It's been a forty-one year long love affair for me, and last night I was hearing and seeing one of my beloved Beatles live and in person for the first time. My adolescent worship of Paul McCartney was reawakened, and memories came flooding to the surface - fragments of time like the summer of Hey Jude and my journey from little girl to teenager a vivid emotional flashback. It was midnight before I got to bed, and the music continued playing in my mind for a couple of hours well into the wee morning hours. It was an evening I will fondly remember for many years to come.
The concert was sold out, and fans ranged from 7 to 70. Nothing like the concert years of my teens, this was a production magnifique! The air was breathable, the bathroom lines quick and orderly, no unruly stoned hippies (they might have been there in the disguise of Mr. Establishment), and somewhat disappointingly, no flames from thousands of lighters filling the darkness during Paul's very touching rendition of "Yesterday" or "Let It Be". An acceptable substitute, Paul lit a candle on his piano as a sort of trade-off, and cellphone screens glowed eerily around the arena like minature Marfa lights.
I came for the music, I came for Paul. The band was awesome, the pyrotechnics bursting at just the right moment on "Live and Let Die" delicious eye candy, but the surreal stage presence of the lone Beatle captured my rapt attention. I could have listened all night to simply Paul on his acoustical guitar, the same instrument he played on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, and the music that scored our lives and continues to be a part of shared history with my steadfast and real knight in shining armour, Kman.
The fans grew quiet when Paul played some of his new tunes from Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, but I could sing along just fine having visited his website many times to listen to the new cd (Jenny Wren is my favorite of these new tunes).
Thank you, Paul, for a magical mystery tour through the years, and many more to come.
And a big hug to Brother Bear for the most kind invitation! I love you, too!
The set last night as follows:
Magical Mystery Tour
Flaming Pie
Jet
I’ll Get You
Drive My Car
Till There Was You (My dad's favorite Beatle tune, and made me so nostalgic)
Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady
Got to Get You Into My Life
Fine Line
Maybe I’m Amazed
Long and Winding Road
In Spite of All the Danger
I Will
Jenny Wren
For No One
Fixing a Hole
English Tea
I’ll Follow the Sun
Follow Me
Blackbird (goosebumps deluxe)
Eleanor Rigby
Too Many People
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window
Good Day Sunshine
Band on the Run
Penny Lane
I’ve Got a Feeling
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Hey Jude
Live and Let Die
ENCORES
Yesterday (most touching performance of the evening)
Get Back
Helter Skelter
Please Please Me (thank you, thank you!)
Let It Be
Sgt. Pepper/The End
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