John Mayer, who guested in 2015 on the heart-string-tugger “This Is the Time,” said Joel’s magic comes from staying his own course and making decisions that run counter to conventional pop wisdom. “Most people try to make big rooms big,” he said. “He turned the Garden into a club,” achieving “the purest direct connection between the music and the audience. That’s the ultimate.”
The idea for the residency was sparked at a dinner in Turks and Caicos attended by Arfa and Jay Marciano, who was then the president of Madison Square Garden (he now heads up the touring giant AEG). Joel had proven to be a huge local draw, and his appearance at the 12-12-12 benefit for Hurricane Sandy relief was the night’s buzziest moment. Would he be interested in becoming a Garden franchise like the Knicks?
“I didn’t really know what the whole thing encompassed,” Joel admitted. “I thought OK, a residency. So we’ll play, you know, like a couple of gigs in a row.” (The scale of the setup sank in during the news conference to announce it.) “I never imagined playing this late in life, anywhere,” he said. “I thought you had to go the retirement home in rock ’n’ roll.”
Instead, a crop of major acts over 75 — Joel’s recent tour mate Stevie Nicks, the Rolling Stones, Eagles, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan — are thriving on the road. Joel’s unvarnished stage show has been drawing a multigenerational audience that sings along to every word. “It turns out,” said Mayer, who’s been playing with septuagenarian members of Dead & Company, “a good song is not debatable through the years.”
Arfa, the agent, said his client of nearly five decades is bigger than ever, from a touring perspective: “What’s really happened in the last 10 years is Billy has evolved into a stadium artist.” When you accomplish that kind of feat when you’re younger, “that’s one kind of a feeling,” he said. “It’s a different euphoria when you’re older.”
The time that’s elapsed between age 65 and 75 has brought new challenges. “The way you hear is different. The way you sing is different,” Joel said. He uses more falsetto — he called it “throwing junk pitches,” like knuckle balls instead of fastballs. “I’m not crying,” he announced onstage in May, explaining a teary eye. “A lot of weird [expletive] happens when you’re 75.”
Read More: 104 Shows. $260 Million. After 10 Years, Billy Joel Closes a Chapter.
