Saw Billy Joel Friday Night

[SteveSly]

I saw Billy Joel at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Friday night. Joel is one of those artists whom I have found extremely inconsistent over the years. I think some of his material is brilliant, and some I don’t particularly care for. I am not sure that he ever put together what I would consider a “great” album from start to finish, but the majority of his albums have moments of excellence. A friend of mine ended up with an extra ticket to the Chicago show, so I decided to take him up on it and go. Having never seen Joel before, and having had mixed experiences at big stadium shows, I went into it without huge expectations, but I have to admit Joel put on one hell of a show and I was really glad I went. Before I get into the show itself I want to say a few things about the production. We had seats way up high in the upper deck, kind of on the 1st base side (the stage was set up in the middle of the outfield). From where we were sitting the sound was amazing. Everything was crystal clear which is not something you typically have at a big stadium show. The production was also fantastic. Joel had big screens on either side of the stage that was used to show both films and close-ups of Joel and the band. The light show was also very very well done. No pyro or big special effects, but the lighting rig was used just about perfectly to compliment the music.

The show itself was a lot of fun, and I thought the set list gave a really nice overview of Joel’s career. Even the songs I don’t particularly like came across well live. Joel’s voice is a bit lower than it used to be, but I thought he still sounded great for the most part. He is one of those artists that knows how to use his voice as it has aged, and I had no complaints. Joel’s band was top notch and he gave plenty of room for individual band members to step up to the spotlight and show their stuff. Joel spent most of the night behind the piano, but did come out front for some of the encore, playing a bit of guitar and singing up front. He can’t run around the stage like he did when he was younger, but I never saw him in his prime, so can’t really compare. At several points during the set he gave the audience a choice of what he would play next. To my surprise, the audience did not always pick the more popular song, and sometimes went for something more obscure like the song “Vienna” from “The Stranger” album. He gave the audience a choice between two of my favorite songs “The Downeaster Alexa” or “Ballad Of Billy The Kid”. I would have liked to have heard both of them, but the crowd went with “Downeaster”. Along with the hits, Joel pulled out several prime album cuts and some interesting covers. He did a killer version of The Beatles “Day In The Life” as a celebration of Sgt. Pepper’s 50th anniversary. Of course there are songs he did not do that I wish he had. No “Captain Jack”, “Goodnight Saigon” or “Angry Young Man”, but that is a minor quibble. The show was a solid 2.5 hours with no break. Set highlights included opening up with “Miami 2017 (I’ve Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)” which was very very cool with the city lights in the background. “Pressure” , “The Entertainer”, and “New York State Of Mind” were very cool too. Of course 40,000 people singing along to “Piano Man” was something magical. Joel was also quite funny with some of his in between song anecdotes and stories. He looks kind of like Uncle Fester these days, but still has that charisma that brought him fame back in the day. All in all the show totally exceeded my expectations and was a really great event in a historical old ballpark.
Here is the set list:

MIAMI 2017 (I’VE SEEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT ON BROADWAY)
PRESSURE
GO CUBS GO (Of course the crowd went bananas for this, singing along. I am a tigers fan so did not even know what it was until they were about half way through it)
THE ENTERTAINER
KOREA (Joel stayed away from politics for the most part, but did a verse of the song “Maria” from West Side Story with lyrics changed to “Korea”. It was a funny moment.)
VIENNA
THE LIONS SLEEPS TONIGHT (Cover)
THE LONGEST TIME
ZANZIBAR
A DAY IN THE LIFE (BEATLES COVER)
MOVIN OUT
THE DOWNEASTER ALEXA
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
25 OR 6 TO 4 (CHICAGO COVER)
ALLENTOWN
SOMETIMES A FANTASY
SHE’S ALWAYS A WOMAN
DON’T ASK ME WHY
MY LIFE
RIVER OF DREAMS / HARD DAY’S NIGHT / RIVER OF DREAMS
NESSUN DORMA (very cool sung by one of his band members)
SCENES FROM AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT
PIANO MAN

ENCORE:

WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE
UPTOWN GIRL
ITS STILL ROCK N ROLL TO ME
BIG SHOT
ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
YOU MAY BE RIGHT / ROCK N ROLL (ZEPPELIN COVER)

[BravadoNJ]

i love Billy but i always hated It's Still R&R To Me!

how long was the show- it looks like a 3.5 hour setlist.....

