Concert Review: Paul McCartney

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Captain Bacardi

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Last night I finally got to see Paul McCartney here in Austin at the Erwin Center, which usually has the worst acoustics for music. I mentioned before that I spent the big bucks for tickets ($275 each plus "fees"). McCartney and his band were in top form, playing everything from the Beatles to Wings to solo material. We were in the 30th row off to the left of stage.

The show was supposed to have started at 8 p.m. There was some guy on stage that most of us thought was a sound guy checking equipment, but this guy kept playing Beatles tracks as some sort of mash-up dance thing, and it really sucked. People started getting impatient with that.

McCartney finally took stage at 8:45 and started off with "Eight Days A Week". He played a wide variety of tunes, including two that he said he had never performed live - "Lovely Rita" and "For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" (both from the Sgt. Pepper's album). It was a bit odd hearing those two tracks individually, since I'm used to hearing them in the flow of the album. Some other highlights included "All My Loving", and beautiful acoustic version of "And I Love Her". There was one pyrotechnics feature on "Live And Let Die", which scared the hell out of a lot of people with the cannon shots and fireworks.

McCartney did tributes to John Lennon and George Harrison as well, playing the ukulele on "Something" before the band broke into a more familiar rock version. He had the crowd singing along on most songs, especially on "Hey Jude" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".

McCartney was very engaging with the audience, telling humorous stories about some songs. One cool story was about when Sgt. Pepper got released on a Friday and a couple of days later Jimi Hendrix was covering the song at one of his gigs that McCartney happened to be at with Eric Clapton. Hendrix was using the whammy bar on his guitar a lot, which tends to get a guitar out of tune when Hendrix stopped and asked if Clapton was around so he could retune the guitar. McCartney said that Clapton just tried to hide behind him in a joking manner.

It was interesting to see the crowd - most of whom were my age and much older - jamming to the songs, some with canes (I kid you not!). But it was also nice to see some parents with their young kids and teens to see what real music is about. The show finally ended at 11:30. There were so many other songs that he could've played but just didn't have time to do them, which shows you how much he's done over the years. All in all an excellent show!

The set list (courtesy of the Austin American Statesman):

Eight Days a Week
Junior's Farm
All My Loving
Listen to What the Man Said
Let Me Roll It
Paperback Writer
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
The Long and Winding Road
Maybe I'm Amazed
I've Just Seen a Face
We Can Work It Out
Another Day
And I Love Her
Blackbird
Here Today
Your Mother Should Know
Lady Madonna
All Together Now
Lovely Rita
Mrs. Vandebilt
Eleanor Rigby
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Something
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

First Encore:
Day Tripper
Hi, Hi, Hi
Get Back

Second Encore:
Yesterday
Helter Skelter
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End


Capt. Bacardi
 
That's a great set. I always wanted to see Paul in concert...especially now since he's doing Beatles songs. There was a time he didn't do them.

That's the thing with these 60s/70s acts...it's time to go see them now if you can, because they won't be around too much longer unfortunately!
 
Sounds like a great show, Captain!
I've seen Sir Paul once before myself - during his "Chaos & Creation" tour several years back - and it was easily one of the best concerts I've ever been to. He played for a little over three full hours (sans any break) and clearly would have kept going if the venue didn't force him to stop; he looked like he was having the time of his life up there and looked really disappointed when he finally had to call it a night.
I was surprised at just how little solo material he included, though. I actually really enjoy most of his Wings and solo work and wouldn't have been at all disappointed to hear more of his '70s and '80s hits, but he included so much Beatles material in there, that I can only recall hearing "Band on the Run," "Jet," "Live and Let Die," and maybe "My Love," but that was pretty much it from his solo career. So, believe it or not, I actually quite envy you that you got to hear stuff like "Junior's Farm" (I may be in a minority, but I really, really love that song! Unfortunately, he did not do that one when I saw him ...), "Another Day," "Hi, Hi, Hi," and "Listen to What the Man Said."
And it's quite cool that he's doing so many Beatles tunes on this tour that have never been done before, like "Lovely Rita" (another big favorite of mine), "And I Love Her," etc.
Steep prices, yeah, but for the amount of show he gives you, he certainly tries to give you your money's worth, which is more than I can say about most other acts I've paid big money to see live, only to see them play for a fraction of the time that Paul does.
 
'Golden Slumbers', 'Carry That Weight' and 'The End', of course, end the phenomenon, monumental Beatles record, Abbey Road, each number serving as a segue to its climactic point!

'Yesterday' reigns as the most popular Beatles number & most covered song, while its good 'Helter Skelter' was appropriately placed near the end as a real crowd pleaser!

Sounds like Sir Paul tirelessly (& giving everyone their money's worth) turned in a great show!



-- Dave
 
I am still wondering why he will not sing she loves you and I want to hold your hand. I counted one time of all the concerts Paul did to date. he did over 30 of the old beatle tunes and about maybe 20 of the wings. but she loves you and I want to hold you hand never. I mean being the benefit for mr. kite John sang the lead. and he wrote it.so does any one know why Paul is not singing she loves you and I want to hold your hand. they were big hits for the beatles.
bob
 
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