The world has changed in countless ways since Billy Joel kicked off his monthly Madison Square Garden residency in January 2014. Donald Trump was a mere NBC reality show host at the time, Jeb Bush had good reason to think he was the future of the Republican party, and few people outside the world of virology had heard the term "coronavirus."
But despite all the changes we've lived through, it was a certainty that (barring illness or global pandemic), Billy Joel would play a spectacular show at Madison Square Garden every single month. It was a place anyone could go to forget about life for a while, and spend an evening with Brenda, Eddie, Mama Leone, Sergeant O'Leary, Paul the "real estate novelist," and Davy from the Navy.
Joel said originally he'd play "as long as there was demand," but after 104 sold-out gigs and ten years, it was clear the demand was infinite. And after 150 lifetime shows at MSG, it felt like a good time to bring the endeavor to a close. That's why Joel fans from all across America gathered at Madison Square Garden to say goodbye on Thursday night, and why tickets were selling for upwards of $10,000 a pop on the secondary market.
The air was thick with anticipation when the lights dimmed, the familiar sound of "The Natural (The End Title)" began, and everyone scurried down the aisles to their seats. (George Conway and ex-wife Kellyanne Conway walked together down the center aisle near the stage, proving that Joel's music can unite anyone.) And after starting off the evening in standard fashion with "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" and "Pressure," Joel faced the crowd to and tried to put the residency into some sort of perspective.
"Let me mention a couple of things that we've done," he said. "We were the first group to play at Yankee Stadium [in 1990]. We were the last band to play at Shea Stadium [in 2008]. We played Berlin the night that the Berlin Wall came down [in 1990, so not quite]. We were the first American full-fledged performance in the Soviet Union [in 1987]. And we were the first band to play after Castro came to power, and we played Cuba [1979]. We played in front of the Coliseum in Rome for a half million people [in 2006]. And the food was great. But out of all of them, this is the best. There's no place like this."
He proved that by following it up with three songs in a row you're unlikely to hear much on classic rock radio ("The Entertainer," "Zanzibar," and "Vienna"), and watching the crowd sing along to every single word. At the conclusion of "Vienna," Jimmy Fallon burst onto the stage to present Joel with a banner commemorating his record-breaking 150 shows at MSG. "Congratulations," Fallon said. "I love you. New York city loves you. The world loves you. You've given us all great memories of being here. And now we get to watch you get a memory. You're never going to forget this night here."
After Fallon left, Joel's two youngest daughters, Della and Remy, came out in matching dresses to join him for "My Life." Six-year-old Remy sat nervously on the piano, while eight-year-old Della confidently clapped and danced along to the song. Joel beamed the whole time, even as he tried in vain to get her to clap on the beat. ("On the two and the four, honey.") A bit later in the night, he broke his 1986 deep cut "This Is The Time" at the request of his wife, Alexis Roderick. As he sang the romantic ballad, the screens flashed backstage photos of his wife and kids taken throughout the past decade, showcasing how the arena has been a second home to them this entire time.
They've had a lot of surprise guests visit them over the years, and Joel fans spent the past few weeks trying to guess who might show up at the grand finale. Might his old touring partner Elton John come to finally make peace? Would Paul McCartney stop by to repeat the end of Last Play at Shea? Would it be physically possible for Bruce Springsteen to hop on a supersonic jet after playing London's Wembley Stadium earlier in the day and make the last encore?
Not many people guessed it would be Axl Rose, even though he played with Joel in Los Angeles and Minneapolis back in 2017. But as soon as "This Is The Time Ended," Joel introduced the Guns N' Roses frontman to the crowd. He came out in sunglasses, and a black sequined sport coat straight out of Neil Diamond's closet. He led the band through blazing renditions of "Live and Let Die" and "Highway to Hell," clearly loving every second of it.
The final section of the night was familiar to anyone that's seen Joel over the past couple of decades, but there was a special joy in hearing mega-hits like "Only The Good Die Young," "We Didn't Start The Fire," and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" with the knowledge that we might not experience them in this venue ever again. The show wrapped up with the sound of breaking glass and "You May Be Right." Axl Rose came back out for this, singing lead on a quick interlude of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll." And for a brief minute, it was somehow 1971, 1980, 2024, and all years in between mashed into one. Without even meaning to, Joel and Rose packed six decades of arena rock into six minutes. It was a perfect way to end the residency.
To be clear, Joel isn't retiring. He heads to Cardiff, England, next month to play a stadium show with opening act Chris Isaak. And throughout the rest of the year he'll be headlining stadiums all across North America with either Rod Stewart or Sting. He's never been more popular as a live attraction even though he turned 75 a few years back. (If you close your eyes, he still sounds about 45. His power of his singing voice is an absolute miracle.) One day he may even return to Madison Square Garden. And if he feels like sticking around after that for another decade or so, nobody will mind.
