0 comments on my sanity Listening to: Billy Joel- Piano Man (in my head)
Mood: GLEE!
Helen and I have just been to see Billy Joel at Fukuoka (*grumble grumble* all right Yahoo) Dome. Glee of gigantic proportions.
Apart from just being a great singer, musician and songwriter, he is also a fantastic performer and kept us all mesmerised with his weird little actions and dances. The best part of it was just that the lot of them looked like they were having an absolute ball and it wouldn't have made any difference if we were there or not.
I still feel a bit disappointed that we didn't get "Uptown Girl", but I feel that it was made up for by us not getting "Tell Her About It" which I hate.
For those interested parties, here is the set list:
Angry Young Man Not one I know well, but I had heard it a couple of times and it was a great choice to open the show because it really showed off his awesome piano playing...
"Hitler has only got one ball" as a sort of improvised intro- though i think it might have gone a little over the head of the Japanese audience. He even mimed the words along to the last bit before sliding into My Life.
Vienna
Honesty
The Entertainer
which I think is my favourite of all Billy Joel's songs, simply for the lines
it was a beautiful song
but it ran too long
and if you wanna have a hit
you gotta make it fit
so they cut it down to 3:05
Absolutely kickass live, but then I would say that about all his stuff (and his band rocked).
Zanzibar
New York State of Mind
I'm always a bit "meh" about this one when I am listening to it, but I think I am converted.
Don't Ask Me Why
Eeee. :D
Allentown
He even did the weird percussion noises that sound like someone hawking and spitting!
The Stranger
It was a new one to me, but it was great.
Just The Way You Are
Which always reminds me of The Shadows rather than Billy Joel... but was very beautiful to hear. (I don't want clever conversation...)
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
I have no idea who Anthony is. I expect a Google search could tell me but then that would spoil it, wouldn't it. This song rocks for all the "ack-ack-ack-ack" bits.
Innocent Man
IIII AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM! AN INNOCENT MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! Whoo! The finger-snapping alone made this entertaining to watch. By the end of it even the guy next to me was snapping his fingers every time Billy Joel did. Hehe :D
"I wanted to try my hand at writing a theme for a western... But I didn't write that one.
The theme from the Magnificent Seven segued into The Ballad of Billy the Kid. Another one I hadn't heard before, but man I am so getting my hands on it ASAP. It pushes all my "cool riff" buttons.
Always a Woman
Aaah back in the day when I listened to Magic FM, it was this song (and "For The Longest Time") that made me buy the Billy Joel CDs that I did. Nostalgia nostalgia.
I Go To Extremes
Kickass song. Also rocks at karaoke. Rocks even more when Billy Joel is singing it live. PIANO SOLO! Man that dude is awesome.
River of Dreams
(in the middle of the- I go walking in the-) :D
Then we had a musical interlude in the form of "Chainsaw", Billy Joel's guitar roadie, who gave Billy a break by performing AC/DC's Highway To Hell for us. Which frankly kicked ass. He was really good and had the Angus Young shorts and everything.
Which led neatly into the high octane We Didn't Start The Fire.
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say!?
Big Shot rocked so hard.
It's Still Rock'n'Roll To Me
You May Be Right
And then he left the stage before coming back on for the inevitable encore...
Only The Good Die Young
John Lennon's Imagine (*sticks fingers down throat and makes gagging noises*) which thankfully mutated into Piano Man which I adore and which would have reduced me to a weeping puddle of musically-influenced emotion if it had gone on for just one chorus more.
December 09, 2006 at 9:56 p.m.