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Billy Joel and his band helped ring in the new millennium with a marathon concert on New Year's Eve 1999 at Madison Square Garden which was later released on CD as 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert on two discs. The selection of songs on the two-disc album was appropriate (e.g., "2000 Years," "Summer, Highland Falls," "We Didn't Start the Fire," "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant") with the notable absences of "Piano Man" and "Souvenir" which is the perfect New Year's Eve song. These two songs were performed by Billy but not included on the CD. Billy and his band's covers of Sly and The Family Stone's "Dance to the Music" and The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman" were excellent. He also sang "Auld Lang Syne" of course. Notably, Richie Cannata also re-joined the band for this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Billy was fifty years old at the time and didn't quite hit the high notes like he used to, though he still gives the audience their money's worth. Still, the overall album is a bit uneven with some nice versions of songs, but others which seem a little strained, like "It's Still Rock & Roll To Me." Some people have stated that Billy appeared intoxicated on New Year's Eve and that affected his performance, but probably everyone was intoxicated at that time, and it was a three-hour concert after all. Also, fans' and critics' expectations may have been too high since Billy had not released a pop/rock studio or live album since 1993 (notwithstanding Greatest Hits III), and his latest live album was 1987's KOHUEPT. As a marker of a historic event, 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert is satisfying and complete, but six years later Billy would release a much better live concert album 12 Gardens Live. Still, here is a favorable review of 2000 Years from PopMatters' A. David Lewis. The live version of "Piano Man" from the concert is not on the album, but it can be found on The Complete Hits Collection (1973-1997). Also, a Bonus CD of the concert had live versions of "No Man's Land" and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)." Although the concert was recorded on video and portions of it were broadcast live on television, it was never released on DVD. An unreleased pro shot of the concert surfaced briefly on YouTube in 2019 but was later removed. One can see an unreleased professional video for "Only The Good Die Young" and a few promotional videos for a would-be DVD by clicking on the "Video & Audio" tab above. The inside album cover photo, with the colorful swirling confetti (below left) reminds me of the Kandinsky painting Several Circles (below right). There is something mystical or cosmic about both. |
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Wassily Kandinsky's "Several Circles" (1926).
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Songlist
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Actual Concert Setlist
Set 1
1. Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 (Ode to Joy) (L.V. Beethoven) 2. Big Shot 3. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) 4. Summer, Highland Falls 5. The Ballad of Billy the Kid 6. Don't Ask Me Why 7. Pressure 8. Just the Way You Are 9. New York State of Mind 10. I've Loved These Days 11. My Life 12. This Is the Time 13. Allentown 14. Prelude/Angry Young Man 15. Uptown Girl 16. Only the Good Die Young Set 2 17. I Go to Extremes 18. Goodnight Saigon 19. We Didn't Start the Fire 20' Big Man on Mulberry Street 21. Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) 22. And So It Goes 23. Two Thousand Years 24. Auld lang syne (Robert Burns cover) 25. The River of Dreams 26. Purple Haze (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover) 27. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant 28. Dance to the Music (Sly & the Family Stone cover) 29. Good Times Bad Times (Led Zeppelin cover) 30. Suspicious Minds (Mark James cover) 31. Honky Tonk Women (The Rolling Stones cover) 32. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me 33. You May Be Right Encore 34. This Night 35. Souvenir 36. Piano Man |
Album Track List
1. Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 (Ode to Joy) (L.V. Beethoven) (1:43) 2. Big Shot (4:55) 3. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (5:23) 4. Summer, Highland Falls (5:29) 5. The Ballad of Billy the Kid (6:52) 6. Don't Ask Me Why (4:49) 7. New York State of Mind (8:29) 8. I've Loved These Days (4:30) 9. My Life (5:47) 10. Allentown (4:48) 11. Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:23) 12. Only the Good Die Young (3:49) 1. I Go to Extremes (5:01) 2. Goodnight Saigon (7:28) 3. We Didn't Start the Fire (5:21) 4. Big Man on Mulberry Street (5:29) 5. 2000 Years (6:02) 6. Auld Lang Syne (1:44) 7. The River of Dreams (5:54) 8. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (8:05) 9. Dance to the Music (3:17) 10. Honky Tonk Woman (3:17) 11. It's Still Rock & Roll to Me (4:08) 12. You May Be Right (6:07) 13. This Night (4:49) 14. This Is The Time [Bonus Track] |
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Full Album - 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert (2000)
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This is a YouTube playlist (mostly audio) of 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert. There are a few videos and news coverage videos at the end.
