Billy Joel is still The Entertainer at 65!
This
past Saturday evening I had the pleasure of attending Billy Joel’s concert at
National’s Park in the District of Columbia. It was energetic, engaging & funny. I’ve been listening to Billy Joel at least since The Stranger was released in
1977 – the year I graduated from high school. I was hooked! I went back and
purchased the earlier albums during those episodes where I joined Columbia
House Records – get 12 albums for 99 cents plus a bonus album and buy just 12
more in the next 2 years for the low price of $9.99 plus exorbitant shipping
and handling! I would complete my required purchases, quit and rejoin again a
few months later.
Billy
Joel and Elton John were the song masters of my youth, the performing musicians
that spoke to me in my formative years. While I still appreciate both and have
actually seen Elton John in concert more frequently, it is Billy Joel’s music
that touches my heart and soul. It speaks to me as clearly as Mozart’s Requiem,
which fills me with joy and haunts me all the same.
While
Elton John’s music feels a bit dated to me, Billy Joel’s does not. It feels nostalgic, but not dated. It feels
joyous, uplifting, sentimental, introspective, reflective, resilient, and heart
rending.
Yes,
Billy Joel appeals to a particular demographic. I’ve never seen so many over 40
white people gathered together in one venue in the District of Columbia during
the 20 years I’ve lived in the area. That was actually startling to me. But it
was also fascinating to see so many people of a certain age attending a stadium
concert, dancing in the stands, and singing their hearts out to every song.
Billy
Joel is still first and foremost an entertainer. He is engaging & funny
& he appears to completely enjoy performing. He hasn’t released new
material other than classical in two decades; but he doesn’t have to do so. He
can rest on his laurels and the music he created over 25 years and continue to
pull in the crowds.
Every
selection performed was a memory for me from Piano Man to Zanzibar to Scenes
from an Italian Restaurant to Goodnight Saigon – which always brings me to
tears. This concert was exhilarating. And I thank Billy Joel for enduring through
tough times; I appreciate his angst over 9/11 & his support of Sandy
victims; I value his contribution to my appreciation of music; I offer my
condolences on the recent death of his mother Rosalind – the subject of
Rosalinda’s Eyes; and I thank him for his commemoration of American life over
the last 35 years from the closing of the factories in Allentown to the devastating
changes in the commercial fishing industry, to the honor afforded to our
Vietnam veterans to his reflections on loneliness and loss of trust or faith.
I
had a great time Saturday and my emotions ran the gamut from Allentown to
Zanzibar. Thank you!
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