http://www.newsday.com/entertainment...,7562090.story
Quote:
Billy Joel to close out Shea before demolition
BY GLENN GAMBOA glenn.gamboa@newsday.com
September 12, 2007
Start planning, Billy Joel fans. The Piano Man is now set for two major honors that show not just the depth of his talent, but the breadth of his appeal.
Joel is set to be the final performer at Shea Stadium, doing a string of concerts there before its planned demolition after the 2008 Mets season, sources said yesterday. The Long Island Philharmonic also confirmed yesterday that it will honor Joel at its 30th annual gala as a longtime supporter of the orchestra and for his advocacy of music education.
"I am honored and delighted to be recognized by the Philharmonic," Joel said in a statement. "We share a common vision that music and the arts belong at the center of life. Without music education and appreciation, our children would grow up missing a vital and fundamental component to their learning experiences, something we all need to be complete human beings."
No date has been set for the gala, which will be part of the Philharmonic's 30th anniversary celebration in 2009. "Honoring Billy Joel in the Philharmonic's 30th anniversary season is both fitting and appropriate," Philharmonic chairman Larry Austin said in a statement. "Like our founder, Harry Chapin, Billy has demonstrated that he really cares about the future of Long Island. He grew up here, he lives here and he gives back to the community the successes he has earned. He is truly a role model that Islanders can look up to."
No dates are set for Joel's Shea Stadium run, either. (Obviously, the Mets' playoff fortunes next year could factor into that.)
Joel has already played Yankee Stadium and captured that in the concert film "Live at Yankee Stadium" in 1990, but never Shea. The number of shows is also not set, though considering Joel holds the record for his 12 sold-out shows in a single run at Madison Square Garden, making him the first musician to ever have his "number" hang there, his run could last a while.
The last in a line of classics
Shea Stadium's first rock concert featured The Beatles in 1965. Other bands who have played there:
1970 Summer Festival for Peace (including Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix)
1976 Jethro Tull
1982 The Who
1983 Simon and Garfunkel
1983 The Police
1989 The Rolling Stones
1992 Elton John
1992 Eric Clapton
2003 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
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I HAVE to go to one of these shows, even if it means stepping foot inside that hell hole called Shea Stadium
