Billy Joel: Sharing the Tunes

Tonight we caught Billy Joel in Concert in Washington DC. It’s at least the fourth time I’ve seen Bill in concert, which put him up with the Replacements, Elvis Costello, and The Clash, for performers I’ve seen live most often.

And Billy didn’t disappoint. We were seated in the front row, behind stage right, which gave a great view of the concert, probably better than I’ve ever enjoyed. It wasn’t just that we could see Billy and his band, but it was like seeing the concert from his band’s point of view. When he looked back at his drummer with a nod or a mouthed word, we saw it. And in most cases we knew which song was coming next, because we shared Billy’s view of the teleprompter which shared his lyrics with him.

There were a few other notable moments. We could see what was obviously a hearing impaired section of the arena, where a rotation of signers worked vigorously to sign every song for their section. And an unexpected moment on the playlist came when Billy put on a guitar and brought a long-serving roadie on stage to sing “Highway to Hell”.

To my wife’s frustration, I couldn’t just enjoy the show without using the gadget on my hip to share the love. So I snapped a lot of crappy quality Treo photos, and dialed up various friends to share some live Billy with them.

Here’s who go what:

Neal – Allentown

Kenny – Goodnight Saigon
(he knows why)

Mike – Movin’ Out

Doug – Captain Jack

Marne – I Don’t Know Why I Go to Extremes
(would have been ‘Pressure’, but I was in line for a drink)

Jenny – It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me

Kevin (in Tokyo and by request) – You May Be Right

Rick – sorry man, you should have gotten ‘Big Shot’, but it was one of the few moments that I put my phone down and just listened. But I still dedicated it to you.