He ended his concert proper with "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and "Piano Man" back to back, and returned for his super obvious encore, which was a rocking five songs long ("In The Middle of the Night", "We Didn't Start the Fire", "Uptown Girl", "Still Rock and Roll To Me", "You May Be Right"). I've never seen a five song encore beofre, and even if 10% of me wanted him to play "Piano Man" again at the end for the fun of it, I was more than content leaving MSG with a giant smile plastered on my face, being able to check off one of my bucket list concert experiences: watching Billy Joel at MSG.
I don't know where this concert stands in my pantheon of shows I've gone to. In terms of matching my truly favorite artists, I think I would put watching Van Halen in 2015 (their last tour) and watching Roger Watters in 2017 (granted, I've seen him again since) at the top of the list. I don't think anything is matching those two. But right after that in all honesty comes Billy Joel at MSG. This really is the pinnacle. It got me thinking though, what are the shows I wish I was around for. To make this fair, I'm not going to pick an in their prime Van Halen (with Michael Anthony), Pink Floyd or Billy Joel in the 80s. I'll go a bit broader. Having checked off "Billy Joel at MSG" off my bucket list, here are teh others I wish I could go back and see.
**Quick note, despite being a fairly sizable Beatles fan, nothing of them on the list. Mainly because, most of my favorite Beatles tracks all came after they stopped touring. And while I can say "I would love to see George Harrison, or John Lennon", seeing just the solo guys and not the whole group wouldn't be the same**
= Seeing Cliff Burton era Metallica: I'm not the biggest metal guy, but I know Metallica well and grew to respect, or more pointedly, really dig their early music. Those first three albums are just brilliant. I wouild love to headbang away to a Master of Puppets era Metallica tour. Even their grainy as hell clips are such pure energy and brilliance.
= Hillel-era RHCP. This is a tough one, since from what I can tell, they barely toured after their "Uplift Mofo Party Plan" album before Hillel died, but man to see a show of their at that time. I can still get down with some of RHCP's middle era (up to Californication), but the Hillel-era funk was just so tight, so pure, that I would give anything to watch a show at that time, even knowing from what I read how often those shows dissolved to disastrous muk.
= Dookie-era Green Day. Other than Van Halen, Green Day was probably my first band love, and while over time I've gotten really disallusioned to anything from Nimrod onwards (save for some American Idiot tracks...), I still can get so quickly wrapped up in Dookie as an album. Sit me down in San Francisco or Oakland listening to them pump that thing our from first track to last and I'm a happy guy
= The Up In Smoke Tour. This might be getting a bit too specific but jesus christ is the video from that tour just pure perfection. Basically peak Eminem, with a still in-their-prime Dre and Snoop (fresh of Chronic 2001), with Xzibit and Nate Dogg thrown in just for fun. The video is incredible, but I would give so much to watch them in person.
= The Doors with Jim Morrison. I've probably outgrown my Doors peak interest that happened about a decade ago, but every now and then I'll throw LA Woman or some similar song on and get lost again in how rhapsodic and interesting their music was at times. There's aonly a small window where this lineup actually existed - but they put out a ton of music in that period anyway. More than Jim Morrison even, I've always been enamored by Ray Manzarek, and watching them at the peak of their powers would've been a whole lot of fun.
= Queen with Freddie Mercury. This is my peak (given my restrictions - seeing original DLR era Van Halen is my peak...). Nothing will top my curiosity and wishfulness to experience what it would have been like to watch Freddie Mercury do his thing and sing spectacularly and enteratin somehow as much, while also being captivated by the brilliance of Brian May. I firmly believe Queen is one of the more underrated acts ever, mostly because their most commercial music is mostly mid songs. But their heights are about as unparalleled as any other, and jesus christ could Freddie Mercury just command a stage. I would give anything to watch them at the height of their powers.
Before we close, I did want to do a quick summary of my favorite concerts to date (will limit it to 5), out of a combination of meaningfullness (connected to my fanhood) and actual experience:
5.) Elton John at MetLife Stadium, 2022
We went on a bit of a whim, getting a good deal on lower bowl tickets. It was Elton John's last concert ever in New York (in theory, assuming he doesn't decide to extend his Farewell tour again...). It was a magical night fit with all his hits. The only downside that stops it from being higher is that he was clearly past actually moving around a lot, and aside from crazy outfits, he mainly just stayed at the piano banging away. Still incredible music.
4.) Avicii in New York, 2012
Avicii was definitely known in 2012 - this was after Levels after all, but I guess he still slummed it in random spots every now and then, and I saw him in a fairly nameless club in New York. It was amazing, it was entrancing, it was everything you would want from the master. RIP.
3.) Billy Joel at MSG, 2023
It's going to be hard to unseat either of the top two, but man was Billy Joel just spectacular. He commands a stage like few others. His catalog is so unbelievably deep, to the point he can get away doing Piano Man pre-encore and have five certified bangers left in the holster to unleash. This was badsically everything I wanted from the experience.
2.) Roger Waters in Philadelphia, 2017
Technically I saw him another time in 2022, but in five years he aged a bit. 2017 show was epic. It was everything you would want from him. He played all the hits, including the entirety of Dark Side of the Moon - capping the show with "Eclipse". He brought out the inflatable pig. He lambasted Trump. He hit every song you would want. He was peerless as a solo performer. Seeing him in 2017 made me OK with never living early enough to see the actual full Pink Floyd.
1.) Van Halen in New Jersey, 2015
Nothing will top this. My favorite band, at a local stage that rocked like I've never seen it rock before. Eddie was sober and clear, his playing just stupidly good. His solo amazing. Signing along to Dance The Night Away, hearing them go deep in the catalog for song's like Somebody Get Me a Doctor or Little Guitars - seeing the band at the tail end of them being at peace with Dave in it. It was about as perfect as I would ever want. Eddie's death in 2020 was sad, of course, but made me just more appreciative that I heard Van Halen in as close to full form when I did.
