Billy Joel’s lengthy residency at Madison Square Garden turned into a massive birthday party this past Thursday.

I have attended many Billy Joel concerts through the years; young, old, with Elton John, large venues, at the Paramount in Huntington (could it really have been 2013?). You knew that this was not going to be an ordinary evening when MSG staff handed out “Happy Birthday Billy” cardboard hats and a variety of Joel baseball type souvenir cards in plastic casings as the crowd excitingly headed up the escalators. The band hit the stage at 8:20 with no opening act and the adoring, seemingly Long Island, audience were in a celebratory mood as Billy sang the soundtrack of the lives to many in the crowd. Video greetings from Pink, Brian Johnson, Don Henley and Paul McCartney were interspersed with the mostly familiar Billy Joel songs performed this night. A surprise guest performance at about the halfway point by Peter Frampton, who will be on a farewell tour this year, added to a joyful event. Mr. Joel’s daughter Alexa sang “New York State of Mind” with dad which led into a Happy Birthday singalong with his youngest daughter who joined the two onstage. There were no Springsteen or McCartney cameos as hoped, not even Howard Stern or Kevin James, but it was all fine. The night was a true celebration of a national treasure, and a seemingly good guy, who has never forgotten where he came from. It’s hard not to like Billy Joel; he’s one of the good guys. He cannot bound around on stage like he once could, but even at seventy it appears the show will go on for years to come.

It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me

Rock on!

GQ

My wife and I traveled to San Diego, California last week to attend a wedding. The day after we arrived, we went to Petco Park and watched the San Diego Padres play the Seattle Mariners battle to a 1-0 hometown victory. After settling in at our La Jollia hotel, we Ubered our way to Humphreys by the Bay situated outdoors. in the heart of a resort and restaurant development. Despite the resort and restaurant packages, and overall reasonable ticket prices, the concert was nowhere close to sold out. Fortunately for us, for $59.00 (plus the Ticketmaster charges), we sat 3rd row center in the narrow plastic chairs that did not fold making it difficult to pass. Mr. Anderson opened the concert with the classic “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and proceeded to mix songs from his brand new album “1,000 Hands” with older solo works and the Yes catalog. Jon looked and sounded great with a capable band that played well but lacked the stage presence provided by some of Anderson’s other touring bands. The venue had the vibe that you were somehow at some private event with full service bar and cozy atmosphere.. Jon Anderson is still the ultimate showman and the music still holds up; and as all true artists do, he is still creating new and innovative sonic art. Jon seemed to be particularly attentive to a beautiful blonde seated at the end of the first row who I believe turned out to be his wife. She sang along to the new tunes and was seen briefly dancing with Anderson on the side of the stage near the end of the show during an instrumental break. My wife, who was never a big Yes fan, loved the concert and we happily exited with the encore “Roundabout” reverberating in our heads.

Makes Me Happy

Rock on !

GQ