Concert Review: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden

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Concert Review: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden

By Brian | January 24, 2006 | Share on Facebook

I’m train-blogging on my way home from the show. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I bought the tickets mostly out of nostalgia, since one of my first real dates with my wife was a Billy Joel concert in Philadelphia (December 18th, 1989, she reminded me tonight). Just over 15 years later, my expectations for the now 58-year old Joel were quite low. Then I saw a few setlists & realized that this was an oportunity to hear live performances of songs I’d never heard live before.

On that score, the show did not disapppoint. He sang Everybody Loves You Now, Stiletto, Zanzibar (with a truly kick-ass flugelhorn solo, followed immediately by an even more kick-ass trumpet solo – both by the same guy), Great Wall of China (dedicated to his ex-manager – if you don’t know why, go check out the lyrics), All for Leyna, and She’s Always a Woman in addition to the standard fare of Greatest Hits material.

As to the quality of the show, there’s just no getting over the fact that the man is getting older. Some of the harder rock tunes fell a little flat (like Pressure, Big Man on Mulberry Street, which slowed down dramtically as it went on, and All For Leyna, which was a nice concert rarity, but required so much concentration from Joel that he never once looked up from the lyrics tele-prompter or even ventured a smile). Other songs, though, he pulled off quite nicely, including Big Shot, You May Be Right, It’s Still Rock & Roll To Me, Angry Young Man and I Go to Extremes. He also sang all the high notes on Innocent Man himself, something he hasn’t done in years (my wife pointed out that his new-found sobriety might have been the enabler there).

UPDATE: A listen to Billy Joel – 12 Gardens Live reveals another reason – see this blog post for more.

Being a piano player myself, my favorite part of the concert is watching Joel’s hands on the keyboard, which I consider almost as educational as it is entertaining. Tonight’s seats, third row just behind & to the left of the stage provided a great view (nice job, Jason!). I was surprised to see that he’s changed his style of play significantly. He no longer bangs the living hell out of the piano like he used to. Now, it looks much more like the old cliche – “tickling the ivories.”. There were far fewer piano riffs/solos than there had been in years past, but what he did play sounded great, even if it wasn’t as dramatic as it used to be.

Also on a musical note (groan…), the band itself was a nice reunion. Rich Cannata and Tommy Byrne were back, so we got to hear all the original sax & guitar solos from the Turnstiles and Glass Houses days, not to mention some great horn section work by Cannata, Crystal Taliefero, and Mark Rivera on songs such as Keeping the Faith, Movin’ Out, and Only the Good Die Young. A surprise to me was the absence of Liberty DeVitto who, according to someone sitting in our section, had a falling out with Joel over a book Liberty’s writing that apparently goes into a little too much detail about Billy’s days of drinking and drugs. My section-mate claims that Liberty wasn’t even invited to Billy’s latest wedding. As the man says, “melodrama’s so much fun…”

Finally, there were those special concert moments that make the price of a ticket worthwhile. We had modern day commentary in the lyrics of Zanzibar:

Rose he knows he’ll never make the Hall of Fame;
And the Yankees grab the headlines every time.

…and a nod to his recent dalliances in Scenes from an Italian Restaurant:

A bottle of white;
A bottle of red;
Perhaps a bottle of Ginger Ale instead.

…and even some political commentary from the crowd during the Piano Man finale:

Now Paul is a real estate novelist;
Who never had time for a wife.
And he’s talking with Davy, who’s still in the navy;
(crowd screams much louder than the rest of the verse:)AND PROBABLY WILL BE FOR LIFE

All in all, the show did not disappoint. It was as nostalgic as I hoped it would be, but not in that awkward, “wow, things have really gone downhill” way that I had feared. With a few exceptions, Billy Joel and his band sounded fantastic and put on a high energy, entertaining show. Yes, he shuffles around the stage instead of running, and stops for a swig of water between every song (and occasionally during someone else’s solo). But no one else in the world can make that music sound that good, and on the whole, I’m glad he’s still doing it. Bravo, Billy, and thanks for the memories.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Came looking for info on Billy Joel and only got a concert review? Check out the I Should Be Sleeping Billy Joel FAQ! Inspired by Googlers like you!)

UPDATE: I see from my server logs that over 500 of you have read this review. God Bless Google! In any case, welcome to my blog. If you like what you read, please feel free to leave a comment and/or look around a bit.

UPDATE #2: Readership on this post is approaching 2,000 users. Glad you stopped by! If you liked what you read, please feel free to look around. Billy Joel enthusiasts might appreciate my reviews of the My Lives box set (Disc 1, Disc 2, Disc 3, Disc 4) in particular. Or, just check out the main page and go from there. Enjoy, all!

UPDATE #3: Well over 3,500 7,500 pageviews now. Good lord, this thing’s getting some mileage. Seriously, though – look around. Stay awhile. What’s your hurry? You just got here…

Topics: ISBS Reviews, Words about Music | 66 Comments »

66 Responses to “Concert Review: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden”

Colin says at July 15th, 2006 at 3:50 pm :

Hi

My wife and I cant wait till Wednesday when we go to Manchester to see Billy.reading your reviews make it even better waiting for the day.

Colin
York, England
Brian says at July 15th, 2006 at 6:29 pm :

Enjoy the show, folks! Glad the review was helpful. Definitely stop by & let us know what you thought of it after you see it
Anonymous says at August 17th, 2006 at 9:50 pm :

Really enjoyed reading the review and all of these comments.

I`m a professional musician, currently onboard a Carnival cruiseliner (for my sins) and I perform several Billy tunes on a regular basis. I recently attended the Birmingham, UK gig and was so blown away that I also went to the Manchester one a couple of weeks later.

