Vienna

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• December 18, 2016

“Can you stop that?” a crotchety old woman seated in front of us yelled at my over zealous best friend for cheering too enthusiastically at the Billy Joel concert.  In her defense, we were properly liquored up, and being very loud.  In our defense, we weren’t the only drunk and loud people in Madison Square Garden at a Billy Joel concert.  Hell, not even Billy Joel is sober at a Billy Joel concert.  Also, he had spilled his beer on that woman earlier in the night, so she just hated us the entire time.

This didn’t dampen our spirits.  From what I remember.  Which isn’t everything.

As a born and raised Long Islander, Billy Joel tunes have been playing in my house, restaurants, supermarkets, bars, and pretty much everywhere I’ve ever gone my entire life.  While I’ll always be a fan, I was a little burnt on the king of Long Island.  Still, I had always wanted to go to one of his concerts.  When a month ago my best friend asked if I wanted to go, I replied, simply, I had no extra funds to splurge on the concert.  Generously, my friend said he would gift me the ticket for Christmas, as long as I promised to be there and not book a gig that night.  Plans were made, and anticipated with excitement in the weeks prior, despite my complete hatred for committing to plans in advance, and my likelyhood for flaking on invitations to various social events.

Not so surprisingly, I tend to like Billy Joel’s more melancholy tunes, and find some of his more popular songs to be jejune, but the concert did not disappoint.  Well, Billy Joel didn’t disappoint.  Before I was a comedian, I frequently attended concerts, where I drank and danced and laughed and laughed and relished in the magic of live music.  Now I only get to go to a handful of concerts a year, and half the time I go alone, but I’m no less moved by live entertainment.  For some reason I’m always surprised (by some reason, I mean, the reason is I’m high and drunk) about how much people are missing.  My other friend standing beside me pointed out early in the night that the entire row in front of us had taken a picture and they were all looking at the same image on their phones.  A row of people, looking down at their glowing screens, while the real thing was happening right in front of them.  Throughout the crowd, people were missing the moment because they were trying to capture the moment.  It’s quite tragic to me, though I only allow myself to feel bad for them for a moment, until I can let the moment pass, and enjoy what they’re missing.

The irony of witnessing this during “Vienna” made me cringe, and then laugh.  A beautiful song precisely about living in the moment.  Though I am fully aware of my hypocrisy as I’m often as manic and anxious as the young self portrait in Joel’s “Vienna.”

“Are you going to write some depressing blog post about tonight?” My friend mocked me as we were parting ways.  I laughed, mostly because I was still far from sober, but also at my own somber self portrait, and perhaps the fact that I was now taking blog requests.

Despite laughing, dancing, and singing along for most of the concert, I truly have a gift, and could easily observe and write a dispirited profile on the night.  But then, it would do the fun we had no justice.  While I don’t see them as much as I used to, and certainly not as much as I’d like to, my childhood friends remain some of my closest because they are, without a doubt, the most loyal, good-hearted, and fun people to be around.  Our ability to be silly together never fails.  And if you can’t be silly at a Billy Joel concert, then you are doing life wrong.  The night was a blast.  I, forever a Long Island girl, am proud of these roots because no matter what happens in life as we grow older, and see one another less, as we’re swept up in our own dreams and disappointments, these friends of mine are always there: With big smiles, smart ass jokes, and the ability to reel my head in, and just forget about life for a while.