The Piano Man. The Entertainer. From Allentown to Leningrad to Vienna to Zanzibar. Billy Joel's…read moremusic perfectly encapsulates Long Island and please Don't Ask Me Why Billy Joel's music resonates with me like The River of Dreams. I wanted to see this exhibit For The Longest Time and being in a New York State of Mind, I decided to Leave a Tender Moment Alone and take a 1-hour drive out to Stony Brook. After I saw the exhibit I felt Pressure to call my wife and Tell Her About It. My wife asked if I was being a Big Shot and I said You Might Be Right because after all, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me. Sometimes I Go To Extremes, but my wife, She's Always A Woman who helps me stay grounded in Honesty and She's Got A Way of Keeping the Faith. With marriage and relationships in general, it's A Matter of Trust and All About Soul. On the way out of the museum, I accidentally set off an alarm plunging the museum into total darkness (Have you ever Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway? Very similar experience!). Once the Suffolk County firefighters arrived, I had to explain that We Didn't Start The Fire as they worked to Turn The Lights Back On. I swear I'm An Innocent Man. Please remember, if anything happens to me, Only The Good Die Young. And So It Goes...
In all seriousness, for a music fan, and especially a Billy Joel fan, this museum is wonderful. It's less of a "hall" of fame and more of a "large room" of fame (well, two large rooms and a small theater). My son and I visited LIMEHOF for the Billy Joel exhibit and we were not disappointed. So much Billy Joel memorabilia, including his entire discography, MTV "moon man" for the "We Are The World" music video (did every single artist in that music video receive a moon man???), his piano, a leather jacket he wore during his motorcycle accident, harmonica, sheet music, tour posters, his motorcycle, a piece of a broken seat from his USSR concert, etc. My son loved the turntables where he could listen to records that influenced Billy Joel. If you aren't a fan of Billy Joel, it's probably not worth the $40 price of admission, however for Billy Joel fans, this is a nicely curated exhibit that gives fans a better understanding of his life and legacy.
Children under 12 years old are free (a big plus, I hope the museum keeps it this way to keep it family-friendly and encourage the next generation of musicians and music lovers).
The museum could use some more programming specifically geared towards kids. Maybe a Billy Joel scavenger hunt? Something to help keep kids more engaged.
Alan Bouchard, the founding drummer of Blue Öyster Cult, gave an awesome presentation called "More Cowbell!: Albert Bouchard Reflects on Famous Blue Öyster Cult SNL Skit." My son was able to get his cowbell autographed by Mr. Bouchard after the presentation.
I'm going to withhold 1-star only because De La Soul (who are from Amityville) is not currently in the Long Island Hall of Fame. LIMEHOF can get its star back once De La Soul is inducted. :)
Also, I think the Velvet Underground deserve to be inducted (at the time of this writing, only Lou Reed is inducted, but there needs to be love shown to Sterling Morrison who is from East Meadow, and Moe Tucker who grew up in Levittown!). Three quarters of the Velvet Underground have Long Island ties - come on now! There are artists in the hall of fame that I think are more Queens-based (Ramones and Run DMC) - I guess if you think about Queens and Brooklyn as being geographically part of Long Island (it's a stretch, but okay!).