LAST PLAY AT SHEA - ONE DAY AWAY

It's the question I'm sure is on every Mets fan's mind - will Friday's Billy Joel performance at Shea be as good or better than Wednesday's?
I was thrilled when my brother was able to score tickets to the show on Friday - because, unlike the people who scrambled to buy the tickets on Wednesday for the "final concert ever at Shea Stadium", I would be seeing the actual final concert ever at Shea Stadium.

The thing is, the first show, last night, sounds like it was awesome. It was as I expected - similar to the Mohegan Sun show I saw last month, but with more bells and whistles - and lots of guest appearances. There was Tony Bennett joining in on "New York State of Mind", John Mayer playing guitar on "This is the Time", John Mellencamp singing "Pink Houses", and Don Henley doing "Boys of Summer".

The Beatles tribute was to be expected - he did three - "A Hard Day's Night", "She Loves You", and "Please Please Me"...and I'm sure he'll do at least three on Friday. And changing some of the words to songs like "Miami 2017" to include Mets references I'm sure will happen again. But I doubt Tony Bennett would make another appearance...although if he's paid the right amount he probably would. (What awards show was I watching where he got up there and thanked Target for being his sponsor?)

I'm almost sure of one thing - Elton John will make an appearance Friday night. He's in concert in Atlantic City on Saturday night. I thought maybe Bruce Springsteen might be a possibility too, because they both hail from the area, and they both have played Shea Stadium. My brother said, What would they possibly sing together? He's probably right - it wouldn't work...although I think Billy Joel imitates Springsteen on "A Matter of Trust". Anyway, Springsteen is in Europe, so there's no shot of that. (I also always associate Springsteen and Joel together because of the college radio show Justin from NYC and I did - Springsteen is his favorite, Joel mine, and we always played them once an hour. So I thought out of Billy Joel's sentiment to me, he would make the arrangements. I guess I was wrong.)

And this isn't the most exciting thing I've ever come up with, but in 1986 Billy Joel recorded "Code of Silence" with Cyndi Lauper. She doesn't seem to have anything on her schedule right now, and she hails from New York City, and I've seen her do the national anthem at Shea Stadium countless times...so that recipe seems right. I wouldn't be surprised if they broke out that song.

The question is, did Billy Joel go the extra mile for the Wednesday customers, because they didn't end up seeing the actual 'Last Play at Shea'? (In retrospect, the Friday show should have been sold first, and the second show should have been added on Wednesday.) Or does Friday's concert outshine Wednesday's, because it is the last show ever?

I'll let you know Saturday night.