Hello, newgazzi readers ...
I belong to a Facebook group called Billy Joel : Completely Retold. Great group of guys and dolls discussing all things Billy Joel, and recently, a young man by the name of Kyle Abramov shared his dream set list, and made me want to do the same. This will take a bit of imagination ...
I have a vision of Billy Joel announcing a once in a lifetime show from Madison Square Garden, but what makes this show different from any other show he's done at the Garden is, there are movie theaters all over the world that are receiving a live feed from York, making the show available to over 100 million people, with all proceeds from ticket sales being donated to various charities. This would be bigger than the Super Bowl, and would go towards many good causes.
As people file into the Garden and the various theaters across the country, fans hear Billy Joel songs being played softly on the P.A. system, to whet everyone's appetite. The songs that are played during the "pre-show" are The Entertainer, Root Beer Rag, It's Still Rock n Roll to Me, Don't Ask Me Why, Tell Her About It, Uptown Girl, Keeping the Faith,You're Only Human (Second Wind), A Matter of Trust, We Didn't Start the Fire and All About Soul.
Then the lights go out. It's Rhapsody in Blue ! The crowd goes nuts !! But instead of the band running out to their places at the same time, unannounced, a voice comes over the P.A. and announces everyone individually, and to the delight of all die-hard fans, the last three men introduced before Billy comes out are Russell Javors, Richie Cannata and Liberty DeVitto. Billy then comes out to a thunderous applause, and nods over to Liberty as if to say, "let's do this".
The Set List
Storm Front
Prelude / Angry Young Man
My Life
Streetlife Serenader
The Stranger
Vienna
Nocturne
Pressure
New York State of Mind
Allentown
Baby Grand
The River of Dreams
I Go to Extremes
An Innocent Man
Billy stops to tell the audience that he has a special announcement. He is proud to announce that Doug Stegmeyer, who played bass with Billy Joel from 1976-1989, will be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, which is met with a standing ovation from the crowd and tears from the band. After a 2:00 video montage of Stegmeyer is shown on the big screen, the show proceeds ...
Goodnight Saigon
The Longest Time
Sleeping with the Television On
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
Captain Jack
I've Loved These Days
Piano Man
Billy and the band exit the stage, after a few minutes of maddening applause, the encore begins ...
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
You May Be Right
Sometimes A Fantasy
Big Shot
Only the Good Die Young
Everyone leaves again .... this time only Billy comes back to tell everyone how much money was raised tonight, and finishes the show on his own with ...
Souvenir
Of course, the whole concert is released months later on blu ray and DVD, again, with all proceeds going to a number of worthwhile charities, and during the closing credits of the concert, the songs Where's the Orechestra? and And So It Goes are played ... the bonus features on the blu ray include interviews with each member of the band and Doug's eventual Hall of Fame induction.
