Skip to main content

Firestarter

My favourite bit of tonight's Billy Joel gig was when Billy Joel came on and sang some Billy Joel songs.

The show was at Wembley Stadium (it's the first time I'd been inside, having only been to concerts in the Arena, and never having seen a football match there), and was truly great. I've had a soft spot for Joel's work for a long time - he wrote one of my favourite songs, no less, but we'll get to that - but probably wouldn't have thought to see him, if it weren't for the fact my mother-in-law's a fan, and my wife offered to take her to the gig, thus giving me an alibi.

He's an exceptionally good showman, with a voice that's still very much in tact, which was inspiring to hear. He's one of a tight group of "songwriters' songwriters" , such as McCartney and (early) Elton John, with a deep musicality and a varied ouvre, from pop (that's on the right side of jazzy without being conceited) to rock and folk and a little bit of everything in-between. There's an honesty and a depth to his songs that drags you in. He also wrote Homer Simpson's favourite stoner song 'Uptown Girl', and you can't say fairer than that. 

While Joel played just about everything the casual fan could want ('Just the Way You Are', 'The River of Dreams', 'Uptown Girl', 'We Didn't Start the Fire', 'Piano Man', 'Always A Woman to Me' etc etc), he didn't do my favourite: 'Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)'. It may sound maudlin of me, but if this was the last song I heard in my life, I'd probably be happy. It's beautiful; have a listen and you'll see...

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Not The Bayeux One.

The Carole King album Tapestry has been my 'getting-ready-in-the-morning' soundtrack for the past few weeks.  It's been a favourite album ever since I was a student, which makes for a pleasantly gentle way to usher in the start of a day. I've always been a fan of a well-crafted song, which is something of a Carole King hallmark, ever since she started writing with her first husband in the early Sixties. Tapestry may be an unimaginative choice for a favourite LP, as it suggests I haven't delved that far into her career, but it's still an undoubted classic; anything with '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend' on it can't really fail; if nothing else, it proves she likes writing songs with long titles.  Next month, she's set to perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at a gig in Hyde Park, which I would have loved to have gone to, if it weren...
Read more

Hitchin is Mine.

As of six o’clock tonight, I take over the Hitchin is Yours Twitter account for a week; a stewardship I’m anxious to get right. I’m proud of my hometown. It’s a great place to live, with so much going for it. I've always sold it to my non-Hitchinite friends; so much so, that a lot have gone on to move here. Any town expansion plans are partly my fault. Feel free to picket outside my house. I love its history and architecture. Take St Mary’s Church, for example. The building is beautiful inside and out, and huge for a town of our size. There has been a place of worship on site since the 7 th Century. Much of the present building dates from the 1300s. You wouldn't get that in America. (Don't forget the British Schools Museum too.)  Hitchin is a hive for creative people and a hub for the arts. It boast two theatres, two comedy clubs, a couple of art galleries, a festival for world music and a thriving music scene. This drew...
Read more

'Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream..."

While I’ve been practising meditation for quite some time now, I’ve recently taken to using the mindfulness app 'Headspace' . If you’ve never meditated before, or you’re an old hand at it, it’s a great resource, offering daily ten-minute guided meditations that create a sense of progress, rather than stagnating and going through the same process every day. Until I started using the app, I’d often listen to a handful of audio guided meditations I have on my phone in case of a brain emergency. If you see me with my eyes closed and my earphones in on public transport, I’m probably doing this (unless I’m sleeping and using this blog as an elaborate alibi). While the tracks on my phone are great, they can get a little repetitive as I become too familiar with them and start to anticipate everything the person on the recording will say. This is where Headspace is great, as it offers you a daily course with a different focus each day, as well as pl...
Read more