In the midst of show cancellations by other artists, boycotts from Israeli conservatives, and political rallies, Elton John safely arrived in Tel Aviv and successfully held a one-night concert in the city on Thursday night.

To quote local station Channel One, John was the “single righteous artist in a sea of boycotters”.

Several other artists have cancelled their scheduled performances in the city including UK acts Elvis Costello, Klaxons and Gorillaz, which is a side project by Blur front man Damon Albarn. The Pixies and legendary guitarist Carlos Santana have also canceled their gigs in Israel due to increased tension between Israelis and Palestinians and also because of the recent naval raid.

The naval raid happened on May 31, where a foreign flotilla was hijacked and killed nine Israeli activists. This caused many foreign music acts who were scheduled to perform within that week to abruptly pull back from their gigs.

Billy Joel and Elton John have canceled this summer’s leg from their joint tour. The reason is the Piano Man would like to have some time off. Elton John, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, said that Joel had made the decision to take the year off, which forced the cancellation of their outing which had been scheduled.

John was in Chicago to promote “Billy Elliot,” the musical. He told local press that he was very disappointed that Joel and he would not perform at Wrigley Field on July 7 as planned.

John, in a WGN-TV interview in Chicago said, there won’t be any more Elton and Billy shows as far as I can tell after our show on March 11th in Albany, NY.

John said, it’s Billy’s decision, not mine. He decided he wanted a year off. My plans don’t really gel with that, but Billy is a friend of mine. He’s an artist. His decision needs to be respected.

According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, it is expected that the Dave Matthews Band as well as Billy Joel and Elton John will be performing at Wrigley Field in Chicago this summer despite concerns that have been expressed by Lake View neighbors in years past.

Reportedly, alderman Tom Tunney is planning to introduce a night game Chicago Cubs ordinance exception at an upcoming City Council meeting that would allow the shows to take place.

According to the report in the Sun-Times, the Cubs last summer held three unprecedented shows at Wrigley field in one week. One of the concerts was by Rascal Flatts and two from Joel and John. Tunney at the time promised neighbors who were concerned about it that if it didn’t go well that there wouldn’t be any additional concerts.

Reportedly, Tunney this week said the experiment of three concerts had been very successful that it was worth repeating the experience.

Reportedly, Joel and John are scheduled tentatively to perform on July 7 at Wrigley field, with Matthews also expected for headlining September night concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings with dates still to be determined.

Elton John and Billy Joel have reshuffled dates once again for the current leg from their “Face 2 Face Tour”. The duo has moved several shows that had been scheduled to take place this month into the early part of next year.

There was no reason given for the postponements. Last month one date was canceled and several postponed due to Elton John coming down with e-coli and influenza and Joel being waylaid with an unspecified illness. September 3 in Seattle is when the next show on the current “Face 2 Face” outing will take place. A second date for Seattle will be on February 6.

Concerts that were originally scheduled for November in Northern California and Seattle have now been rescheduled. Seattle dates are February 3 and 6. On February 13 there will be a show in Oakland, CA and on February 16 a performance will be in San Jose, CA. A pair of shows for upstate New York have also been rescheduled for March.

According to Elton John’s website, all tickets for the original shows will be honored with the rescheduled dates. Refunds will be available as well at their point of purchase locations.

Billy Joel and Elton John have another arena run of dates lined up as part of “Face 2 Face,” their ongoing set of co-headlining shows.

On November 4 the pair will be in returning to the stage in Seattle. Dates have been scheduled through to December 7, where an Albany, NY make-up concert will take place. According to an issued press release, the date was scheduled originally for July but had to be postponed after Joel became ill with symptoms that were flu-like. Another July date will be made good with a Buffalo, NY concert on December 4. The performers will also be visiting several cities on the West Coast in addition to the make-up dates. They will be in Portland, OR on November 10 and in San Jose, CA on November 17.

