If Billy Joel is a God (and even if not), then Ikea is Heaven

Concert review part deux. As some of you know, Billy Joel returned to Chicago for a return engagement, because he sold out immediately last April. I was not planning on going, unless the tickets I got were substantially better than the seats Kristy and I had last time, which were good (row 18, off to the side slightly). The Saturday they were released, I tried at my computer and was getting noting and after 15 minutes, I gave up and decided I could not beat the seats and would not go. Then, as God smiled down upon me, just as he had guiding us to Buffalo’s Ice Cream Parlor last time, two tickets appeared in the 12^th row, dead center. Well, my parents got them for me for Christmas (thank you both) and the show was last night.

Our weekend, however, began Friday evening when I drove to downtown Chicago to pick Kristy up who had taken the train with a friend from Saint Mary’s. I picked her up and we drove out to Palatine, a suburb of Chicago, and stayed with friends, who really are two of the most friendly and welcoming people I have ever and probably will ever know. Kristy and I have stayed there many times as a central location for us and they have been wonderful towards us. We are both immensely grateful to both of them for everything.

When we got to the house, our hosts took us out to the best Chinese restaurant in town. It lived up to the billing and Kristy and I both enjoyed the food and the company. After this, we went back to the house and Kristy crashed and I did some studying.

On Saturday morning, Kristy and I went to Ikea. We both love Ikea and could spend countless days wandering through the levels and sitting in the various room mock ups imagining what might be one day. We COULD have, but there was limited time and the weather was getting bad, as in a white out ice storm that descended upon the area. So after we had our delicious and nutritious lunch at the Ikea café, had strategically wandered throughout the store and gotten curtains for our apartment, we left (knowing we would be back) for the Woodfield mall, formerly the largest mall in America.

The mall was a mall and had a lot of stores that we did not have time to get to, but we did get what we went there for. After this, we had an early dinner then left for the concert about 2 hours early to enable us to drive slowly and get a decent spot to keep us from having to walk a long ways in the weather.

We got there and went to our seats and waited in anticipation as the lights dimmed about 15 minutes late to allow for latecomers due to the icy conditions. The concert began with a loud “Angry Young Man” and followed the previous set list fairly closely, with a few surprises.

This concert was more organized than the last concert. It seemed things were less Billy Joel talking to his band and more of him interacting with the audience. He told jokes, but less stories than last time, and he played snippets of Christmas songs and Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me,” which was fantastic and Kristy loved it. The entire night set a happy mood and the crowd was much more receptive and it was overall a more enjoyable concert to experience.

I was glad he played one of my favorite songs, “Vienna.” It is a beautiful song about slowing down and enjoying life and not always focusing on and devoting your life to the future- something I try at, pretty unsuccessfully.

The major change from the last concert was the exclusion of the roadie’s rendition of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” much to Kristy’s dismay. In its place was a NEW Billy Joel-penned song about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan called “Christmas in Fallujah.” He said he wrote it about 2-weeks ago inspired by soldiers letters to him and had not performed it yet- confirmed by the local media. He brought out a younger singer, saying that he wrote it for a voice under different circumstances would be fighting in the war, i.e. not a 58-year old voice. It was written much in the Billy Joel style but had little piano and was most reminiscent of “Goodnight Saigon’s” most powerful moments. I thought it was poignant, juxtaposing religious "Hallelujah" with militaristic "Hoorah," but Kristy was more turned off by the political nature of the song, I think. It comes out on Tuesday on iTunes.

All the songs were a sing-along and his interludes of classical and Christmas music got everyone singing and excited about the concert. I cannot imagine a better performer, song-writer, or better overall concert. I enjoyed it. It was a good way to begin gearing up for finals seriously and an even better way to relax with Kristy. Because it was better than the last concert, which I gave a 5/5, I must move to a 10-point scale on my review system and give this a 9.8/10. If he had played “Pressure.” It would definitely have gotten the perfect 10/10.

Set List:
Prelude/Angry Young Man
Jingle Bells
My Life
Everybody Loves You Now
The Entertainer
Vienna
Allentown
Zanzibar
New York State of Mind
Root Beer Rag
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Christmas In Fallujah
Keeping The Faith
Stand By Me
An Innocent Man
Don't Ask Me Why
She's Always A Woman
The River of Dreams
We Didn't Start The Fire
Big Shot
It's Still Rock and Roll To Me
You May Be Right
Gloria In Excelsis Deo
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Joy To The World
Only The Good Die Young
Silent Night
Piano Man

* Since this crowd was enlightened enough to remain standing the entire show, green indicates the differences since last set list

We drove home slowly after the concert on Saturday night and went to sleep. On Sunday, we got up, visited with our hosts, thanked them for everything, and headed off for the little piece of heaven on earth known as Ikea for the second time. We had another delicious meal, looked at the things we missed on Saturday and confirmed the pattern of the couch we are planning on getting. After too short of a time, we said our “good byes” to Ikea and I drove Kristy to her train station downtown and headed back to Madison, concluding an ice cream free weekend (is this enough about you not having any ice cream, Kristy, or would you like me to elaborate?)