Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden

Long associated with Long Island, New York, Billy Joel actually was born in The Bronx; his family moved to Oyster Bay when he was a one year old. There, Joel reluctantly began piano lessons at an early age at his mother's insistence; he preferred boxing, but left the sport after getting a broken nose. After watching the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show, Joel decided to pursue a career in music. Joel played in several short-lived bands, including the Echoes, the Lost Souls, the Hassles and Attila, before starting a successful solo career in 1971. In total, Joel has won six Grammy Awards and sold more than 150 million records worldwide. Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006. His 12th and most recent album, River of Dreams, was released in 1993.

Billy Joel tonight headlined his 105th concert at Madison Square Garden, this time backed by musical director/keyboardist Dave Rosenthal, guitarists Mike Delguidice and Tommy Byrnes, bassist Andy Cichon, drummer Chuck Burgi, percussionist Crystal Taliefero, and a horn section comprised of Taliefero, Mark Rivera, and Carl Fischer. Performing less than a week before Christmas, the concert included several snippets of seemingly impromptu Christmas songs as well as guest appearances by two daughters, 32-year-old Alexa Ray Joel and three-year-old Della Rose Joel (her dad called it her "show biz debut"). On a puzzling note, though, Joel also had Delguidice sing "Nessun dorma," a tenor aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot. With no new music to promote, Joel performed big hits and a few deep cuts from all but his first album, surprisingly omitting his biggest hit, "Just the Way You Are." Throughout the evening, he glided deftly from soft rock piano ballads to the more rocking songs, introducing almost every song with a short anecdote. Joel was a master at the piano throughout the main set, adding a harmonica for "Piano Man" and switching to guitar briefly during the encore. While his singing grew weaker gradually during the two-hour set, the very vocal audience filled the slack and out-blasted him on the last few songs. Joel will continue his monthly concerts in the arena indefinitely because he is an ace entertainer who well pleases his fans.

Visit Billy Joel at www.billyjoel.com.

Setlist:

1. Big Shot
2. Pressure
3. She's Right on Time
4. The Entertainer
5. Big Man on Mulberry Street
6. Vienna
7. Allentown
8. Don't Ask Me Why (with daughter Della Rose Joel)
9. New York State of Mind
10. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane cover) (with Alexa Ray Joel)
11. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
12. She's Always a Woman
13. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Gene Autry cover)
14. Sometimes a Fantasy
15. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Frederick Oakeley cover)
16. My Life
17. Only the Good Die Young
18. The River of Dreams
19. Joy to the World (Isaac Watts cover)
20. Nessun dorma (Giacomo Puccini cover, sung by Joel's guitarist)
21. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
22. Silver Bells
23. Piano Man

Encore:

1. We Didn't Start the Fire
2. Uptown Girl
3. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
4. You May Be Right/Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover, snippet only)