Scarpulla on saxophone. Filling in for Chuck Burgi on drums was Gavin DeGraw’s talented drummer Michael Baker, who nailed the drums throughout the night.
A real treat was hearing them open with “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway),” which was met with a raucous response. Another fan favorite was the piano-driven ballad “Vienna.”
In addition to singing all of the regular Billy Joel classics that they play regularly, DelGuidice tipped his hat to Elton John with a soaring rendition of “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me.” He also honored his childhood musical hero, Paul McCartney, with “Maybe I’m Amazed.”
With Steven Fileti on harmonica, Big Shot orchestrated a neat singalong of “Piano Man.” Equally fun were “Only the Good Die Young” and “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me.”
For the finale, DelGuidice was kind enough to dedicate “The Downeaster ‘Alexa” to this journalist, which happens to be his all-time favorite Billy Joel tune. BigShot closed with the perennial Beatles classic “Hey Jude,” and they had the Long Island crowd with them every step of the way. Their set garnered an A rating.
“Big Shot was spectacular last night at Mulcahy’s,” said Todd Greenstein, dedicated Big Shot fan and attendee. “The horn sectional added so much to the show and guest drummer, Mike Baker, from Gavin DeGraw’s band killed it.”
