Billy Joel has been playing one show a month this year at Madison Square Garden in New York. I was lucky enough to attend his September performance last week. I knew that, within a couple of days, his fans' videos would go up on YouTube so I could share a few songs with you all, and I was not disappointed. Join me below the fold for some music!
This was one of the most entertaining concerts I've ever been to. The poor man was sick, and was spraying his throat throughout to keep from losing his voice, but he performed with enormous energy and good humor. The hometown crowd adores him and he obviously loves playing for them. Most of the audience sang along most of the time, which would annoy me in a smaller venue (I paid to hear Billy Joel, after all), but MSG is big enough and well enough amplified that it didn't detract. It won't be as obvious from the few songs I've picked here (from among what was available), but his repertoire has a strongly working-class perspective, and the audience loves that too. [Song title links below are to the YouTube pages, for those who have trouble with embeds.]
Don't Ask Me Why:
The opening rhythms of
My Life reminded him of the
Colonel Bogey March, best known from
The Bridge on the River Kwai:
After seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, Joel decided to pursue a career in music. In an interview he said of the group's impact, "That one performance changed my life ... Up to that moment I'd never considered playing rock as a career. And when I saw four guys who didn't look like they'd come out of the Hollywood star mill, who played their own songs and instruments, and especially because you could see this look in John Lennon's face -- and he looked like he was always saying: 'F--- you!' -- I said: 'I know these guys, I can relate to these guys, I am these guys.' This is what I'm going to do -- play in a rock band'."
Thus, the
River of Dreams/Hard Day's Night medley: (Stick with the vid -- the focus
does clear up!)
Just the Way You Are: "...And then, we got divorced..."
His tribute to Joe Cocker was to perform an entire song AS Joe Cocker. I was sincerely astonished that he could still sing a note after doing this, but there was quite a bit more show left and he did fine.
With a Little Help from My Friends:
I went to this show with my BFF, a woman I've known since 1977, which some may note was the release date of the first of the original Star Wars movies. We were big fans. When I told her I was doing this diary, she insisted that I point out how much present-day Billy Joel with a harmonica holder resembles the dying, unhelmeted Darth Vader:
And this brings us to the finale, both of this diary and of the main set of the show. (There was, of course, an encore set. Here? Just the comments!) Piano Man:
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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