BILLY 6 – STORM FRONT
Dec. 21 & 31, 1989 (2 shows)
Storm Front
Inspired by a visit with Sean Lennon, who worried about the state of the world in 1989, Joel wrote “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to chronicle what he had seen and survived in his lifetime. He may not have started “the fire,” but one had certainly been lit in him in terms of social causes. In addition to “Fire,” Joel focused on the plight of Long Island’s baymen in “The Downeaster ‘Alexa'” both on the “Storm Front” album and in his concerts.
By the numbers
- Cost of a ticket $22.50
- Amount brokers were charging for prime seats $500
- Copies of “Storm Front” sold 4 million
- Tickets confiscated from scalpers by police and donated to Little Flower Children’s Services 28
Review
In Joel’s guileless good humor, the sentimentality of his records — toward the Long Island fishermen, toward a stylized myth of tight-trousered adolescence, or that New York state of mind — came off as genuine affection. Even the deliberate mush-headedness of “Still Rock ‘n Roll to Me” and “You May Be Right” became direct and inspiring.
There is a line somewhere between self-indulgence and just playing around, and Joel, even at his hammiest, kept to the right side of it. … He emanated corniness like gamma rays. He boxed with his microphone stand, held himself as if nailed to the cross, and even assumed the sprinter’s starting position atop his black baby grand. And for some unfathomable reason, he used smoke machines almost continuously throughout the show. But in his hometown, it all played as good-natured hucksterism; we were always in on the fun. Joel was Buster Poindexter without the hip distancing.
And that was, for all the surprisingly good music, the most striking thing about the evening. It was rare to see a star of his stature be so unguarded onstage. What I missed most in the Rolling Stones — some sense of self, a rapport with the audience — Joel delivered in spades. — John Leland, Newsday, Dec. 23, 1989
SET LIST
(Dec. 21, 1989)
Storm Front
Allentown
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
Prelude/Angry Young Man
New York State of Mind
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
The Downeaster Alexa
Goodnight Saigon
I Go to Extremes
Pressure
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Leningrad
An Innocent Man
Big Man on Mulberry Street
Shameless
We Didn’t Start the Fire
Uptown Girl
It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me
You May Be Right
Only the Good Die Young
A Matter of Trust
Big Shot
Keeping the Faith
Piano Man