According to a recent press release John and Joel, like the previous concerts they have done together, will be starting their evenings off by playing several duets where they trade vocals from their twin pianos. Then the stars will perform separately before the come together once again for a grand finale. The shows will consist of greatest hits from the two as well as a selection of classic rock-and-roll tunes.

The first time Joel and John did a tour together was in 1994. Their most recent outing of “Face 2 Face” before the affair this year was a 24 date, sold-out 2003 trek. According to a recent press release, the two performers are the longest running and most successful concert pairing in the history of pop music.

Elton John, in addition to touring duties for “Face 2 Face” and overseas performances periodically of his production “The Red Piano” (his long running residency in Las Vegas closed in April), the performer found time recently to guest on Alice in Chain’s title track for their new set “Black Gives Way to Blue.”

In a recent press release Jerry Cantrell, Alice in Chains vocalist and guitarist said, we had thought about adding piano onto the track. Then a friend of ours suggested that we call Elton. I remember that I laughed and said, yeah sure I’ll do that. Then I decided it was worth a try. I sent an email to Elton explaining the song’s meaning to us. I told him is was a raw, real openhearted song for Layne (late Alice in Chains singer). We sent Elton the track. A short while later we got a call from his saying that he wanted to play on the song and that it was beautiful. That blew us away.

Billy Joel’s camp informed tour officials that the double bill Billy Joel and Elton John tour was suspended late last week when Joel developed flu-like symptoms.

Concerts scheduled for July 24 in Buffalo, NY and July 27 in Albany, NY have been postponed. Joel, age 60, was told by his doctors to rest for a period of 72 hours. That appears to keep the Philadelphia tour shows scheduled for later in the week to go on as scheduled. Tour promoters are working on re-scheduling the dates that have been affected.

A statement that was posted on John’s website said that the Albany venue and promoter AEG Live had been informed that Billy Joel’s doctor had advised him to cancel his public performances for 72 hours due to his extreme physical fatigue and needing to have additional testing performed.

The tour “Face 2 Face,” which features the two veteran singer/piano players, launched in March with shows through the spring as well as summer, alternating with one month on, one month off. The current leg is scheduled to wrap up on August 1 and will resume again in Seattle on November 4.

In Washington, D.C. Joel, during a recent concert, came through to rescue the show after equipment problems forced John to exit the stage early on during the concert. Joel then vamped and played to the crowd while pretending to try to fix John’s piano. The stage crew eventually made the actual fix and John was able to return to the stage, apologizing for the incident.

This April Elton John will be playing a couple of solo dates after his first round with Billy Joel in the “Face 2 Face” concerts and before he launches the final leg on his long running Las Vegas engagement, “Red Piano.”

The solo tour for John will visit Rapid City, SD on April 1; Laramie WY on April 3; and Colorado Springs, CO on April 4. John will then kick off a stretch of three weeks at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace bringing the curtain down for “”Red Piano.” The Las Vegas production debuted in February 2004 to a huge fanfare.

Originally the show was booked to do 75 concerts over three years. However, according to Elton John’s website, it expanded to include 241 performances.

John, meanwhile, is making preparations to launch the highly anticipated tour with Billy Joel, “Face 2 Face.” The outing is expected to run over a period of two years, on and off. It will kick off in Jacksonville, FL on February 2. The two performers so far have mapped out 29 cities for the outing. Currently dates are scheduled through early August. New additions are for July, with shows added for Foxboro, MA as well as Washington, DC along with a second Wrigley Field appearance in Chicago.

According to a recent press release, during their concerts Joel and John literally will be “Face 2 Face.” They will start each night playing duets where they trade vocals from twin pianos. Then the two stars will be performing separately before they join together for a grand finale. The shows will include greatest hits from the two stars along with selected classic rock-and-roll songs.

In 1994 Joel and John first toured together. The most recent out of their “Face 2 Face” tour came in 2003, with a 24 date, sold out trek. According to a recent press release, John and Joel are the long running concert duo and most successful in the history of pop music.