“As Long as the Demand Continues”
On October 9, 2022 Billy Joel played his 130th sold out performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The crowd were on their feet the entire show as Joel played a 21 song set and a five song encore to close out the night.
He started the concert by saying, “as long as the demand continues I will play!” He did an interview saying he will keep playing, and he is sticking to his word. Now a part of his residency at MSG Joel plays one concert a month at the famous arena.
He sang classic hits such as Only the Good Die Young, Only a Matter of Trust, Always a Woman, We Didn’t Start the Fire and Just the Way You Are. During the set, he made sure to say each year he recorded them and what albums they are a part of.
Joel interacted with the crowd as he explained what songs he preferred to sing as well as his hit songs on each album. He prefaced the song No Man’s Land by saying, “Sometimes we play songs because we want to, and we might mess this up because we never play it.” A loud chuckle enveloped across the arena including Joel himself.
Hamdy J., who is an usher at Madison Square Garden said, “Billy Joel concerts are some of the best here at MSG. Always such a big crowd with a lot of singing and dancing.” As Hamdy was assisting eager concert goers to their seats they exclaimed, “This is my 10th time seeing him live!” This came as no surprise to Hamdy who said, “Yeah, you get a lot of regulars at the Billy Joel MSG concerts!”
It’s not just Mr. Joel up on that stage, he is accompanied by an incredibly talented band consisting of eight additional musicians. David Rosenthal on keyboards, Mark Rivera on saxophone, Crystal Taiefero on vocals and percussion, Tommy Byrnes on guitar and vocals, Andy Cichon on bass, Chuck Burgi on drums, and Mike Delguidice on vocals and guitar.
Although it’s Billy Joel’s show, he gives the band great solo moments. Whether it was a prolonged solo or solo song, Joel showed off the talent and hard work of his musicians. Not only do they get individual moments during the show, but they also bring new life into many of his songs. They remix the songs with other well known hits or change the harmonies and add different instrument lines.
Spencer Arnold, a concession stand worker at MSG said, “Billy Joel has some die hard fans. I see entire families here. Mom and dad are starting them young.” Audience members range all the way from toddlers to middle aged men and women to those fans using walkers. “No matter who you are, you gotta like at least one Billy Joel song,” Arnold added.
Not only is Billy Joel a great entertainer, but he also adds a bit of comedy in between his songs. He tells stories about the songs he wrote and where he was in his life when he wrote them. He introduced the song Innocent Man by saying, he was in his 30’s when he wrote the song. Now at the age of 73, he didn’t know if he could hit the high notes. The self proclaimed ‘patron saint of piano’ still hit the notes with ease.
Starting the show with a Hello New York City, to closing the show with a solemn thank you New York City, Billy Joel walked off stage completing another one of his famous MSG concerts. Audience members walked away from the show that night tapping their foot and humming along to their favorite songs with new memories from the longtime musical legend.
