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Billy at Shea. CBS Press Express/ SHOWTIME publicity photo by Myrna Suarez.
Paul McCartney joins Billy onstage at Shea (From nnm.me)
A documentary about the concert, Shea Stadium, and Billy Joel, "The Last Play At Shea," was also released on DVD in 2011.
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In 2008, Billy closed down Shea Stadium in New York with two memorable concerts. He was the logical choice to be the final act at Shea, but he was classy and savvy enough to invite some special guests including Roger Daltrey (The Who), Garth Brooks, Tony Bennett, John Mayer, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), John Mellencamp, and, of course, Paul McCartney who performed the first rock concert at Shea while with the Beatles in 1965. Billy and his band were in fine form both evenings, as were his guests. McCartney was a last-minute arrival, and Billy let him close out the show with "I Saw Her Standing There" and a stirring rendition of "Let It Be."
One of the best articles about Billy Joel, written just before the concert, is Dan Barry's "Just The Way He Is" from The New York Times (June 13, 2008). As Barry stated: "Someone must sing a proper song of farewell for Shea Stadium, the nice try of a coliseum in Queens, as its dismantling draws near and a new ballpark rises just yards away. But that someone must be able to convey emotions specific to the place, emotions beyond the sadness of many lost Mets summers and the euphoria of two World Series championships. There is so much more. The romantic idealism and the yeah-right realism. . . . The restlessness, angst and ache of the striver. The Long Island of it all. Of course the meeting of Shea muckety-mucks to discuss who should sing this farewell probably lasted as long as it took to say: Billy Joel." After a short run in the theaters in 2010, the concert was finally released on CD (two discs) and DVD in 2011. The live CD album, though not quite as good as 12 Gardens Live, is still a solid concert CD, but it does not have the guest appearances of Daltrey, Mellencamp or Tyler. The DVD concert alone is also entertaining and worth seeing; it is also available on Blu-Ray. Or one can get the special CD/DVD set which is what I would recommend for this historic performance. The customer review on Amazon.com (scroll down to March 8, 2011) by user G. Engler is a good overview In addition, there is a deluxe edition import version which has four discs (2 CD/2 DVD), the second DVD contains other bonus material. This is not to be confused with "Last Play At Shea" which is a DVD documentary released in 2008 about Billy Joel, the concert, and Shea Stadium. It is an excellent film. It gives a historical look at how Shea Stadium was developed and came to be a New York landmark, and also traces Billy Joel's life, and gives a behind-the-scenes look at the concert. In an interesting and ironic twist, the Shea Stadium groundskeeper who drove The Beatles out to the field in 1965 is the same groundskeeper who drives out Paul McCartney in 2008 in a golf cart to the stadium in the middle of the field. His life is also briefly discussed as well. McCartney almost didn't make it on time, see the video clip. Also, read the behind-the-scenes story of how McCartney ended up playing at Shea, in an excerpt from Fred Schrurer's 2014 biography on Billy Joel. |
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Album Cover
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Songlist (links are to videos on YouTube)
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Download
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Buy Album
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Disc One
1. Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:45) 2. My Life (5:30) 3. Summer, Highland Falls (3:42) 4. Everybody Loves You Now (3:05) 5. Zanzibar (5:36) 6. New York State of Mind w/Tony Bennett (6:49) 7. Allentown (3:51) 8. The Ballad of Billy The Kid (5:41) 9. She's Always A Woman (3:45) 10. Goodnight Saigon (7:23) 11. Miami 2017 (4:20) 12. Shameless w/Garth Brooks (4:54) 13. This Is The Time w/John Mayer (6:16) 14. Keeping The Faith (5:06) Vertical Divider
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 Click on image for larger version.
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Disc Two
1. Captain Jack (7:20) 2. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (3:43) 3. The River of Dreams/ A Hard Day's Night (7:43) 4. We Didn't Start The Fire (5:14) 5. You May Be Right (4:53) 6. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (7:40) 7. Only The Good Die Young (4:13) 8. I Saw Her Standing There w/Paul McCartney (4:06) 9. Take Me Out To The Ballgame (0:45) 10. Piano Man (5:53) 11. Let It Be w/Paul McCartney (5:11) Vertical Divider
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 Publicity photo by Sony Legacy. Credit: Kevin Mazur. Click image for larger version.
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Bonus Tracks (on DVD and Blu Ray only): 1. Walk This Way w/Steven Tyler (external link YouTube) 2. My Generation w/Roger Daltrey (external link YouTube) 3. Pink Houses w/John Mellencamp (external link YouTube) Vertical Divider
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Full Album (Video) – Live at Shea Stadium
This YouTube playlist has the songs (video) from the concert in the order as they appear on the album Live at Shea, with some extra videos at the end. Click on three-line icon for list of videos. For a playlist of the songs in the order that they were actually played in Brooklyn, go to JT Mahoney's playlist.
