Going to this concert was a birthday present for my youngest son, who turned 21 back in March. We bought the tickets in January when they came on sale and, back then, August seemed so far away. I live in SE Mass, so the only sane way to get to the Fenway section of Boston is to drive to Braintree (south of downtown), take the "T" (subway) red line to downtown Boston, then transfer to the green line to Kenmore Square. That put just a block away from the action.
Fenway Park is an interesting venue for a concert. They put the stage against the center field wall, cover the outfield and infield dirt and set up thousands of chairs for a field level experience.
Attention everyone! Do not touch the infield!
As you can see from this photo, the sacred infield is completely blocked off.
Yeah, that was the view from our seats. The field level chairs were over $200 a pop and we just were not going to pay that much. I think ours were about $60, but with fees and pilings on it came out to much more than that. The seats are tiny and your knees are right up against the seat in front of you, just like they were for past three generations of Fenway Park goers. And, yes, that's a pole right in front of us. Fortunately, we had a clear view of the stage. Fenway has been called "a lyrical little bandbox of a ballpark," but the viewing experience is often second-rate.
On to the show!
No one expected the concert to start at 7:30 as advertised, so it was no surprise that the beer lines were still 30-40 deep just after 8pm (beers are anywhere between $9 and $10.25 a cup). We were fine with our bottled water. The stadium went dark around 8:10 and the first notes began right after that. As he often does, Joel began the concert with the lightning-fast intro of Angry Young Man. The video screens showed his hands on the keyboard from above. When the rest of the band kicked in, the crowd went wild. Of course, people were still getting to their seats with a beer in each hand, making the rest of us stand up. This trend continued for the rest of the evening. Just like every concert, ever.
Joel's piano was was on a swivel, so he was on a different side of the stage for every song.
He didn't talk much, but he did say he was happy to be performing at age 67, and even though he hasn't had a hit record in twenty-something years, was amazed that people still wanted to hear his songs. Yes we did.
I expected great showmanship and was not disappointed. I was most impressed with his vocal prowess. Dude can still sing the songs. He kept them coming:
Pressure
My life
Big Man on Mulberry Street
The Entertainer
He told the audience he had a lot of songs but couldn't sing them all (boos), followed by an audience poll: did we want Summer Highland Falls or Vienna?
Vienna wins in a landslide.
Next, he introduced a young man known as the Boston Piano Kid, who played Root Beer Rag with Joel:
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/08/19/b ... nway-park/
Then he and the band just kept going:
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
New York State of Mind
Downeaster Alexa
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
And So It Goes
Allentown
She's Always a Woman To Me
Most of the audience was my age (56) more or less, and we knew pretty much every word to every song, having feasted on this stuff for forty years.
It was time to pander to the crowd. During every home game, the Red Sox play a certain song during the middle of the eighth inning. So here comes:
Sweet Caroline
The local version adds a few lyrics: Sweeeeeet Caroline (bom bom bom), good times never seemed so good (so good, so good, so good)...
And then:
It's Just a Fantasy
Don't Ask Me Why
River of Dreams
Joel and the band had gone non-stop up to this point. Rather than have a long guitar riff or drum solo, he let his background singers give him a short break. His "20 feet From Stardom" backup Crystal Taliefero sang Heatwave (thanks for reminding us how hot it has been) and his guitarist Tommy Byrnes sang something in another language.
I figured we were coming down the homestretch, now. That was a lot of songs. Then came:
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (this was a knockout song!)
and of course Piano Man
Joel and the band walked off the stage, but no one thought it was over. After five minutes of thunderous applause and chants of "Billy, Billy" we persuaded them to come back (I'm pretty sure that has never happened before, has it?). Joel came back with an electric guitar and led a rousing rendition of:
We Didn't Start the Fire
Then he sat down at his piano just kept playing:
Uptown Girl
It's Still Rock n Roll To Me
Big Shot
You May Be Right
and finally:
Only the Good Die Young
This time the stadium lights came on and we knew it was over. The sold-out crowd was thoroughly entertained for two and a half hours. It sounds like he still enjoys performing, so I would recommend seeing him if you get a chance. I thought it was outstanding.
More importantly, my son did too.
That's all that really matters!
