Billy Joel and Elton John brought their Face2Face tour to the Kohl Center Thursday night on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

After seeing two Dead shows earlier in the week, I was in the mood for another marathon, and that is just what these two rock and roll icons delivered. The show began and ended mellow, but in between those bookends they rocked the house. Individually and together, these guys are a major force.

Playing together on the first four tunes, they eased into it with “Your Song,” “Just the Way You Are” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” before kicking it up a notch on “My Life.”

At that point Billy and his band left the stage and Elton brought the thunder. Although his ballads are great, I love Elton when he rocks the snot out of it. The baby boomers’ version of Liberace did just that, opening with “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.” I’ve always thought this song was Elton at his absolute best, and on this night he tore it up.

The frenetic pace continued with “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” before a smoldering “Burn Down the Mission.” Next it was on to “Madman Across the Water,” before the string of obligatory hits. Sandwiched between the chart-toppers was a fabulous “Leave On.”

When Billy took over he kicked it into high gear right away with “Angry Young Man” and “Movin’ Out,” followed by a phenomenal “Zanzibar,” which featured his brilliant two-man horn section. The rest of his bangin’ set brought some of my favorites, including “Don’t Ask Me Why,” “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and a kick-ass closing of “Only the Good Die Young.”

Then it was time for Elton to return, and the pair graced us with another nine tunes. It’s a treat to watch them trading lyrics with both bands rockin’ behind them. The highlight was the back-to-back Beatles tunes, “Birthday” (in honor of Billy’s 60th, which is today) and “Back in the USSR.” The intensity of these renditions was freakin’ electric.

As we roared our approval, the two bands left the stage and it was just Billy, Elton and their pianos for the closing “Candle in the Wind” and, of course, “Piano Man.”

A splendiferous time was had by all.