Making The Case For Billy

Billy Joel – Madison Square Garden – New York, NY – January 26, 2006

This may seem a surprising show considering the concert reviews of the last half a decade but make no mistake – Mr. Joel is what radio-friendly pop music should have always been about. His hooks have almost always been solid without being saccharine. And live wise, he remains the embodiment of New York in popular music. He inherited the mantle of Tin Pan Alley serenader in the guise of the Beatles. He’s Springsteen without the musical bombardment. He’s Elton John without the flamboyancy. Most importantly, he’s Billy. He’s his own musical marker on American pop culture. He still has guts. Rather than play a slue of radio hits, he mixes his live show with album tracks like “Vienna”, “Zanzibar”, “Laura”, and “Sometimes A Fantasy”. And I dare anyone who hears 25,000 people sing “Piano Man” in perfect unison without a single error or mistake to not feel a chill, even if you’ve heard the song 100 times too many. Don’t take shit from anybody.

A+