BJ
I saw Billy Joel last night at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. He was excellent. I think he was better by himself than with Elton John like he was the last two times I saw him, actually. He was able to play more songs instead of having to share time with Elton. Not that they’re not an amazing duo…
Highlights from the show:
- “Chainsaw” a roadie singing “Highway to Hell”
- “Rootbeer Rag” live
- “We didn’t start the fire”
- “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”
Billy Joel always ends his concerts with “Piano Man.” It was funny that the person a few rows behind me didn’t know that, though. After the obligatory “good night, thank you Milwaukee” at the “end” of the show, Billy came out for three more songs. Each time the guy behind me thought that the show was actually over. He was yelling and screaming about how “He can’t do that! He has to play ‘Piano Man’”. They did eventually play “Piano Man”, of course, but it was funny listening to the guy who thought he didn’t get what he paid for.
One overall impression about the concert was that the songs sounded almost exactly like they do when they were originally recorded. I like that. I like variations on things, but I don’t like the song to stray too far from the original. Even the instruments sounded just like the originals.
I believe this was the last concert for this tour. No reference was made to that, so I’m not entirely sure. I’d like to see him perform again; hopefully that happens. He’s not too old, right?