[SteveSly]

i love Billy but i always hated It's Still R&R To Me!

how long was the show- it looks like a 3.5 hour setlist.....

Yup, I am with you there, and not a fan of the song. Everytime I hear that song all I can think of is the weird Al parody “It’s Still Billy Joel To Me”.

Regarding set time. The show was supposed to start at 8PM, but he came on a bit late (lots of people still looking for their seats at 8PM). I think it was about 8:15 to 8:20 when he hit the stage and he went until right up close to 11PM so it was at least 2.5 hours, maybe a bit longer.

[Sputnik]

I' agree with you about Joel's somewhat "uneven" output, but like you, there are songs by him I love. Vienna happens to be one, probably my favorite, and I'm gratified the crowd felt that way too. I think The Stranger is a great album, but I'd agree after that it's more hit-or-miss. I like Turnstiles, and that and The Stranger might be the only two I have on CD (I had several on vinyl back in the day). I should probably grab some of his other 70s albums, there is some good stuff on those that I haven't heard in ages.

I saw Billy Joel on the Nylon Curtain tour. I remember it as being good, not great. I think the set list you go is better than the show I saw, and it seeing a show at Wrigley is very cool. Sounds like a great show, glad you had a good time.

Bill

[SteveSly]

I' agree with you about Joel's somewhat "uneven" output, but like you, there are songs by him I love. Vienna happens to be one, probably my favorite, and I'm gratified the crowd felt that way too. I think The Stranger is a great album, but I'd agree after that it's more hit-or-miss. I like Turnstiles, and that and The Stranger might be the only two I have on CD (I had several on vinyl back in the day). I should probably grab some of his other 70s albums, there is some good stuff on those that I haven't heard in ages.

I saw Billy Joel on the Nylon Curtain tour. I remember it as being good, not great. I think the set list you go is better than the show I saw, and it seeing a show at Wrigley is very cool. Sounds like a great show, glad you had a good time.

Bill

"Vienna" was very cool. He gave a choice between it and one of his hits. I think it was "Just The Way You Are" if I remember correctly, and the crowd picked "Vienna". I was pleased. I agree that "The Stranger" and "Turnstiles" are both pretty solid all the way through and may be his best overall albums. I like "Nylon Curtain" a lot too, and think that "Storm Front" is an underated one.

[Jerjo]

My brother saw Billy when he did this show at Target Field in Minneapolis. He said the song selection seemed a little off balance but Billy finished very strong.

Last time I saw him was in the 90s and the last third of the show was all rockers that started with a cover of Zep's "Good Times Bad Times". And of course at the end of the show Joel gave his usual parting advice to the crowd: Remember, never take shit from ANYBODY!

[miamiscot]

Billy Joel is kind of a guilty pleasure for me. I've always loved his music (but not Elton John's - go figure).

We need an Attila reunion. Jon Small needs the money and Billy owes him one after stealing his woman...

[Sputnik]

So this thread inspired me to check out a couple of Billy Joel albums, and I'm glad I did.

I used to have 52nd Street on vinyl, but I always considered a poor stepsister of The Stranger. But I got a cheap copy on CD and after a couple of spins I'm definitely revising my opinion. First off, the track Zanzibar is awesome, definitely Joel channeling Steely Dan. I also forgot how much I liked Rosalinda's Eyes, a song I sometimes sung to myself but totally forgot it was Billy Joel (I actually thought it was a Paul Simon track I'd heard somewhere). And after not hearing the hits on this album for a while, they sounded fresh. Overall a really good album, maybe not quite as good as The Stranger, but very worthy to my ears.

