Billy Joel

While the global pandemic interrupted what would have been Billy Joel's straight year of annual concerts at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts (probably the only thing that would have stopped the tough New York-bred former boxer), he finally made it back to the park on August 4, 2021 for another sold-out show at the baseball field.

To add to the myth of Murphy's Law, the night was plagued by rain. And while it was not the heavy thunderstorms that the local news outlets had predicted for the evening, the site of ponchos was definitely the fashion trend of the night, and the semi-light rain rarely took a rest. However, being a little wet did nothing to dim the excitement of Joel's faithful Boston followers, who got to witness his first concert in well over a year.

Armed with his now-standard fly swatter and 88 kismet-filled piano keys, Joel began his 24-song onslaught with a rousing "My Life," and his frantic ode to anxiety, "Pressure." Seeing that some members of the crowd had gone back to wearing masks gave the song more of an immediate feel. Prior to "Pressure," Joel and his band ran through a sampling of Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain," and added a brief post-song comment about its use in the 1971 film, "A Clockwork Orange."

The 72-year-old troubadour was vocally on fire all night as he tore through robust takes of "The Entertainer" (from his 1974 album "Streetlife Serenade," which Joel humorously said "bombed" on the charts), "Vienna" (a tremendous cut from 1977's "The Stranger"), and the Jazz-filled "Zanzibar" (which was introduced to a new generation this year, as a TikTok user created a dance clip for the song, which became an online sensation).

An unusual unveiling of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was just a warm-up for Joel's a cappella classic "The Longest Time," (a nod to the streetlight singers that were prevalent during his youth in the Bronx). The Latin-tanged party beat of "Don't Ask Me Why" was quickly replaced by the serious topic in "The Downeaster Alexa" (from 1989's "Storm Front" record; it's a tale of a fisherman struggling to survive), and was followed by the perfect song of a youth yearning for independence and a life of ease, "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," which brought the drenched crowd to one of its best heights of the night.

A deep cut (again, from "Storm Front"), "And So It Goes," is an endearing yarn of heartbreak. As is the upbeat classic, "Allentown." The chant along lyrics of "Allentown," can mask the fact that Joel is speaking, and supporting, the plight of the Pennsylvania coal miners.

As Joel was beginning the opening piano key strokes of "She's Always a Woman," he announced that a man in the audience (who appeared to be in the front row) was going to propose to his significant other, while the Fenway cameras caught the moment and broadcasted it for all in the park to see (and, fortunately, she said "yes!")

Joel's bouncy 1993 smash, "The River of Dreams," was lit up mid-song as the band tore into a fantastic cover of ZZ Top's “Tush,” where the guitarist and, on this night the bass player, Mike DelGuidice, manned the lead vocal spot, and it was a great tribute to the late ZZ Top bassist, Dusty Hill.

The radio staple, "Only the Good Die Young," (a story of the frustration of a younger man longing for an innocent Catholic girl), then gave way to DelGuidice, who once again got to showcase his operatic vocal range on "Nessun dorma." The continental vibes created by DelGuidice was a perfect segue into Joel's masterpiece, the nearly 7-minute "Scenes at an Italian Restaurant." The all-too-real tale of a storybook romance from being the "It" couple in high school through the arguments and the lawyers/courts, which dissolve their once idyllic pairing, is the closest that Joel has to a mini-rock opera.

Joel's standard five-song encore was upped to a half dozen. After the US-History-lesson-laced lyrics in, "We Didn't Start the Fire," came the infectious nod to The Four Seasons with "Uptown Girl." The addicting bass line that grooves all through Joel's message to the New Wave movement of the late '70s and early '80s, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" was irresistible (Joel's animated use of the microphone stand during the song just added to its charm). "Big Shot," which perfectly captures that nightlife culture of the late '70s (and is probably the only mainstream song to name drop the once ultra-hip New York spot of the time, "Elaines"), while the 1980's romp, "You May Be Right," seems to be a reference to Joel's crazy days of his youth (and was given more juice as snippets of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" were sprinkled in mid-song).

The iconic and autobiographical "Piano Man" closed out which was, and always is, a truly epic night at Fenway from the undisputed Piano King of New York.