Billy Joel at Croke Park

The first ever album (a cassette tape) I purchased was The Nylon Curtain by Billy Joel. The reason? The influence of my older brother on me who's a big Billy Joel fan. I picked up on his interest in Billy Joel and have been listening to him since the '80s.
I saw him in concert back in 1994 at the RDS and have memories, aged 15, of traveling up by train from Cork to Dublin and then get the dart by myself for the concert.
On this occasion I went with my two brother-in-laws and one of their cousins.
My interest in Billy Joel and his music has certainly declined over the years so I really wasn't that hyped up about the concert (no doubt due as well to the recent life changes with Christopher arriving having occupied most of my days prior to the concert!). However I was pleasantly surprised.
His set list was well chosen, mixing hits with lesser known songs such as Everybody Loves you Now and a personal favorite of mine Don't Ask me Why. Inevitably he played Uptown Girl, which I personally detest (purely from the fact that it is one of the songs he'll be remembered for). However it did get the crowd up on their feet for most of the rest of concert so it was well placed in the running order and was combined with a run of up tempo songs including Highway to Hell by one of his roadies called Chainsaw! The full set list can be found here. He capped the evening with a 3-song encore, of course ending with Piano Man. What stood out for me during the evening was how professional the performance was and how talented a performer and piano player he is. They had a piano based camera showing his playing up close. Although I'm not a piano player myself it was clear the songs he writes and sings are well constructed and not your average 3-chord tune. So well done Billy, a great evening's entertainment.