The iconic Billy Joel performed at Madison Square Garden this past Thursday night, March 21, which continues a record-setting monthly residence at the World’s Most Famous Arena. To the delight of fans present for the latest show, John Fogerty stopped by to help perform two favorites from his Creedence Clearwater Revival catalog. Fogerty happened to be in town to participate in Tuesday’s, (March 26,) formal announcement of the Woodstock 50 lineup and couldn't pass up the opportunity to play alongside another musical legend.
The rock artist joined Joel midway through his 24-song set, where he led the band for spirited renditions of “Up Around the Bend” and “Fortunate Son.”
Since January 2014, the Piano Man has played one show per month at Madison Square Garden, and continues his monthly residency at MSG, with dates already announced through September. The September concert will mark his 68th consecutive sold-out show as well as his 112th overall performance at the Garden. And it's no surprise fans were gifted an appearance by Fogerty - Joel is often joined by other legends at his MSG shows, which have included Brian Johnson, Paul Simon and the Rascals’ Felix Cavaliere.
According to the "Uptown Girl" singer, the residency allows him a musical flexibility and a genuine good time that will certainly be hard to conclude someday.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” said Joel. “People show up, we throw ‘em on the stage. We change up the set list, dive into the obscurities. We do covers, we do silly stuff. We try to be as spontaneous as possible. If I start to get an idea for a song that I want to do at the moment, not even my song, we just go ahead and do it.”
On Thursday's performance, Joel pulled out all the stops, including a 4-song encore that featured smash hits, "We Didn't Start The Fire," Uptown Girl," "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" and "You May Be Right." And of course, there were the covers with fellow music man Fogerty as well as Joel's an impressive rendition of "Nessun dorma" by Giacomo Puccini.
The set also included "Big Shot," "Pressure," "The Entertainer," "New York State of Mind," and everyone's favorite sing-along tune "Piano Man." There are few musicians that can output the immense raw talent that Billy Joel has as a singer/songwriter and we can't wait to catch the next show!
Check out the full setlist from his latest gig at the Garden:
For more on Billy Joel, take a look at his upcoming schedule at his official website HERE!
