Customer Reviews

Billy Joel - Live at Yankee Stadium

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Having been present for Billy Joel's Yankee Stadium concert, I obtained the video more as a momento. Little did I realize that Billy's exhuberance and vitality would be transformed onto the small screen. Great camerawork make watching this unbelievable concert lifelike (even on a t.v.). Although nothing beats seeing Billy Joel in concert, this video ranks a close second.

This DVD is hit and miss. The more of a fan you are of Joel, the more you will like it. The sound isn't bad, but definately isn't all that phenomanal. Its definately not hi-fi, but pretty good nonetheless. The video quality is good, but the camera work is shoddy. This is a billy joel video, not a billy joel and his band video. The supporting band receives far to much camera time, and this takes away from the enjoyment of it, I would much prefer a more straight forward taping of joel at his piano, not so much cutting in and out, up and down, etc. So the DVD itself has some flaws, but still makes for a good showing. This is the only concert DVD of Billy Joel available, and while its not perfect or exhaustive, its a good dvd just the same, a good show, and beats having nothing of him.

12 songs total, not very many for a DVD, but better than havingnone. The setlist is as follows: 1. Program Start. 2. Opening. 3. Storm Front. 4. I Go To Extremes. 5. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant. 6. The Downeaster Alexa. 7. Pressure. 8. New York State Of Mind. 9. We Didn't Start The Fire. 10. Shout. 11. That's Not Her Style. 12. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway. 13. Matter of Trust. 14. Piano Man. 15. End Credits.

It's hard to believe that this 1990 concert was filmed before "NYPD Blue" came out. Somebody thought it would be a good idea to use jumpy hand-held cameras and jumpier 80s-style video effects. It's as if they didn't have faith in the music or the HUGE turnout at a giant ballpark to set the moment. You don't get a chance to watch anyone perform because the camera is jumping around all over the place.

But pump the audio from this DVD through your big speakers and turn the TV off. NOW you get it! This is great music performed at a great concert with a lot of energy! These are great songs performed by talented musicans. Billy puts on an awesome performance. ESPECIALLY on "That's Not Her Style" and "Scenes From An Italian Resturant" (two live favorites that don't appear on Joel's earlier live albums).

Some audiophiles complain that the mix is stereo instead of 5.1; what can you do? That's how it was recorded in 1990. It doesn't diminish the performances and I think the mix is great. Too often live music gets tinkered with to give it a huge sound, or worse the crowd noises (which always sound canned) get too much play.

I think the audio is definitely worth listening to, but this DVD is too expensive to buy it just for the audio. Some extras would have gone a long way towards sofening the blow.

My advice: If you're a Billy Joel fan and you have the money, this is worth buying. Especially if you're a fan who wants something good to listen to and you're a little tired of listening to "Kouhept" or "Songs In The Attic". But if you're buying something to watch, you'll be disappointed.

There was better camera work in "The Blair Witch Project".

I'm a huge Billy Joel fan...and my bias towards him and his live talents is the only reason I gave this thing 3 stars. Viewed objectively as a production and ignoring my love of the man's music, I would only give this 2 stars at the most. My chief gripes? They are:

- Length of the video/DVD: C'mon, this was a full-blown concert, and we only get 12 songs from it? Half a concert, at the most? So, this should've been sold at half-price the moment it was released, right?!

- As others have mentioned...the filming style and editing are atrocious. I don't need jump-editing and motion sickness to feel the excitement of a live concert on-screen...especially with a performer like Joel, who is more than fun enough to watch on his own merits, without extraneous help from the cameras.

- Song selection was a mixed bag, though this is directly tied to my first gripe about the length of the recorded performance. I realize this was the Storm Front tour, and so it's reasonable to expect a fair number of songs from that album...but way too many of his older (and frankly, bigger) hits were missing.

The positives? Yes, there are some, and they include:

- Joel himself, of course...he's at the top of his game, in fine form. Can't fault the man for his performance!

- I personally don't mind the many camera shots of the band, although this wasn't my favorite incarnation (but that's a personal nit-pick...I miss seeing Russ Javors and the sadly departed Doug Stegmeyer on-stage)...though Crystal Taliefero is awesome!

