Billy Joel at Shea Stadium last night was, hands down, the best concert I have ever been to. It was fantastic! I just loved it!
I went to the concert with Deanra and Ana. Deanra and I are long time Billy Joel fans, we know every song, practically every word, and had been listening to Billy Joel all week in preparation for the concert. We were not disappointed! Ana is a newer fan, but after last night I think she might be as obsessed as Deanra and me!
It was very hot, just insanely hot. I imagine it was in the high 80's with about 90% humidity. Billy Joel was wearing a suit, I don't know how the man didn't pass out half way through the show. He kept a wet towel on his head during the third hour. The stadium was packed!! They said there were 63,000 people there last night!
The show opened with the typical baseball type recorded announcement for the audience to please stand for the National Anthem. I couldn't really find the flag in the stadium to look at, other than the ones surrounding the uppermost deck, but we stood and we sang. It was so moving to start off this way with all those thousands of people singing the anthem in unison with Billy Joel leading the chorus.
He played most of my favorites. The seating was a little odd in the sections and Deanra ended up sitting in front of us, but the guy next to her was keeping a list of the songs Billy Joel sang and at the end, Deanra said he had counted 31 songs!! The photo above was of The Ballad of Billy the Kid, with the desert scene in the background. I love the way that he makes the horse clucking sounds in the beginning. I always forget when I am listening to that song on CD that it is him and not a sound machine.
During Goodnight Saigon I called George so that he could listen. Of course I couldn't hear anything he said! Hopefully he heard some music over the screaming. Deanra had called her Dad too, another Billy Joel fan. On the stage they had about 10-15 soldiers and NYC police and firefighters singing along. They got a standing ovation from the audience, as well as another ovation from Billy Joel and the band.
Deanra kept waiting for We Didn't Start the Fire, and finally we heard the opening notes of the song. I think Billy Joel could have just stopped singing because at least half the people knew every word of that song! The screens showed an image from each of the historical memories mentioned. Who is that guy up there? Stalin maybe? I'm not sure.
I had heard on the radio after Wednesday night's show, the first concert at Shea, that Tony Bennett came on to sing a song with Billy Joel, so I was anticipating a cameo appearance. But that was only the beginning! Tony Bennett came out and sang New York State of Mind. Garth Brooks joined him on stage for Shameless, which is a Brooks song that Billy Joel covered on one of his more recent albums. Then when we thought the concert had to be ending soon, Stephen Tyler from Aerosmith came out to sing Walk This Way!! Followed by Roger Daltry from The Who, who came out to sing My Generation! At that point we really just thought, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!! I kept thinking this is a concert that I would be thrilled to see on TV!! Nevermind being there!
At around 11pm, Billy Joel was talking and introduced one more person coming out. I couldn't hear him, the screaming was literally deafening. I kept screaming to Ana, WHAT DID HE SAY?? She kept screaming back, but I could hear nothing. And the screaming continued. It was at least 10 seconds of this insane noise before I saw what they were screaming about... SIR Paul McCartney!! The Beatles were the first band to play at Shea Stadium in 1964. The concert last night will be the last, as the stadium is being ripped down and rebuilt across the street. Just unbelivably cool. Historical. I can't believe I was there!!
Paul McCartney and Billy Joel sang I Saw her Standing There, and everyone was up out of their seats. Even the old people next to me, who I had wondered earlier if they had been forced to attend the concert last night since they barely moved before that song, got up and danced! The stadium was moving literally. The seating there is all cantilevered concrete, and it was a little nervewracking feeling the movement in the stadium, especially knowing it was going to be ripped down soon! Later we all joked that we had all thought about the headlines tomorrow. Billy Joel and Paul McCartney Bring Down the House, Literally! Billy Joel followed that up with I think, River of Dreams, but honestly there were so many songs played last night, that I am having a very hard time remembering the order. I thought it was so odd that the person next to Deanra was keeping a playlist, but maybe he's a blogger!
The main part of the show ended there, but we knew there would be an encore. We just had no idea how much of an encore! Billy Joel came out and sang Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, love that one. He also sang another hit, but I'm not sure which. Then he left the stage again. We didn't think it could be over, since he always ends the show with Piano Man, and he hadn't sung that yet. After a lot more screaming and whistling and chants of Let's Go Billy, Let's Go! (We were in a baseball stadium afterall), he came back out and played his final song, Piano Man. It was wonderful, as always.
But the final surprise came after Piano Man, when some people had already left thinking they would beat the traffic and they'd only miss the final song. Well they missed a good one. Paul McCartney came back out and with Billy Joel as back up singer, sang Let It Be.
It was a fitting and wonderful sentimental ending for Shea Stadium, that the first to sing, was also the last. Amazing. Magical. I was just so thrilled to be there! The concert was over three hours long! It started at 8:45 and didn't end until midnight! Needless to say, after getting home at 3am, I am poking around today. But since it's still 90+ degrees out, that's probably not a bad idea. Maybe I'll just put my Ipod into my speakers and re-live last night over and over.
