MEETING THE PIANO MAN HIMSELF ,BILLY JOEL

      I have always admired BILLY JOEL as one of the true genius in music with his ever changing tunes and amazing lyrics that have come from his heart and mind over the many years. When it was announced several months ago that Billy would be performing in concert on New Years Eve ,I really never gave it a chance that I would meet the legend himself.

    The concert sold out quickly so on a whim my buddies thought we give it a shot to see if we could have that opportunity prior to the show. Though he was not expected to go on until about 10 PM , he came to the arena we were told at 2:30. Now arriving as we did about 6 we sure did not want to take odds that we would see him at all. But after only 5 minutes of waiting ,he came out for a cigar break. Now picture about 7 people milling outside and as we turned our heads around, he was right among us. Though not very tall  he stood out like a giant and when asked to sign a few albums he went right at it. I mentioned seeing him at an old venue called MY FATHERS PLACE and he quickly added "in Rosyln" and never lost a beat signing the pictures and albums in front of him. He signed NYLON CURTAIN which we were told was his favorite album and even commented on someone's photo ,"That's a terrible picture" As he left we all were a little star struck to meet the great Piano Man but we missed out on a photo as his manager asked to refrain from all photo flashes. But No matter we all were more than happy especially one Young Man who had attended 64 concerts  by Billy Joel and another who had 20 under his belt. My Favorite was the couple who both had tattoos of Billy Joel and their passion for his music though only 31 years of age made them instant friends to all of us.

    Meeting BILLY JOEL was a great way to end 2014 but the icing was the wonderful company of all that were out there, their stories and now earning some new friendships that will be around as long as Billy has been playing.