He’s movin’ out. As Billy Joel prepares to end his legendary, decade-long, 104 show, 1.9 million ticket-selling residency at Madison Square Garden, here we are waving the Piano Man goodbye Thursday night for the first time since 2014.
He will hold the venue’s record for most performances after tonight at 150. Last-minute sales are in the high hundreds and thousands to see the pride of Long Island perform one more time, for the longest time. “We wanted to make it special not only for Billy but also for the fans who have made his residency so successful,” Josephine Vaccarello, MSG Entertainment executive vice president of live events, who oversaw Joel’s decade-long stay, told The Post.
The most tasteful of the celebrations begins with some quite literal “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.” MSG has converted concourse space outside of section 113 to red and white checked cloth tables, plus a juke box, with a menu that will have you eating like a big shot. Chicken vodka parmesan heroes, one-pound meatballs from Lavo, filet mignon steak sandwiches, antipasto, and bakery cannolis will be served.
Drinks like Long Island Iced Teas and “greyhounds” of vodka and grapefruit juice also evoke the entertainer. On a much more sentimental note, Joel — the first MSG musical franchise — has also been enshrined into the Garden’s “Defining Moments” wall close by. It displays memorabilia from the past ten years like set lists, equipment used, plus a pair of the one-t.