Billy Joel to Perform at Lambeau Field July 2017

Started by Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill), February 01, 2017, 06:21:57 PM

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Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)

Billy Joel coming to Lambeau Field in June

Kendra Meinert , USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Published 10:17 a.m. CT Feb. 1, 2017

QuoteBilly Joel is playing only one show in Wisconsin in 2017, and it will be at Lambeau Field.

The Green Bay Packers and Live Nation announced Wednesday that The Piano Man will be in concert at the stadium at 8 p.m. June 17.

It will be the 67-year-old Joel’s first concert in Green Bay, but he’ll arrive in the already having something in common with residents. He’s an official Packers shareholder.

Packers CEO and president Mark Murphy and Jason Wright, president of Live Nation Chicago, unveiled a stock certificate with Joel’s name on it during Wednesday's press conference at the Lambeau Field Atrium. It will be presented to Joel in June.

Wright said Lambeau is the kind of venue that appeals to Joel, calling it one of the bucket list facilities for an artist.

“I think Lambeau Field fits, because it’s an iconic stadium. It’s a part of Americana. It’s a part of pop culture,” he said. “ ... This stadium, this team is like a religion in this region, and I think that’s something that is exciting to be a part of.”

Lambeau is  for the only NFL stadium on Joel's summer itinerary.

Capacity for the show, with the stage set up on the south end of the field, will be about 45,000. Wright considers it to be a statewide draw that will generate ticket sales from as far north as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and as far south as Milwaukee’s south side.

Tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster and (800) 745-3000 at 10 a.m. Feb. 10. Prices will range from $49.50 to $139.50, plus fees. American Express Card members can buy tickets before the general public, beginning at 10 a.m. Feb. 6.

All tickets are reserved seating, including on the field.

Joel is scheduled to perform without an opening act for a concert that will go on rain or shine. Should it sell out, there is no option for a second show to be added, Wright said.

The Lambeau concert is one of only eight stadium dates Joel currently has scheduled for this summer. He’s playing major league baseball ballparks, including Wrigley Field in Chicago on Aug. 11 and Target Field in Minneapolis on July 28.

Joel isn’t on a formal tour, but is always working, Wright said. The native New Yorker has played monthly in-residence shows at Madison Square Garden for the last three years, in addition to dates sprinkled in elsewhere around the country.

Live Nation and the Packers expect his Lambeau concert to be a multi-generational event.

“One of the things to me that really stands out about Billy Joel is that he appeals to such a broad, cross-section of people,” Murphy said. “I think my mother loves him, I love him and my kids love him, so I think most families can say that. You can’t say that about all performers.”

A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame, Joel has 33 consecutive Top 40 hits and has sold more than 150 million albums . His hits, which date back to the early 1970s, include “Piano Man,” “Just the Way You Are,” “New York State of Mind,” “You May Be Right” and “Uptown Girl.” His last pop album came out in 1993.

With such a deep catalog, he’s known for playing lengthy concerts, Wright said. He does a segment in his live shows in which the audience gets to choose which songs he plays, based on their applause. (He recently told Stephen Colbert during an interview on his late-night talk show they always pick “Vienna” over “Just the Way You Are.”)

Wright said holding a concert at Lambeau has long been on the wish list for Live Nation, which produces shows worldwide.

“How can it not be? It’s such a special place,” he said. “Just the history. When you think about the players and the coaches who have come through here and just the passion that the region has for the team and the facility itself, it really is incredibly special to get the chance to do it.”

The last concert at Lambeau Field was June 20, 2015, when country acts Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean drew a crowd of 53,363. Chesney, with the Zac Brown Band, also played Lambeau in June 2011. That crowd was 45,446.