Billy Joel, Madison Square Garden, March 28, 2024
Billy Joel
Madison Square Garden
New York, New York
March 28, 2024
Source: DPA 4060 => Tascam DR-2d
Conversion: WAV => Audio Cleaning Lab => FLAC (16-bit)
Track listing:
Disc 1 (80:53):
(1) Intro (3:17)
(2) Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) (4:54)
(3) My Life (5:33)
(4) Banter (0:51)
(5) Jerry Seinfeld banter (2:52)
(6) Banter (0:37)
(7) Vienna (3:54)
(8) Banter (0:40)
(9) The Down'easter Alexa (3:47)
(10) Banter (3:33)
(11) An Innocent Man (5:52)
(12) The Lion Sleeps Tonight (2:21) =>
(13) The Longest Time (4:30)
(14) Banter (1:50)
(15) Turn The Lights Back On (4:27)
(16) Sting intro (0:32)
(17) Big Man On Mulberry Street (5:37) *
(18) Banter (0:58)
(19) Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (4:38) *
(20) Banter (0:43)
(21) Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (3:51)
(22) Banter (1:05)
(23) Half a Mile Away (4:14)
(24) Banter (1:24)
(25) The Entertainer (4:04)
(26) Banter (0:43)
(27) Don't Ask Me Why (3:26)
(28) Banter (0:27)
Disc 2 (71:09):
(1) Allentown (4:22)
(2) New York State Of Mind (7:01)
(3) Banter (0:20)
(4) Only The Good Die Young (4:48)
(5) The River of Dreams (8:29)
(6) Banter (0:36)
(7) Nessun Dorma (3:33)
(8) Scenes From an Italian Restaurant (8:42)
(9) Piano Man (6:19)
(10) Encore break (2:55)
(11) We Didn't Start The Fire (5:40)
(12) Uptown Girl (3:13)
(13) It's Still Rock and Roll To Me (3:52)
(14) Big Shot (5:02)
(15) You May Be Right (5:52)
(16) Outro (0:18)
* w/Sting
There are no fades applied to this recording. If you choose to burn this to CD, the above splits are just a suggestion.
Comments: This recording captures Billy Joel's 100th show at Madison Square Garden; this is NOT an audio rip of the CBS broadcast in the weeks that followed. This is an excellent audience recording presented in the proper order, unlike the broadcast that cut several songs and shuffled the order (and in the case of the original broadcast, cut "Piano Man."
Sound quality is excellent. Somehow there is very little audience interference, despite a very raucous and enthusiastic crowd. Even if you grabbed the CBS airing, you will probably want to get this too because (a) it's complete and (b) it has a more authentic "live" feel than the broadcast. I think this is one of the better recordings from the recent shows in BJ's New York residency.
The performance itself, of course, is excellent. Jerry Seinfeld appears early in the set to do a monologue about how much Billy Joel means to the city of New York (he did not sing anything) and of course Sting sits in on two songs. The rest of the setlist doesn't contain too many surprises except for the somewhat rare "Half a Mile Away" from his 1978 album "52nd Street," but overall a very fun listen.