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Disc One
1. Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:45) 2. My Life (5:30) 3. Summer, Highland Falls (3:42) 4. Everybody Loves You Now (3:05) 5. Zanzibar (5:36) 6. New York State of Mind w/Tony Bennett (6:49) 7. Allentown (3:51) 8. The Ballad of Billy The Kid (5:41) 9. She's Always A Woman (3:45) 10. Goodnight Saigon (7:23) 11. Miami 2017 (4:20) 12. Shameless w/Garth Brooks (4:54) 13. This Is The Time w/John Mayer (6:16) 14. Keeping The Faith (5:06) |
Disc Two
1. Captain Jack (7:20) 2. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (3:43) 3. The River of Dreams/ A Hard Day's Night (7:43) 4. We Didn't Start The Fire (5:14) 5. You May Be Right (4:53) 6. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (7:40) 7. Only The Good Die Young (4:13) 8. I Saw Her Standing There w/Paul McCartney (4:06) 9. Take Me Out To The Ballgame (0:45) 10. Piano Man (5:53) 11. Let It Be w/Paul McCartney (5:11) Bonus Tracks 1. Walk This Way w/Steven Tyler 2. My Generation w/Roger Daltrey 3. Pink Houses w/John Mellencamp |
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Billy and the band with an energetic performance of his classic "The Ballad of Billy The Kid."
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Billy welcomes Paul McCartney to Shea Stadium after 40 years for a performance of "I Saw Her Standing There."
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The Last Play at Shea - Documentary
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This is a YouTube playlist for the documentary film "The Last Play At Shea" about Shea Stadium, Billy, and the New York area. The second video is the full documentary (pay). Click on three-line icon for list of videos.
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Excerpts from The Last Play at Shea featuring some of the guest artists who appeared at the concerts. Got to love Roger Daltrey's comment toward the end of the clip.
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Billy explains how Paul McCartney ended up appearing that Last Play At Shea concert (second night) in this 2010 interview/Q&A with Alec Baldwin.
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Other Videos
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Keyboards player David Rosenthal discusses being in Billy's band and the Shea Stadium concert ending when Paul McCartney joined the band for "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Let It Be" (which was unrehearsed. Dave Rosenthal and Billy Joel Close Shea Stadium from Ferro Productions. |
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Neely Tucker (Washington Post) on Billy Joel's performance of "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" at Shea Stadium.
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But very much to his credit, Joel played like this was his last concert on earth. When the cameras zoomed in on his face, it was tomato red and covered in sweat. He joked that he hasn’t created a new album in fifteen years, which is awesome because he played only songs we know. And he filled the show with little extras, like John Mayer playing guitar on “These Are the Times to Remember” and John Mellencamp guesting on “Taking Back America” “Pink Houses.” Joel also played tribute to the Beatles — whose 1965 concert at Shea, as the stadium’s first musical act, represented the height of Beatlemania — by ending the main part of the two-and-a-half-hour set with “Please Please Me.” The encore, of course, he closed with “Piano Man.” This is our Billy Joel, the city’s unabashedly cheesy and unexpectedly profound musical ambassador. “Thank you, Shea Stadium,” he said, waving good-bye with a tear in his eye. “Don’t take shit from anybody." -- Jada Yuan (Vulture) |
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Credits
Produced & Directed by – Jon Small Produced By - Steve Cohen Edited By – Laura Young Executive Producer – David Horn (4), Todd Kamelhar Producer – Cara Costentino Associate Producer – Jeff Schock Producer [Live Sound] – Brian Ruggles Arranger - Dave Rosenthal CD Mixed by - Frank Filippi Keyboard, Vocals – Billy Joel Bass – Andy Cichon Musical Director – Tommy Byrne* Drums – Chuck Burgi* Flute – Mark Rivera Guitar – Crystal Taliefero, Mark Rivera, Tommy Byrne* Keyboards, Piano, Organ – Dave Rosenthal Percussion – Crystal Taliefero Saxophone – Carl Fisher*, Crystal Taliefero, Mark Rivera Trumpet – Carl Fisher* Vocals – Andy Cichon, Crystal Taliefero, Dave Rosenthal, Mark Rivera, Tommy Byrne* Words By, Music By – Billy Joel (tracks: 1 to 17.1, 18 to 21, 23, 24), Jack Norworth (tracks: 23), Lennon/McCartney* (tracks: 17.2, 22, 25); Written-By – Perry* (tracks: 26), Mellencamp* (tracks: 28), Townshend* (tracks: 27), Tyler* (tracks: 26) |
