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From: [email protected] Subject: [J] Billy Joel Concert at MSG -- (December 5th, 1998) Hey there fellow "Piano Fans", Here is my review and set-list from the Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden on December 5th, 1998... ___________________________________________ - -Before the show, I saw a camera-crew from "Dateline NBC" that were doing a show on ticket borkers and Ron McClary came to my seat. He is the person that I met at the Nassau Coliseum who also went to an enormous amount of shows. 8:01pm -- Ron and I met Michael Mellet at Section 69 and spoke to him for a few minutes. We asked about Bekka and he told us that she was busy recording a new album or her own. We went back to my seat and while we were talking, the man and woman that had seats next to me showed up and sat down. They introduced themselves to me and I told that who I was and they guessed that I was "Dan from Long Island". The man claimed that he had lived across the street from Billy when he was a kid and that they were childhood friends since they were 4 years-old. He also told me that Billy says his name on the "1972 Sigma Studios in Philadelphia" bootleg. Before the show, this other guy, who said that he was friends with Liberty DeVitto, came over with a Japanese guy. They switched seats with the people that were sitting next to me and we spoke for a little bit. So now the people that were sitting next to me were now going to have seats on the floor. Anyway, the Japanese guy's name was Satoshi Hashimoto and came all the way from Japan just to see Billy Joel. I was also told that he was the first person to send over the first "Billy Joel/Elton John Face 2 Face" video tape to the United States. The guy that said that he was Liberty's friend told me that Billy would be back in the area in January or February and he told me what Billy would be opening with. 8:22pm -- "The Natural (Theme)" 8:26pm -- "The Natural (Theme)" again. 1. "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" 2. "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" -He began with saying, "1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4..." During the music solo, David S., Mark, Crystal, and Tommy were all together on the left side. <Opening Remarks> "...Thank you very much, good evening New York City..." He then spoke about how it has been hard getting around the city in the past coupled of days because of all the shopping. Then he said, "Welcome to Madison Square Garden, I'll be here for a few dates." Then he asked if anyone actually paid $38.50 for their tickets. Then he asked who paid more. (A lot of people cheered.) And then he said that he didn't understand that. He then said that he doesn't have a new album out and that he only has to promote his "used cars" album. So he said that he's "...gonna do a lot of old shit..." He introduced the next song as a song from 1982 off of the "Nylon Curtain" album. 3. "Allentown" -During the song, the piano rotated. Something that looked like confetti fell from above and he grabbed some of it and gave it a weird look. And then the piano rotated at the end. - -Tinkered on the piano. And said that the next song was from 1971 and that he doesn't even have a copy of it at his house. He said that this next song was for his first ex-wife. 4. "She's Got A Way" -At the end of the song, he shoved some of that confetti off of his piano. - -Introduced the next song as a song from 1987. 5. "Big Man On Mulberry Street" -Mark & Crystal played their saxes face to face. - -Moved over to the left-hand piano. 6. "Pressure" - -Went up to the front microphone and got some flowers and said, "thanks a lot". Then he introduced the next song as a song from 1983. Then he introduced Michael Mellet and Dave Rosenthal as being from "New Joisey". Then he said, "This next song proves that I don't know what I'm talkin' about. This was for Ex- #2". Then he said that before the show, Muhammed Ali came backstage and said that he liked meeting him. Then he said, "He's the greatest!" and put his fist up in the air. 7. "An Innocent Man" -Dave Rosenthal moves up to Billy's piano for this song. After the song, Billy took those flowers away. - -Moved up to the far-piano. 8. "My Life" -Started it with "1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4..." - -He then said "thank you" twice and then said "thank you very much", tinkered on the piano and took a sip of his drink. Introduced Mark Rivera and introduced Dave Santos. He said that Dave is the new guy and that he's really been there for a year already, but that they still beat the shit out of him. Then he introduced the "senior" member of the band, Liberty DeVitto who he said has been with him since 1975. He said that he is from Seaford, Long Island and then took another sip. 9. "I Go To Extremes" -During the piano-solo, he kicked away his stool and sat on the piano. - -He then said "thank you" and said that this next song goes back to 1976, from "Turnstiles". 10. "Prelude/Angry Young Man" -During the song, the piano rotated twice and he did all of the usual hand motions. He also played the piano at the end like he did in the "Kohuept" concert. 11. "Goodnight Saigon" -There were 4 veterans standing behind him and at the end of the song, there were those helicopter-lights. Also, Liberty pretended like his drum-stick was a gun. And after the song, he turned around on his stool and showed a peace- sign. - -Then he began to speak to the people in the front and said, "I don't know how you guys know the songs -- we keep getting older and you keep getting younger. Then he said that he was going to play two songs from the last album. 12. "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" 13. "River of Dreams" -He paused for a long time during the scheduled pause and the piano rotated. - -He was then given his guitar and said, "thank you" and introduced Crystal as being from Gary, Indiana. Then he recognized somebody in the audience. It was the same guy that had been sitting next to me before the show. He was telling the truth, he really did know Billy. Billy asked what he was doing there and started talking about how when they were 13 years-old, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the weather was beautiful and he thought that one day he would look across the street and his house would just be a mushroom cloud. Then he said, "And now my kid's gonna be 13, things are looking up." Then he asked us all to sing along to the next song. 14. "We Didn't Start The Fire" -When he said "Brooklyn", the crowd cheered. - -Then he played with the microhpone and introduced Tommy. He twirled the microphone-stand. 15. "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me" -Did the wind-mill arm-motion like Elvis Presley and shook his hips. He pretended that the microphone-stand was a machine-gun during the drumming that sounds like a gun. Liberty threw two drum-sticks into the audience. He let someone sing the last line of the song, but they wouldn't let go of the microhpone. 16. "You May Be Right" -He walked around and then walked up to the edge of the stage. He punched when he said, "fight" and threw the microphone-stand up three times and caught it three times. At the end, he said "1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4" to end the song and then threw the microphone to the roadie. 17. "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" -Mark came into the audience and I ran over to him. He went to slap hands, but he barely slapped my hand. Then I slapped his shoulder and he went back to the stage. 10:07pm -- Billy then said, "Thank you!" and shook peoples' hands. He then left the stage. The audience chanted "Let's Go Billy" and he came back. Encore: 18. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" -At the end, Liberty came over with bells and they faded into "Jingle Bells". 19. "New York State of Mind" He sang the line, "...NY Post, Newsday too..." and during the sax-solo, Mark began to play some of "New York, New York". - -Billy said "Thank you!" and him and Mark kept giving each other the applause. The band left, but Billy stayed. 20. "Only The Good Die Young" -The piano rotated. Mark played his sax-solo while standing on the piano. Michael, Tommy, and Crystal played together on the right side of the stage. Then Mark, Crystal, and Tommy played together on the left. - -Billy then said, "Thank you!" 10:24pm -- The light is just on the piano and the crowd chanted "Let's Go Billy". Billy then put on his harmonica. 21. "Piano Man" -Since it was a Saturday, the crowd cheered when he said "Saturday". During the song, Billy let the audience sing while the band played the music. And the crowd cheered when he said, "...'cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see..." and during the last chorus, the band and Billy stopped playing and singing and the audience sang a capella. - -Then Billy said, "Thank you New York!". And he also said, "Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year!" 10:32pm -- He said, "Don't take any shit from anybody..." Somebody then jumps on stage and gets tackled. Then "The Natural (Theme)" is playing. And William from France comes up to me and we get to talking about Billy Joel. ___________________________________________ Dan from Long Island (Home of William Martin Joel)
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