February 15, 2006

He's Still Got It!

I saw Billy Joel last night at Wachovia Center, and while I half-expected him to "perform his age," he was just as energetic and winning as when I last saw him, in Boston eight years ago. The show marked Joel's 46th Philadelphia sellout, which is three more than Bruce Springsteen (though to be fair, Bruce tours much less frequently).

For the past few months I've endlessly repeated the joke that I was going to see Billy, that is, "if he doesn't crash his car into the Wachovia Center on his way to the show." But somehow, he's still got his groove despite pushing 60. He opened with "Angry Young Man," and played a three-hour show that closed with an encore of "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" ("Bottle of red/bottle of white/I won't be having/either one tonight") and "Piano Man." The funniest moment was when he dedicated "She's Got a Way" to his wife Katie- who wasn't born yet when the song was first released.

All in all a great show. I was worried about Billy, but he's clearly still got his groove. Which is more than I can say for the embarrassing, freakish Rolling Stones.

Posted by Stephen Silver at February 15, 2006 05:22 PM
Comments

What's this "perform his age" business? His age is still prime of life.

Posted by: Alan Silver at February 15, 2006 07:20 PM

BTW ... Billy Joel is in fact Jewish.

Posted by: LilB at February 16, 2006 06:29 PM

Keep it simple stupid is not just any line. Billy Joel indeed knows how to keep it going by not doing anything outlandish, just giving us what we want, the music. And now that he has been sober for quite awhile, his voice indeed is still as good as it was back in the day.

Posted by: A at February 20, 2006 12:02 AM
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