Billy Joel concert and fans that piss me off...

So I went to see Billy Joel concert on Satruday night. That man still rocks. This was my 20th anniversary of seeing him for the first time. I saw him in 1986 on the Bridge tour. Anyhow, he supposedly retired from touring 5 years ago and then he just sprang this tour on us. He isn't publicizing this at all and he has no new material to promote. He recently put out a box set of rarities that I have yet to get. I always considered myself a fan of Billy Joel. I like more than 30 of his songs. While I know he has more than that, I just liked the stuff on his Greatest Hits albums and some stuff that isn't on there. My uncle was a huge fan when I was growing up and so I became a fan as well. Anyhow to make a long story short he opened the show with Piano Man. Then he talked to the crowd. He did this before and after every song. It made it seem so much more intimate. Anyway, after Piano Man he informed is that this was his first night of the tour and that he intended to do songs he hasn't done live in more than twenty years. And he was even going to do some that he has never done live. So he kicked off with one of my favorite songs "Laura". So I was quite excited as I have never heard him do it live. He then went on to do Stiletto, Zanibar, and Sleeping with the Television On. He also did All For Leyna and a song off his first album Cold Spring Harbor called Everybody Loves You Now.

     Well my actual reason for writing this blog is to gripe. During the show people were getting up in record numbers and walking around and coming back to their seats. I kind of started to figure out it was because he wasn't playing his hits. As soon as he played a hit song about an hour and twenty minutes in the people came back. I found out today from a friend who has a sister that works the stadium said people were complaining left and right that they wanted a refund because he wasn't playing his hits. Excuse me? Who the fuck do these people think they are! It is HIS concert not the fans concert. The man is approaching sixty and he has no fucking obligation to anyone to play all hits. If you want to hear all hits then go buy the fucking album! It is a time like this that I am reminded of a similar thing happening to Ricky Nelson. He was at Madison Sqyare Garden playing a show with a bunch of other famous people. He came out with a beard and long hair and didn't look the way people were expecting him to. He played a few hits than played Honkytonk Women I believe. They booed him off the stage...this incident promplted him to write a song called Garden Party. A little but of it goes like this...

 

Played them all the old songs, thought that's why they came
No one heard the music, we didn't look the same
I said hello to "Mary Lou", she belongs to me
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk, it was time to leave

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see, ya can't please everyone
So ya got to please yourself
Lot-dah-dah-dah (Lot-dah-dah-dah)
Lot-in-dah-dah-dah

Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode
Playing guitar like a-ringin' a bell and lookin' like he should
If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck
But if memories were all I sang, I'd rather drive a truck

 

How true that last line is...why the fuck does Billy Joel want to play all the songs he always plays. He was doing something that makes him happy and would make any hardcore fan of his happy. I didn't know a lot of the songs, but the songs were so good that when I got home I got all his first 9 albums. The man is a true entertainer and I absolutely loved the conert. I hope he never retires. It's nice to dream about this, but I had an idea that would be really cool. A tour with Ben Folds and Billy Joel together on stage. Two men who are geniuses on the piano and have equally great songs. I would love to hear Ben do some of Billy's songs and vice versa. Anyway that is my rant for now.