The other one I got was Glass Houses, one I'd never owned. The first four tracks on this album are killer, especially after not hearing them for a long time, and actually the quality stays high up to about the last two tracks, which dip a bit. I haven't given this one as much time as 52nd Street, but I like its more "direct" and rocking sound.

So, two nice additions to the "non-Prog" section of my collection. I guess the other one I should probably consider is Piano Man. I had this on vinyl as well and remember the standout tracks, but not a lot about the others.Probably worth a revisit.

Interestingly, reading that Billy Joel was highly influenced by Elton John on his earlier records, I've just got Tumbleweed Connection and spun it last night. I've never owned any Elton John, just know his hits from the radio, which I largely like, but do get a bit overplayed. I thought Tumbleweed was interesting because it's touted as one of his best, but has very few super-major hits. I do recognize more of the material than I thought I would have, but generally it's pretty unknown stuff for me. Honestly, I don't hear a huge Billy Joel connection, EJ's stuff has a different slant to me, but aside from a couple of tracks which I thought were a little "dull," I really enjoyed this album.

I've been revisiting some stuff like this of late, non-Prog 70s stuff that I haven't heard for ages and maybe didn't spend enough time with the first time around. You can get stuff like this super cheap now on CD, so I figure what the heck, might as well grab them while I still can.

Bill

[Fracktured]

My favorite Joel album is still Turnstiles. The Nylon Curtain gets a big nod also.


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[Fracktured]

Hey Bill, if you want The Piano Man you should get the deluxe edition. It has his Sigma Sound Studio broadcast on the second cd. WMMR in Philadelphia used to broadcast artists from the studio with a small audience. They were all recorded but when I asked one of the old DJs years ago what happened to all those concerts he told me all the tapes were thrown into a dumpster years ago. I don't know if the artists were given copies or not but some have survived through bootlegs. The Billy Joel concert still sounds pretty good so I don't know if that's from the original tapes or not. Billy was very popular in Philly before he hit it big.


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[SteveSly]

My favorite Joel album is still Turnstiles. The Nylon Curtain gets a big nod also.


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Yup, those are probably my two favorites as well along with "The Stranger". I also think "Storm Front" has some great moments on it.

[SteveSly]

So this thread inspired me to check out a couple of Billy Joel albums, and I'm glad I did

So, two nice additions to the "non-Prog" section of my collection. I guess the other one I should probably consider is Piano Man. I had this on vinyl as well and remember the standout tracks, but not a lot about the others.Probably worth a revisit.


Bill

For the prog fan I would think "Turnstiles" would be the ticket. It is one of my favorites by Joel.

[JJ88]

'Zanzibar' is a nice surprise in the set- the original studio one has Freddie Hubbard on it. That, 'The Entertainer', 'Prelude/Angry Young Man' and 'Goodnight Saigon' strike me as being the more prog-friendly among his songs. But he had a good run for around ten years or so...for all the big sales I think he's quite underrated. I think an AllMusic review of that mega-selling Greatest Hits said something like when you listen to all those songs, you wonder why he's not had more critical acclaim for that period.

I think 'Uptown Girl' and 'The Longest Time' are well done but he loses me around that time...too much overt commerciality, culminating in the regrettable novelty-style 'We Didn't Start The Fire'.

[SteveSly]

'
I think 'Uptown Girl' and 'The Longest Time' are well done but he loses me around that time...too much overt commerciality, culminating in the regrettable novelty-style 'We Didn't Start The Fire'.

Although I am not a huge fan of "We Didn't Start The Fire" either, the "Storm Front" album did have some really good stuff on it like "The Downeaster Alexa", "Lenningrad", "I Go To Extremes" and a couple other decent tunes.

[GuitarGeek]

The Nylon Curtain has a lot of great songs on it, like Pressure (it was years before I really understood what all the words were about), She's Right On Time, and Goodnight Saigon.

