Last Play at Shea....

So what did you do this weekend?

I went to a virtual Billy Joel concert.

You’re shocked ... not.

You know how I feel about Billy.  I’ve mentioned him more than any other artist, I think. Especially over the last few weeks.  I promise that after today I’ll move on to another obsession ...

But Billy is a Long Islander.  He's one of us.  I've seen him twice at Madison Square  Garden, and will see him again in November.

Billy was supposed to do a concert at the  Garden Friday night, but of course that's been postponed, so instead he broadcast the  famous Shea Stadium concert on his Facebook.

It was 2008, and Shea Stadium, the home of the New York Mets, was about to be torn down, to be replaced by the current ballpark, Citi Field.  Billy  played two concerts at Shea, on July 16 and July 18, 2008, to close down the old ballpark.  It was the perfect choice.

Over the two nights he had several guests:  Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Roger Daltry, Steven Tyler, Don Henley, and the best surprise, Sir Paul McCartney.

You may have heard about Sir Paul being in London  when the second concert started, how he flew into JFK while Billy was singing at Shea, and how the NYPD escorted him 10 miles  from the airport to the stadium so that he could close the show.

Sir Paul sang "I Saw Her Standing There",  and Sir Paul closed things out with "Let It Be".

I would have killed for a ticket... but alas....

At least the concert was recorded, a double CD and a DVD.  And there was a documentary, Last Play at Shea, which talked about the history of the ballpark, the Mets, and Billy’s life, as well as the back story of the concerts.

And I managed to get tickets for Sir Paul's first concert at Citi Field the following year, with Billy Joel as his special guest...

And even though I own the DVD, watching the concert with other fans on Facebook was a different type of experience.

So here are some of  the highlights ...