New York City persists and prevails. At the end of July, Billy Joel started his victory lap in the final show of his record-breaking 104-gig Madison Square Garden residency in Midtown with a version of his classic “Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out on Broadway).” Meanwhile in Downtown, near the Battery of the song, veteran rockers O.A.R. were building their sold-out show on Pier 17 to a crescendo using the same song. The latter version is now online.
“Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out on Broadway)” occupies a curious place in Joel’s canon. Diehard fans typically regard the Turnstiles closer as one of their favorites, but Joel did not include it on any of his 20th-century best-of collections, and popular polls have been known to omit it. There are few cover versions, especially when compared with “New York State of Mind,” from the same album and the same mood. None of those covers were good enough to be on our extensive 40 Best Covers of Billy Joel feature from a few years ago. Written in response to drop-dead jibes from then-President Gerald Ford, Joel announced his return to New York City with the song, pointing out the absurdity of New York City not existing. Over the next fifty years, as the City has suffered further jibes and sometimes much worse, Joel has adapted the song to fit the circumstances. Even as the song’s title date finally arrived and whizzed by, Joel played it in a New Year’s Eve gig in Florida.
Everyone in the crowd for O.A.R. recognizes the percussive piano hook at the start of the song, and they immediately know that they are in safe hands. The band may not have played the song in public before, but they would not let down a NYC audience with something that was not a fitting tribute to the city and its famous son. Overall the band gives a version closer to one of Joel’s barnstorming live versions than the album version. Singer Marc Roberge keeps is more distant from the material than Joel, being from Maryland rather than Long Island, but he invests some emotion in the delivery. Touring member of the band Mikel Paris breaks out his saxophone to provide verve.