One song of his that nobody seems to mention is Scandinavian Skies, which he said once was his homage to Strawberry Fields Forever. It's a great, weird tune, and I bet if you put it on for someone who didn't know it, they'd never guess it was Billy Joel, at least, not until he starts singing, and of course you'd probably recognize his voice.

I also like the Atila album. That's one you put on for people, and they'll never believe it's Billy Joel. I've got both of the Hassles albums around here someplace, but I haven't listened to them in so long, I don't remember much about them.

[JJ88]

Although I am not a huge fan of "We Didn't Start The Fire" either, the "Storm Front" album did have some really good stuff on it like "The Downeaster Alexa", "Lenningrad", "I Go To Extremes" and a couple other decent tunes.

'Leningrad' is the one of those later hits I like and find worthy of what he did in 1973-82.

'Modern Woman' is another I find very dated. Classic 'bad 80s' sound.

I generally linked him to later hits I find irritating like '...Fire' and 'Tell Her About It' so when I heard The Stranger I was very impressed- a great album. Think I found 52nd Street next and liked that almost as much, a few iffy things on the 2nd half let it down. But the first half is rock-solid, culminating with the brilliant 'Zanzibar'. 'My Life' is one I remember hearing a lot on some oldies station I used to listen to!

[jake]

If you cant catch Billy or can't afford to see him, maybe Gene Ween will hit the spot for you....

[JKL2000]

Although I am not a huge fan of "We Didn't Start The Fire" either, the "Storm Front" album did have some really good stuff on it like "The Downeaster Alexa", "Lenningrad", "I Go To Extremes" and a couple other decent tunes.

Can't believe I'm posting on this thread, but I'm surprised The Downeaster Alexa is from that album, it definitely seems like it would be from an earlier Billy Joel album. I feel like I've known it much longer than We Didn't Start the Fire.

[undergroundrailroad]

, there are songs by him I love. Vienna happens to be one, probably my favorite,

"Vienna" has a strange, bittersweet atmosphere. I put it in a group of little tunes like "Any Major Dude" and "Many Too Many" that can yank me into the wistful zone instantaneously.

Thomas Dolby had a song called "Leipzig" that must have been an answer to Joel's "Vienna" with its similar chorus "Leipzig is calling your name" vs. "Vienna waits for you."

[JJ88]

^One of the few songs on the album not on the double Greatest Hits but it's as good as any of those. That piano intro is great.

Another one which made me think he had a lot of talent was seeing a very early TV performance of him on the Old Grey Whistle Test, promoting the then-new 'Piano Man'.

[Fracktured]

Can't believe I'm posting on this thread, but I'm surprised The Downeaster Alexa is from that album, it definitely seems like it would be from an earlier Billy Joel album. I feel like I've known it much longer than We Didn't Start the Fire.

Yeah Downeaster Alexa is a great song and could have fur on some of his earlier works.


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[pb2015]

I like the album Cold Spring Harbor. Try to find the speed-corrected original mix. Maybe someone has it up on YouTube.

[pb2015]

Also, for a bit of "prog content" regarding Billy Joel, Chuck Burgi once of Brand X became his drummer after he parted ways with Liberty DeVitto, and I think is still with him.

[GuitarGeek]

I like the album Cold Spring Harbor. Try to find the speed-corrected original mix. Maybe someone has it up on YouTube.

I have that on the computer, too, but I don't think I've listened to it. Someone bundled that, the two Hassles albums, and the Atilla album together in one torrent, so I ended up with all four of them.

[GuitarGeek]

Also, for a bit of "prog content" regarding Billy Joel, Chuck Burgi once of Brand X became his drummer after he parted ways with Liberty DeVitto, and I think is still with him.

Isn't Dave Rosenthal, who was in the reformed version of Happy The Man, also in Billy's band?

Chuck Burgi also played in Rainbow (I believe again with Rosenthal), Blue Oyster Cult, and I believe he was one of the drummers who played with Zebra, while their regular drummer Guy Gelso was out of commission during the mid 90's.