For what would be my longest amount of time off for the entire month of March, I double-legged it from Seattle over to Newark by way of Minneapolis, my old stomping grounds. Doing it that way allowed me to arrive at a reasonable hour instead of 6am after a red-eye. Thanks in part to loud refrigerators in my hotel rooms and faulty climate control, I didn't sleep well for the previous few nights, so sleep was a priority.
I touched down in Newark, where the pilots said the temperature was 70 degrees, albeit very windy. It didn't last. The following day was in the 30s and then 20s. I can't seem to find decent weather anywhere. My first day in New Jersey was spent relaxing. But my main purpose for being on the wrong side of the country was thanks to my girlfriend's parents buying us tickets to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden.
He does performances at the Garden once a month and plans to do so until people stop coming. By the looks of things, it may be a while before this happens It was notably an older crowd, and very very white.
I had recently watched a documentary about Billy Joel going to the Soviet Union as one of the first American artists to be welcomed in under Gorbachev. In it, they kept remarking on how the Soviet party leaders were holding their ears and walking out of the performance because it was not a sound they had heard before.
The documentary credits him for bringing rock to the Soviet Union, but it's just odd for me to think of Billy Joel as a "rocker." To me, he's mostly a piano player who gets played on easy listening radio stations. One of his band mates from the Soviet Union tour was the guy in this picture who has aged markedly better than Billy Joel himself. Let that be a lesson kids -- don't turn to a life of alcoholism. It turns you into a humpty dumpty potato face.
At one point, Billy got up from his piano to "rock" out to We Didn't Start the Fire while holding a guitar. Not playing, holding. I'm not sure why he was given the guitar if he wasn't going to play. He had the appearance of an old drunk uncle at a wedding, playing an inflatable instrument. At other points, other musical relics of the past made brief appearances to perform with Billy. The Young Rascals came on stage to perform Good Lovin' and John Mellencamp also showed up to do a song. (Not to be confused with John Cougar Mellencamp).
Needless to say, the mostly older crowd, reached for their knee braces and pacemakers to sway slowly back and forth to these nostalgic reminders of what once was. I exaggerate only slightly. As much as I poke fun of it all, he really is an impressive performer. When back at the piano, he was in his element, playing the keys aggressively and with purpose. No sheet music whatsoever. After performing for almost 2 and a half hours straight, he performed a few more of his hits and called it a night. He slowly got up from the piano and made his way off the stage to standing ovation. The years have not been good to Billy Joel.
We set out into the cold Manhattan night and back to beautiful New Jersey. For the rest of March I will not really have any downtime. I will be working for most of the month, with just two days off in a row at any given time. It's not ideal. Who works five days in a row and only gets two days off? That's just craziness. I'm not sure how anyone can live like that.
