Our avid Billy Joel fan rates his performance in New York City versus his one in Houston. billyjoel MinuteMaidParks
In Houston and at Madison Square Garden, Joel penciled more than two dozen songs into the lineup. In Houston, the songs were pulled from 10 of Joel’s 13 studio albums and in New York City only two studio albums weren’t represented, the bookend albumsAt both shows, Joel included songs meant to showcase his remarkable band.
On one matter we both agree – Billy Joel can still sing the hell out of these songs. Artists his age sometimes can’t, it’s okay and just a fact that we who attend shows by older performers must accept. But Joel sounded great this night, even under the closed roof of MMP, which was built for baseball and not concerts.
There were some big differences, of course, and those differences create a good argument for the truest of fans to someday make the trek to see Joel at Madison Square Garden while they can. On his home turf, he seemed more comfortable sending some pinch hitters to the plate, worthy songs that have been riding the pine for a while but still delivered. On our show those songs were, “No Man’s Land,” the snarling opener from’s “The Downeaster ‘Alexa,’” which I hadn’t heard live in at least 30 years.
Joel obviously played “New York State of Mind” in NYC, a song missing from the Houston set. If you’ve taken a holiday from the neighborhood to see the show, you’re gonna feel that song so much stronger than any time you’ve heard Joel sing it in your own hometown. I once wrote how Joel was an honorary Texan based on his song selections from a