PM: A Review
I’m always a bit harried when I’m going into a Paul McCartney concert. I want to find my seat NOW, I want to get settled before the lights dim. I want to have my beer in hand and I want to relax before the wave of energy and emotion hits me. This time was no different. I know, logically, that the BIG ACT doesn’t go on stage until well after the ticketed start time, but this doesn’t matter. What if this one time he went on right at 8? So, we hurried in, found our seats – which happened to be dead in the middle of an aisle and I relaxed and we got our beers.
The pre-show entertainment was very cool, I thought. A DJ came out and mixed various Paul McCartney, Beatles and other music. It was fantastic. The ‘older’ crowd around me was confused by this and I could hear whispers of ‘when is the real show going to start?” I thought it was great. We had cool, hip, lively music being mixed for us live and there were images of Paul’s paintings on the huge video screens. Relax…it’s coming….
Paul started the show with The Magical Mystery Tour – which if memory serves me correctly, is what he started the last show I saw him with (May, 2002 Staples Center, LA). TONS of energy. The stage was fantastic. They were standing on a stage made up of smallish video monitors. These went to the back of the stage and then curved up. The backdrop was also video monitors. This was especially cool during songs like Follow Me (off his new album Chaos & Creation in the Backyard) when there were video images of sparks falling from the top and sliding down the backdrop, rolling on the floor and ending up at the front of the stage. Fantastic visuals. It was also complimented by a live spark shower at the end of the song.
Pyrotechnics aside (for now) Paul just puts on a fantastic show. He played really old Quarrymen era tunes, to 4 songs from the new album, to classic rockin’ Wings songs and of course his tour standards. He played a great acoustic set which included I will and Blackbird and he played songs not usually heard in concert such as For No One.
I was in heaven.
He played for about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The only time he stepped off the stage where before the 1st and 2nd encores. His energy is amazing. His graciousness is impressive. He is old school; a true performer and a joy to watch.
The pyro during the encore presentation of Live & Let Die was awesome. Better than I’ve seen before (this is my 4th Paul McCartney show). The stage was ringed with fire – which as cheesy as it sounds was just plain rock-and-roll cool. The crowd loves it too. And when we all got to sing along with Hey Jude, well, there’s just something that you feel throughout the audience and it is truly wonderful. Of course, I could be biased.
He ended the show with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – reprise as usual and I knew that this would be the last time I would see him perform live for a while. I am already eagerly awaiting the next album and the next tour.
5 Hoffner Basses out of 5
The pre-show entertainment was very cool, I thought. A DJ came out and mixed various Paul McCartney, Beatles and other music. It was fantastic. The ‘older’ crowd around me was confused by this and I could hear whispers of ‘when is the real show going to start?” I thought it was great. We had cool, hip, lively music being mixed for us live and there were images of Paul’s paintings on the huge video screens. Relax…it’s coming….
Paul started the show with The Magical Mystery Tour – which if memory serves me correctly, is what he started the last show I saw him with (May, 2002 Staples Center, LA). TONS of energy. The stage was fantastic. They were standing on a stage made up of smallish video monitors. These went to the back of the stage and then curved up. The backdrop was also video monitors. This was especially cool during songs like Follow Me (off his new album Chaos & Creation in the Backyard) when there were video images of sparks falling from the top and sliding down the backdrop, rolling on the floor and ending up at the front of the stage. Fantastic visuals. It was also complimented by a live spark shower at the end of the song.
Pyrotechnics aside (for now) Paul just puts on a fantastic show. He played really old Quarrymen era tunes, to 4 songs from the new album, to classic rockin’ Wings songs and of course his tour standards. He played a great acoustic set which included I will and Blackbird and he played songs not usually heard in concert such as For No One.
I was in heaven.
He played for about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The only time he stepped off the stage where before the 1st and 2nd encores. His energy is amazing. His graciousness is impressive. He is old school; a true performer and a joy to watch.
The pyro during the encore presentation of Live & Let Die was awesome. Better than I’ve seen before (this is my 4th Paul McCartney show). The stage was ringed with fire – which as cheesy as it sounds was just plain rock-and-roll cool. The crowd loves it too. And when we all got to sing along with Hey Jude, well, there’s just something that you feel throughout the audience and it is truly wonderful. Of course, I could be biased.
He ended the show with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – reprise as usual and I knew that this would be the last time I would see him perform live for a while. I am already eagerly awaiting the next album and the next tour.
5 Hoffner Basses out of 5
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