Madison Square Garden's resident house musician now has a regular Saturday night gig on MSG Network.
MSG will air Billy Joel concert specials, beginning in mid-May and running throughout summer. The "Billy Joel Saturdays" franchise was set to start on May 17 at 10 p.m. (ET) with Billy Joel: Live at Shea.
The weekly series will highlight some of Joel’s most iconic concert events from 1982’s Live from Long Island through 2008’s Last Play at Shea, and landmark engagements such as Live from Yankee Stadium, River of Dreams, and Live from Rome.
This year, Joel became Madison Square Garden’s first-ever music franchise, kicking off a monthly residency at the world's most famous arena on Jan. 27, 2014. He will perform a show a month for as long as there is demand.
The Long Island native has always had a special relationship with MSG, performing his first show in 1978 and lending his talent to many memorable other moments in the venue, including “12-12-12” and “The Concert for New York City.” In 2006, Joel set a Madison Square Garden record by becoming the first solo artist to sell out twelve consecutive shows on a single tour, a feat memorialized by the first banner raising dedicated to a musical performer.
The following is the Billy Joel Saturdays schedule for May and June.
BILLY JOEL: LIVE AT SHEA
Saturday, May 17 at 10:00 p.m. (Premiere)
Filmed during Joel’s concerts at Shea Stadium on July 16 & 18, 2008, the last performances to take place at Shea.
BILLY JOEL: LIVE FROM YANKEE STADIUM
Saturday, May 24 at 10:00 p.m. (Premiere)
Filmed in 1990 when Joel played to a packed house at Yankee Stadium.
LAST PLAY AT SHEA
Saturday, May 31 at 8:00 p.m. (Premiere)
Last Play at Shea is a 2010 documentary on Billy Joel’s 2008 Shea Stadium concerts, the last performances to ever take place at the stadium.
BILLY JOEL: LIVE FROM LONG ISLAND
Saturday, June 7 at 10:00 p.m. (Premiere)
Joel’s first concert special recorded at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on December 30, 1982 at one of the final shows from The Nylon Curtain tour.
BILLY JOEL: LIVE FROM ROME
Saturday, June 14 at 8:30 p.m. (Premiere)
Filmed on July 31, 2006, when Joel performed a free concert at Telecomcerto at Colosseo in Rome.
BILLY JOEL: RIVER OF DREAMS
Saturday, June 21 at 8:00 p.m. (Premiere)
A concert event filmed during Joel’s River of Dreams tour in support of his twelfth studio album released in 1993.
BILLY JOEL: LIVE AT SHEA
Saturday, June 28 at 8:00 p.m.