The full concert video (pro shot) was formerly up on YouTube but has since been removed. It was never released on DVD or VHS. 1. Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 (Ode to Joy) (L.V. Beethoven) (1:43) 2. Big Shot (4:55) 3. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (5:23) 4. Summer, Highland Falls (5:29) 5. The Ballad of Billy the Kid (6:52) 6. Don't Ask Me Why (4:49) 7. New York State of Mind (8:29) 8. I've Loved These Days (4:30) 9. My Life (5:47) 10. Allentown (4:48) 11. Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:23) 12. Only the Good Die Young (3:49) 1. I Go to Extremes (5:01) 2. Goodnight Saigon (7:28) 3. We Didn't Start the Fire (5:21) 4. Big Man on Mulberry Street (5:29) 5. 2000 Years (6:02) 6. Auld Lang Syne (1:44) 7. The River of Dreams (5:54) 8. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (8:05) 9. Dance to the Music (3:17) 10. Honky Tonk Woman (3:17) 11. It's Still Rock & Roll to Me (4:08) 12. You May Be Right (6:07) 13. This Night (4:49) 14. This Is The Time [Bonus Track] |
The above video is a professionally done video of "Only The Good Die Young" from the concert and can be seen on Vimeo. Video by Paul Viskup. Click the "Watch on Vimeo" button above.
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This is a video from the concert of Billy singing "Scenes from An Italian Restaurant." Parts of the concert were televised.
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And here is video of "We Didn't Start The Fire" from the concert.
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Video of Billy and the band performing the Jimi Hendrix classic "Purple Haze." Thanks to Rob Prisament for posting. This song was not on the album.
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Interviews and Programs - 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert
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This video contains several clips of news coverage about the concert and of the actual concert. Thanks to pianoluvr2006 for putting this together.
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Outtakes: 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert
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These are outtakes (audi0) from the concert, songs that did not make it onto the album. Again, thanks to pianoluvr2006 for putting this together.
Two songs not on the album (and not on this outtakes video) were released on a two-song CD bonus disc released around the same time as the album. The two songs were: "No Man's Land' and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)." |
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Track List
Disc One 1. Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 (Ode to Joy) (Composed by Ludwig Von Beethoven) (1:43) 2. Big Shot (4:55) 3. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (5:23) 4. Summer, Highland Falls (5:29) 5. The Ballad of Billy the Kid (6:52) 6. Don't Ask Me Why (4:49) 7. New York State of Mind (8:29) 8. I've Loved These Days (4:30) 9. My Life (5:47) 10. Allentown (4:48) 11. Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:23) 12. Only the Good Die Young (3:49) Disc Two 1. I Go to Extremes (5:01) 2. Goodnight Saigon (7:28) 3. We Didn't Start the Fire (5:21) 4. Big Man on Mulberry Street (5:29) 5. 2000 Years (6:02) 6. Auld Lang Syne (1:44) (Composed by Robert Burns) 7. The River of Dreams (5:54) 8. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (8:05) 9. Dance to the Music (3:17) (Composed by Sylvester Stewart of Sly and The Family Stone) 10. Honky Tonk Woman (3:17) (Composed by Mick Jagger/Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones) 11. It's Still Rock & Roll to Me (4:08) 12. You May Be Right (6:07) 13. This Night (4:49) 14. This Is The Time [Bonus Track] |
Credits
Words and Music by Billy Joel except as noted
on list (left). Recorded on December 31, 1999 and January 1, 200o0 at Madison Square Garden Don DeVito – Producer Brian Ruggles – Producer Billy Joel – Composer, Keyboards, Primary Artist, Vocals Tommy Byrnes – Guitar Richie Cannata – Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor) Liberty DeVitto – Drums Mark Rivera – Flute, Guitar, Keyboards, Saxophone, Vocals David Rosenthal – Keyboards, Vocals David Santo – Bass Crystal Taliefero – Percussion, Saxophone, Vocals, Guitar Melodie Crittenden – Vocals Kim Keyes –Vocals Curtis King – Vocals Biti Strauchn – Vocals Jim Hores – Engineer Robert "Kooster" McAllister –Engineer Joe Dougherty – Sound Technician Randy Halsing – Sound Technician Nyle Wood – Sound Technician Wayne Williams – Technician |
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