Billy Joel Busts Out ‘Storm Front’ At Madison Square Garden

Billy Joel opened his concert on Friday night with his first performance of “Storm Front” since 2006. The show, originally scheduled for August 2020, was part of Joel’s ongoing monthly residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“Storm Front” was the title track to Joel’s 1989 album of the same name. According to Setlist.fm, the song was regularly played between 1989 and 1991, but was last performed live by Joel on February 11, 2006, also at The Garden. One other song from Storm Front made Friday’s setlist, the hit “We Didn’t Start The Fire” was chosen to start the evening’s encore. Last night’s audience choice saw “She’s Got A Way” selected over “And So It Goes.”

Joel followed the unexpected opener with “My Life” and “Pressure.” He then paused to thank the audience for waiting nearly two years for the rescheduled show and spoke about the bust out.

“The first song we did tonight is not a song we usually open up with – we had a big debate about it before we came up with the setlist,” Joel told the audience at MSG. “We’re always wondering how some songs will work if we don’t do them all the time … You never know, sometimes some stuff lays there like a box, you know?”

Joel then introduced “Vienna” from his 1977 album The Stranger, and after playing the song he again addressed the audience, this time to wish his high school music teacher Chuck Arnold a happy birthday.

“My music teacher in high school is turning 90 years old,” Joel said. “And he was the best teacher I ever had. And he’s the reason I became a musician. When you’re 15-years-old and somebody says, ‘this is what you should think about doing with your life,’ you really think about it … So I want to wish him a happy birthday. I ask you guys to sing along with me. I’m going to tape this and send it to him.”

Joel then led the audience through “Happy Birthday To You” before counting off “Don’t Ask Me Why.” The 20-song main set was punctuated with Joel classics “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Piano Man.” The five-song encore began with the aforementioned “We Didn’t Start The Fire” and included fellow hits “Uptown Girl,” “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” “Big Shot” and “You May Be Right.”

Watch the “Storm Front” bust out opener and more from last night’s Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden posted by Jim Powers below:

Setlist

Source: JamBase.com