Billy Joel crashed his historic Madison Sq. Backyard residency run to an in depth on Thursday (July 25) with a sold-out gig marking his record-setting one hundred and fiftieth present on the storied New York area. After serving up such classics as “New York State of Thoughts,” “The Entertainer,” “Allentown” and “The Downeaster Alexa,” Joel invited Weapons N’ Roses singer Axl Rose out for a mini-set of covers and duets.
Sporting a Las Vegas-worthy sequin-covered sparkly sport coat, black denims and shirt and darkish shades, Rose got here out mid-show to croon his iconic tackle Wings’ James Bond theme “Stay and Let Die,” with Joel tinkling the ivories as Rose stalked the stage, tossing off wailing excessive notes and stomping his foot to the tune’s staccato stabs.
Joel busted protocol and stepped up from his piano to strap on an electrical guitar as the 2 additionally jammed on a canopy of AC/DC’s “Freeway to Hell. Although it appears out of character, the duvet was wholly applicable since Rose filled-in for ailing AC/DC singer Brian Johnson on the laborious rockers’ 2016 tour and Joel and Rose have collaborated on the tune earlier than, together with at Billy’s 2017 Dodger Stadium present in Los Angeles.
After Joel, 75, rolled by a run of different classics — “Solely the Good Die Younger,” “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,” “Piano Man,” “We Didn’t Begin the Hearth,” “Uptown Lady” and “Large Shot” — Rose was again for the massive finale: a duet on Joel’s Eighties Glass Homes burner “You Might Be Proper.”
The epic MSG run, throughout which Joel has bought practically two million tickets, started on Jan. 14, 2014 and was eased into the historical past books with some assist from Tonight Present host Jimmy Fallon, who ran onstage to mark the second when a blue banner studying “Billy Joel 150: Most Lifetime Performances by Any Artist” was unfurled within the rafters.
Joel — who launched his first new pop tune in 17 years, “Flip the Lights Again On” in February — isn’t practically accomplished, with stadiums exhibits within the UK, Cleveland, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Las Vegas conserving him on the street by November.
Watch fan video of the Rose and Joel performances under.
