Photo by David Ninh via crowdalbum.com
Pitchers and catchers have only just begun to report to Major League Baseball spring training camps. But though many are experiencing frigid temperatures these days, we can’t help but getting warm thoughts with the news that Billy Joel has begun booking his annual concerts at some of America’s most beloved ballparks.
Booked thus far are his fifth consecutive years playing at Boston’s Fenway Park, Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, as well as his first concert at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium.
Joel, now 68, also continues his monthly residency at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, where dates have already been announced through July. Since January 2014, Joel has played one show per month at The Garden, an unprecedented run of 54 sold-out shows. The July concert will be his 100th all-time performance at the Garden.
Watch Joel perform “New York State of Mind” at the Garden in August 2017
The MSG shows are often marked with surprise guest appearances by fellow classic rock legends. On Jan. 11, Joel was joined by Foreigner’s Mick Jones and Lou Gramm. In December 2017, Steve Miller sang “The Joker” with him. The unlikely duo of Paul Simon and Miley Cyrus joined Joel on Sept. 30. Last Sept. 26, the Piano Man reversed the trend when he joined Paul McCartney onstage at the Garden.
Related: Our review of Joel’s March 2015 show with surprise guest Felix Cavaliere of the Rascals
In June, Joel has three outdoor dates overseas. (See full schedule below.)
The beloved musician, singer and songwriter has sold a reported 150 million records worldwide. In 2013, Joel received The Kennedy Center Honors, one of the United States’ top cultural awards. He is also the recipient of six GRAMMY® Awards, including the prestigious Grammy Legend Award. Joel has been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has received numerous industry awards including a Tony for Movin’ Out, a Broadway musical based on his music.
Billy Joel 2018 Concert Dates (Tickets are available here and here.)
Feb 21 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Mar 28 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Apr 13 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
May 23 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Jun 02 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Jun 16 – Manchester, UK – Old Trafford Football Ground
Jun 23 – Dublin, Ireland – Aviva Stadium
Jun 30 – Hamburg, Germany – Hamburg Volksparkstadion
Jul 18 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden (100th MSG show)
Jul 27 – Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park
Aug 10 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park
Aug 23 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Sep 07 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
Sep 21 – Kansas City, MO – Kauffman Stadium
Sep 30 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Oct 13 – Winston-Salem, NC – BB&T Field
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationAmazing to me that Billy is still packing stadiums at this point.
I mean, he has an incredible catalogue of classic songs, sure, but he hasn’t had an album of new songs in almost 25 years and it’s the same pool of songs to draw from (Apart from throwing in a cool cover song or two) year after year.
Billy was always a great live performer (I saw him live eight times, both alone and a couple of times with Elton myself), although at 68 he’s not the wild man he used to be onstage, and the songs are equally great. I just wish he’d find his muse again and write new songs again.
That will likely never happen though, and since he can clearly draw a crowd coasting on his back catalogue why would he? At the very least, I wish he’d play more cities than just the usual ones each year. I would like to see him one last time before he hangs it up for good.
Would love to see him at MSG sometime, but those tix seem to go fast, and months in advance.