I honestly think he is on a personal high. I saw him in `89 and `94 but this tour he seems to be enjoying himself so much more, it`s really as is he discovered his love of performing again.

The best thing for me has been that it has inspired me musically. I`ve been reminded that I`m lucky to get to do this for a living, and I`m putting more into my performances every night. Much like the Great Man, although clearly I can`t compete with him…….:)
Brian says at August 17th, 2006 at 11:09 pm :

Anonymous,

You are indeed lucky to be doing what you’re doing (and don’t kid yourself – a cruiseliner isn’t the worst place in the world to be stuck working…)

I’m an adamant ameteur musician because a) I never wanted to work hard enough at music to make it my profession, and b) I don’t have enough talent to really make it pay off.

Most of my (non-musician) friends don’t notice at parties, though, so don’t tell anyone, OK? ;-)
Anonymous says at February 6th, 2007 at 10:18 am :

February and this post is kicking butt on Google under “Bill Joel Concert Reviews”.

My wife got me tix for Christmas to see him next Monday in Miami. I can’t wait. 3rd row on the floor we’ll be staring up to see the stage.

Thanks for the review. I hope he’s not too worn out from being on the road so long. At his age it must be so much harder than it used to be. But it sounds like he gave you guys a really great show and I’m very excited to see it.

And I thought his rendition of the national anthem at the Super Bowl was heartfelt and soulful but he couldn’t possibly have been very comfortable out there in the rain.
Brian says at February 6th, 2007 at 9:41 pm :

Yeah, what can I say…God Bless Google!

I’m sure the Miami show will be great. He’s older, but he knows how to take care of himself at this point. Anyone can have a bad night, but now that he’s sober, I can’t imagine any one show being that much worse than any of the others…

As for the national anthem, I have a recording of him singing it at Yankee Stadium before a World Series game. He did that one a capella, and it was way out of tune in places.

He’s clearly more comfortable in front of a piano, but singing in the rain with a stadium sound system blasting back at you is really, really hard to do. I’ve only got an average musical ear, but as Randy Jackson likes to say, the superbowl performance was still “pitchy.”

Personally, I think he should stick to Rock & Roll…
Dari says at February 7th, 2007 at 12:40 pm :

Dear Brian & All:

THANKS so much for creating this thread about Billy Joel. We are staying in Jacksonville on business and reading everyone’s contributions clinched our decision to buy tickets for his show here tonight.

I saw him in concert in Toronto, Canada while he was still married to Christie and she danced throughout the show on stage which was special to see.

We’re REALLY looking forward to seeing him tonight in concert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Won’t have computer service until the weekend – will post again after that.

THANKS & BLESSINGS
Dari
Brian says at February 7th, 2007 at 11:18 pm :

Dari,

Glad to have helped. It’s a pretty good bet that Christie won’t be dancing around the stage tonight, but now that you mention it…

There IS a pretty good chance (better than even, I’d say) that you’ll see his current wife, Katie Lee, and that you may even be the first live audience to hear “All My Life” live. That’s the new pop song he just released as a gift for his wife (like so many songs before it were gifts to Christie, and “Just the Way You Are” was a gift for his first wife).

Please report back about whether or not that happens – I’m very curious to hear it from someone who was there.

Enjoy the show!
Anonymous says at February 12th, 2007 at 6:52 pm :

Just for your information….Rich Cannata is the original sax player, but Tommy Byrnes is NOT the original guitar player from the 52ndStreet & Glass Houses days….That would be David Brown….Tommy Byrnes didn’t come on board until the early 90s.
Anonymous says at February 21st, 2007 at 3:43 pm :

Does anyone know where I can find Billy Joel’s setlists from this tour? We are seeing him tonight in Nashville and are curious what he has been playing on this tour.

Thanks!
Brian says at February 23rd, 2007 at 12:42 am :

Tommy Byrnes is NOT the original guitar player from the 52ndStreet & Glass Houses days….That would be David Brown….Tommy Byrnes didn’t come on board until the early 90s.

Noted. Thanks for correcting the record…
Len, Toronto says at April 18th, 2007 at 2:04 pm :

My wife recently told me she has never been to a concert. I did some searching and low and behold Billy Joel is coming to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. I hopped on to ticketmaster.ca and gobbled up a a couple of tickets.

This Friday, April 20th will be my wife’s first concert..and the first time I’ve seen Billy Joel live…we’re really looking forward to it! :)

I’ll try to post after the show and let you know how it went.
Anonymous says at April 23rd, 2007 at 12:30 am :

we’re going tomorrow night!… your comments make me all the more excited…
we’re taking our 2 piano-playing sons to their first concert ~ what better could we do for them!?!…
thanks for sharing your experience…
Innocent Bystander says at July 1st, 2008 at 1:07 am :

Re: Billy Joel, I have seen him in concert several times. You mentioned how he plass a classical piece, then goes right in to Angry Young Man. . . Do you have any idea on the title of the classical piece he commonly plays is? Its been on the tip of my tongue for 2 years since I saw him last at MSG

-Andrew
Brian says at July 1st, 2008 at 9:15 pm :

innocent bystander,

It’s usually Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, although it’s recorded music (not live), so he can change it whenever he likes. I believe during the Storm Front tour, for instance, it was something water/sea related…
FamilyGreenberg.Com - ISBS Review: Billy Joel at Shea Stadium - The “Last Play at Shea” says at July 17th, 2008 at 12:47 pm :

[…] my January, 2006 review of his Madison Square Garden Concert, I said, “There were far fewer piano riffs/solos than there had been in years past, but what […]