Sun 23 Jul 2006
I managed to find some pictures from the concert we went to last week at the Manchester Evening News arena. They’re from www.piano-man.de who took some excellent pictures. I made a web album of my own as you never know how long links to other web sites will stay active.
See pictures from Billy Joel concert at Manchester Evening News Arena
Also some video footage:
Video excerpt: Miami 2017
Video excerpt: Uptown Girl
Video excerpt: Always a Woman
Video excerpt: Stand By Me
Fri 21 Jul 2006
On Wednesday evening, Nigel and I went to Manchester to see Billy Joel. The concert was absolutely fantastic, I was blown away. Words cannot express how much I enjoyed it. It was better than Elton’s concert I went to last year. I’ve been singing Billy Joel songs non-stop since and today I bought his new live album ‘12 Gardens Live’ recorded at Madison Square Gardens in New York earlier this year.
Although we couldn’t see him from where we were, Bolton comedian Peter Kay was also there sat at the front and apparently is set to attend all of Billy Joel’s UK dates. Billy said ‘Peter Kay is here. How d’ya get to all these gigs? D’ya have a private jet or somethin’?’ Peter yelled back that he only lived 20 minutes away.
Billy Joel spoke to the audience and introduced most of the songs which I thought was good. Before ‘Just the Way you Are’ he said he had to do a mushy song, but he’d only do one else he’d ‘throw up’. Afterwards, he said ‘I wrote that for my 1st ex-wife!’ You got the impression he didn’t really want to sing ‘Uptown Girl’ – ‘This one is hard’ he said, but since it’s been his biggest hit in the UK, he had to do it really. There was no support act, just Billy Joel and his band (who were also brilliant), and he was on-stage for nearly 2.5 hours.
Set-List
I was expecting that there would be quite a few songs I didn’t know, since he released quite a lot of albums between 1971 and 1993, but I was able to sing along to all of them but 2. I was so glad he sung ‘Miami 2017′ as that’s one of my favourites but it’s not one he always does. One of his roadies called ‘Chainsaw’ came on halfway thorough and sung AC-DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’; Billy Joel played guitar but it gave him chance to rest his voice for few minutes. Unsuprisingly, he closed the concert with ‘Piano Man’, which is a great sing-a-long song. The last thing he said was ‘Don’t take any s**t from anybody!’
Billy Joel may not be trendy and admits himself he looks more like a bricklayer than a rockstar, but he definitely knows how to give a good performance. I really hope he doesn’t leave it long to tour again as I’ll certainly be going if he does. Going to that concert has placed Billy Joel firmly as my favourite ‘popular music’ artist.
Thu 20 Jul 2006
This site broke a bit when it was moved onto a new server. Will fix it, just haven’t had time yet.
Mon 17 Jul 2006
What a fantastic book! I found the ‘The Time Travelers Wife’ by Audrey Niffenegger really weird at first and I wasn’t sure if I would get into it, but I’m so glad I perservered because by the end I absolutely loved it. This is one of the best books I’ve read in ages. When I finished it I couldn’t stop thinking about it (still can’t) and I just wanted to start it again as everything at the beginning all made sense by the end.
It’s about a man called Henry who has a rare condition which causes him to suddenly and involuntarily time travel. He can’t take anything with him when he travels, so he usually has to obtain clothing and food in his new time without getting arrested. When he’s 28 he meets 22 year-old Clare Abshire. She already knows him because in his future he time travelled and met her when she was a child.
Without giving too much away, lots of weird things happen in story due to all the time travelling – e.g. Clare conceives a child after Henry has a vasectomy when she sleeps with a past version of Henry travelling to the future. Henry also meets his child when she is ten before she is even born. It’s cleverly thought out stuff. I’ve never read anything quite like it. A unique, highly romantic, sci-fi novel.
Apparently Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s company has bought the film rights to this and a film is currently in production. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they’ve portrayed this on the screen.
Mon 17 Jul 2006
Blackberry Wine was a freebie that came with the BBC’s ‘Good Food’ magazine which I regularly buy. It’s by Joanne Harris and follows her most famous novel ‘Chocolat’ which was made into a film staring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. The story is told by a bottle of wine, which is a bit strange (particularly in the first chapter) but it’s certainly unique.
The book is about a writer, Jay Mackintosh, who is suffering with writers block. In his cellar he comes across some bottles of wine that were given to him almost 25 years ago. The wine seems to have a magical effect on him and brings back memories of his childhood. On impulse he purchases a house in France and drops everything he has in London (including his girlfriend) to go to his new house in France. The chapters alternate between 1999 – Jay’s new life in France’ and 1975 when he was a lonely boy who spent his summers with an elderly gentleman called Joe, who keeps a garden and in particular grows fruit with which he makes wine.
I enjoyed this book. It was magical and charming and the type of book I could’ve given to my gran if it wasn’t for the bad language in it (which I think was unnecessary and didn’t suit the general sentiment of the book). The descriptions of the gardening and food and wine are lovely. I did find it annoying that the names of the two main characters were similar – Jay and Joe; it’s really easy to get the names muddled when you’re reading quickly. I would recommend this book, but not to everyone, it’s more for girls and those who don’t mind a bit of sentimentality, nostalgia and magic.
Sat 15 Jul 2006
We just got back (at 3 this morning!) from my mum and dad’s. It was great to see them but it’s very hot there at this time of year. I don’t cope well in the heat but it was an excuse to just flake out and read. I read 2 complete books whilst I was there, reviews to follow later as I’ve got a tonne of washing and housework to do first.
Sun 2 Jul 2006
I got ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ by Lauren Wiesberger free with ‘The Times’ earlier this year. It wasn’t bad for ‘chick lit’ but it wasn’t great either. It’s about a young woman called Andrea, who after finishing college manages to get a job as a personal assistant to a high flying fashion magazine editor called Miranda Priestly. Miranda turns out to be the most selfish, unreasonable, person that could ever exist. But I found the main character Andrea irritating because she never questioned or stood up to Miranda even if, for example, Miranda called at 3 in the morning because she’d lost an earring. The main reason I kept reading was to find out the wonderful way that Miranda would get a dressing-down, but it doesn’t happen. The ending was highly disappointing and prevented me classing it as a ‘good’ book.