Music Monday — BILLY JOEL!!!!

 Before we talk about Billy Joel … I would be remiss if I did not mention the passing of Burt Bacharach,  

So if you’re  a long time reader of this blog, you know the saga of the Billy Joel tickets.  But let me rehash.

I am a Long Island native and a huge fan  of Mr. William Martin Joel and his music.  I wasn’t much of a concert-goer when I was young, but I have more than made up for it these last few years.  

The first time I saw Billy Joel perform live was not at a Billy Joel concert, but rather, at Paul McCartney’s first concert at Citi Field in 2009.  I had wanted to see Billy’s “Last Play at Shea” the previous year, but couldn’t get tickets, so I missed the iconic moment when McCartney showed up to sing a duet with Billy.  But I was there when Billy showed up at McCartney’s concert.  Heaven. 

In January 2014 Billy started his residency at Madison Square Garden.  He plays one concert each month. We saw two concerts in 2014.  Loved them both.

So I had a milestone birthday in February 2020, and I wanted to celebrate at MSG with Billy.  But there were things going on in my life, and by the time everything got resolved we couldn’t get tickets unless we wanted to pay a fortune to scalpers (I’m looking at you, StubHub.)

I bought tickets for the May 2020 concert.

And you know what happened.

COVID. 

The concert was postponed of course.  Rescheduled for January 2022.

So Billy played a concert in November 2021.  He played a concert in December 2021.  

And then we got a COVID spike, and the January 2022 concert was postponed.  Since Billy had already scheduled concerts from February 2022 through July 2022, my concert was postponed until August 2022.

So we were supposed to see Rod Stewart at Jones Beach August 23,  and Billy Joel at the Garden August 24.

And then … life got in the way of my concert going.  My mother passed away.  

Drew took a friend to the Rod Stewart concert, and I sold my Billy Joel tickets.  I made a profit on the tickets.  But I cried.

And then, in October, Billy announced a concert at MSG on February 14, 2023.  And I bought tickets.

I won’t really relax until I am sitting in the Garden tomorrow night …

So you’ve guessed whose music I am featuring today …

With Elton John

  

Fan-shot video with Jon Bon Jovi 

  

With Olivia Rodrigo

Boyz II Men

  

The Boss

  

Jimmy Fallon

  

Tony Bennett

And a few videos with Sir Paul McCartney.  First is an “only in New York” story

  

Oh, you want to hear the whole song?

Here’s the version from Citi Field

  

And we close it out with (what else?) “Piano Man”.  This version is from the night Billy was honored at the Gershwin Awards

  

I can’t wait until tomorrow night.