Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1993 15:44:31 -0600
Message-Id: <199312192144.PAA00966@chaos.bsu.edu>
From: joel@chaos.bsu.edu
To: joel@chaos.bsu.edu (Billy Joel Fan Club)
Reply-To: joel@chaos.bsu.edu
Subject: Billy Joel in Anaheim, CA
Sender: joel-request@chaos.bsu.edu

X-Author: etrinida@chaph.usc.edu (Elson Trinidad)
I saw Billy at the Arrowhead Pond (Anaheim Arena) in Anaheim, CA, just
down the street from Disneyland on Saturday, Dec, 18. Although I saw
him just a few days before at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, this show
was 100 times more enjoyable!

Most of all, I got to sit close. REAL close - about 20 feet from the stage!
I could see Billy much too clearly as well as the other band members. WOW!
This was the best seat I ever sat in any concert!

Sitting close gave me an opportunity to see things very closely: Billy standing
at the edge of the stage to have a roadie tie his shoe during "Big Shot."

His set list was pretty much the same as the Los Angeles show. This was
the final show of his North American leg of the River of Dreams world tour,
and for the next few weeks, Billy and the band and the crew will go home for 
the Holidays. 

Billy played the crowd excellently, his usual patter was entertaining and
funny, and getting applause mentioning "Disneyland" in "We Didn't Start
The Fire."

I even spotted a couple of celebrities in the audience: Los Angeles Dodgers
pitcher Orel Hersheiser and 'actor' Corey Feldman.


Billy played a few Christmas carols: "Hark The Herald," "O Come All Ye Faithful" (before breaking into "My Life"), "Jingle Bells" (included in his "I Go
To Extremes" solos, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (dedicated to his
crew) and "Silent Night" (before "Piano Man").

As an added treat, during one of his encores he played "Keeping The Faith,"
which was an unexpected surprise, since he rarely plays numbers from "An 
Inncent Man" aside from the title track.

An unusual sidenote: He didn't end the show with his "Don't take any shit
from anyone" quote.

Any of you who saw his concert on this tour: Did you buy any tour T-shirts?
I was sort of disappointed at the selection. I settled for the blue shirt with
billy standing in the water. I heard many comments that the merchandise was
overpriced. I even saw a bootleg shirt sold for $10 that looked better than
what they had: It was a white shirt with the album cover on the front (but
larger size than the official white shirt with the album cover) with "Billy 
Joel" and "River of Dreams Tour 1993" in the same typeface as the album cover,
and the list of the tour cities on the back.

Elson