- While I wasn't thrilled with the song selection, it was great seeing Joel perform "Miami 2017" in this concert.

Overall, this DVD pales in comparison to Joel's "Live from Long Island" video, which is a much more definitive on-film concert performance with the "classic" incarnation of his band...why oh why has nobody released this performance on DVD yet???!!!

One of my favorite artists of alltime is without a doubt Billy Joel. I've been a fan since I was a kid. One day, I realized I had nothing of his on dvd. So I went on amazon and found this dvd of his 1990 concert at Yankee Stadium.

When I went home, I watched it and noticed a few things. One was that the picture wasn't that great, the sound was awesome, and the show had to be severely edited. There had to be more than 12 songs performed at this show.

So why am I giving "Live At Yankee Stadium" four stars. Because it's the only Billy Joel concert available on dvd, and it's a pretty good concert at that. The set is largely devoted to the "Storm Front" album, which Billy was promoting at the time. While I would have personally preferred him trimming down the songs from the album from five to two ("We Didn't Start The Fire" and "I Go To Extremes") to incorporate some older songs, the performances ae still worth it. The show's highlights are "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant", "New York State Of Mind" and "Shout". These are the best performances. There's also an annoying intro with various fans spouting out their love for Billy Joel.

In short, is this dvd perfect? No. Is it worth your time if you're a Billy Joel fan? Yes.

Bill Joel's June 1990 performance at New York's Yankee Stadium was filmed and released first on VHS and then later on DVD. Or rather, a paltry, heavily edited 85 minutes were released, 85 minutes, that is, when you include an annoying six-minute build-up to the show.

Songs include "Piano Man", "Miami 2017", "I Go To Extremes", "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant", and of course "New York State Of Mind", and the sound is acceptable, but the concert itself is filmed horribly, with headache-inducing jerky cuts and blurry photography. Some, including me, will find it virtually unwatchable, unless they really like migraines.

The DVD features a discography (wo-hoo), but no interesting extras of any kind, and the concert itself was much longer, so to snip it to the length of half a show is unacceptable.
This DVD will let you down, no matter how much you want to like it.

I love Billy Joel and the concert at yankee stadium was obviously a great night but this is the worst concert video I have ever seen, totally irritating in the way it is shot, you feel seasick after 5 minutes as the camera never stays still for more than 3 seconds. NOT RECOMMENDED.

I confess: I am not an MTV watcher, nor have I watched many concerts on TV (unless you want to count Evening at Pops). So whether the camera handling or the stylistic virtues or lack thereof are not, sadly, in my purview. For me, this DVD is meaningful because (a) it was a gift and (b) it allows me to recall how much I enjoyed seeing Billy in concert in Miami a few months before this performance at Yankee Stadium.

Billy Joel - Live at Yankee Stadium was shot during his 1990 Storm Front tour, so fittingly songs from that 1989 album are showcased. The rest of the set list is devoted to "classics" such as "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and "Miami 2017." The "live" part concludes, as did his Miami show in March of 1990, with a sing-along of "Piano Man." (That, though, is NOT the final song in the DVD; the end titles are accompanied by "And So It Goes," Joel's elegaic ode to doomed love. When I first watched this as an HBO special some years ago, that song just moved me to tears.)

While the choppy handheld camera angles and other '80s-vintage video conventions may distract other viewers, for me this gave me a better view of the concert than my crows' nest seat in the former Miami Heat basketball stadium. I really enjoy watching this concert video on my DVD player, both for the sheer pleasure of listening to my favorite pop singer and the feeling of "let's remember."

I bought this DVD as the first for the begining of my new DVD collection. I wasn't disapointed. I loved every minute of it, and the song selection was great. The only really disapointing factor was the camaras were a little wobbly from time to time, making the action unfocused and they didn't center enough on Billy Joel and his piano playing, but more on his band members. Even though, I really enjoyed the DVD and would recommend it to any Billy Joel fan.

Oh man, I should have read some of these reviews before I asked for this video for Christmas. The music is great (Joel is amazing), but the video is the biggest pile of garbage ever. The camera jumps all over the place and you get to watch all kinds of 80s stupidity. DO NOT WASTE ANY HARD EARNED MONEY ON THIS VIDEO.