For over four years now, Billy Joel has played the famed stage at Madison Square Garden once a month as part of the arena’s only ever residency. On Wednesday, the decorated superstar played the 50th show of the series for yet another sold out crowd. While hits were played – “Uptown Girls”, “We Didn’t Start The Fire”, “Piano Man” – Billy’s set was (and always is) about the fans. The audience participated in choosing the setlist live – a task no other artist would be able to pull off in a room that size. But alas, at six points throughout the 2.5 hours show, Billy recruited the 18,000 people in the venue to help him choose between songs to play, which resulted in massive enthusiasm all around.
To celebrate his 50th show, former New York Rangers captain Mark Messier came out to present Billy with a new flag that will hang in the rafters at The Garden. He spoke about what an honor it is to share the ceiling space with him as the two hometown heroes shared a handshake. Later in the night, comedian Jim Breuer came out to perform AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” while Billy accompanied on his guitar. The wacky event proved what has been advertised of Billy’s concerts since his residency started: you’ll never see the same show twice.
Check out some photos + the setlist from the show
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