Billy Joel – Live at Shea Stadium, Double CD + DVD/Blu-ray, March 8, 2011
FCE is from Louisiana. I’m from New Jersey. When we got together I was flabbergasted to learn that—in Louisiana—John Fred and His Playboys were bigger than Bruce Springsteen. Okay, John Fred was a cool guy, and he did have that song “Judy in Disguise,” but, c’mon—The Boss? I was afraid to ask where Billy Joel ranked on the Cajun Hit Parade.
Back in the day, if you lived in the Metro New York area, Billy Joel sang the lyrics that defined your life, and he paired them with music to which you had to sing along. It didn’t matter if he was singing about love, war, unemployment, gunfighters, or Italian restaurants—his music was relevant to the lives of baby boomers, especially the middle class.
Billy Joel retained his popularity with baby boomers, and as the years passed he continued to garner fans (and awards). The man was cool and he had soul (white as it may have been). In November, his double CD, The Hits was released and his fans rejoiced. Well, continue the celebration because on March 8 Billy Joel – Live at Shea Stadium will hit the street; this time a double CD is accompanied by “a full-length music film of Billy Joel’s historic shows in July 2008 marking the last-ever concerts at rock’s first great arena venue.” The Beatles played the first rock concert at Shea, isn’t it fitting that Billy Joel should play the last? (Although there seems something criminal about tearing down Shea Stadium. What was New York thinking?)
Joining Joel on stage are the coolest performer of my parents’ generation--Tony Bennett—and some pretty big names in the music industry (yes, bigger even than John Fred and His Playboy Band). Bennett sings “New York State of Mind” with Joel; other duets feature Garth Brooks (“Shameless”), Paul McCartney (“I Saw Her Standing There” and “Let It Be”), and John Mayer (“This Is the Time”). The DVD and Blu-Ray include duets with Steven Tyler (“Walk this Way”), Roger Daltrey (“My Generation”), and John Mellencamp (“Pink Houses”). If I seem ready to swoon it’s only because I am--the first time, I listened with tears in my eyes. (Hey…it’s a view from the id, not the intellect!)
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