Stub Stories with The Piano Man

In a recent Rolling Stone article it talks about Billy Joel and his “feisty show-stealing set” at the 12-12-12 Sandy benefit. And man o’ man I couldn't agree more. I remember as I was watching it live, and when he started with things like “Anthony works in the grocery store… Savin’ his pennies for some day” I was instantly transported back to my High School/first year of college days, and it was such a joyous fun uplifting feeling. I had just recently joined “Twitter” and I have to admit it was fun to watch the flurry of reaction to what had been his first live performance in a long time.

Of course, I had to dig up this ticket stub from the one and only time I've gotten to see him perform. It was my first year of college and one of my first “concert trips”.  Billy Joel had been something of a mutual infatuation between my longtime friend/more than friends/ back to friends round and round again relationship and actually still friends: Lisa. Ever since I put on all my clothes backwards and lip-synced “Just The Way You Are” to cheer her up one night.. I think there has always been a mutual history for the three of us so-to-speak.  She had a short lived stint attending Indiana University and so even though I had just started college at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana that September it was a no brainer to ask Lisa to go see Billy that next month.

Me visiting Lisa at I.U.

She was staying with a couple of cousins or a cousin and her friend etc.. so as is common place in college days of yore… I drove down to Bloomington, Indiana to pick her up and then couch surfed at their place in the evening… I recently found this picture of me checking out their album collection in what I realized was my black Billy Joel t-shirt from the previous night’s performance. I remember that shirt so well the Billy Afro in silhouette against a ‘New York state of Mind’ skyline… (I just found this T-shirt image on Google…how cool... this internet thing just may catch on;-)

So on November 19^th 1979 we drove up from Bloomington to Market Square Arena. They weren't exactly prime seats but I remember thinking even from that distance I could tell he was a very small man. There was a ramp system that went up each side to a platform behind the stage and watching his diminutive frame run like a mad man up and around those ramps time and time again was quite the sight to see. The energy and fun he was having on the stage was just incredible.

In my research I saw that “Glass Houses” wasn't released until about six months later… well into 1980… because I remember him saying they were on tour not to promote any particular album like “most do” he said kind of proudly. But then he also announced he had a few songs they were working on and would try them out here. I know “You May Be Right” was one of them; pretty sure there were at least two others. Just did a little research on the site I found called Setlist.fm and in a set-list from around the same time I found indeed three songs from "Glass House" were played in Houston I think I found.. in addition to the one I mentioned he played “Sometimes a Fantasy” and “All for Leyna” and that sounds about right. I know he was taking flack on soft middle of the road album “52^nd Street” and I can say he did really try extra hard to rock out on these new songs in concert for sure. 

Here is the setlist I started myself. If you know of, or hear of, the actual setlist be sure add it here, or just keep checkin' back here to see if it does get fixed: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/billy-joel/1979/market-square-arena-indianapolis-in-53df1fc9.html

Here's the setlist from 6 days later
Setlist Nov. 25th Houston Texas