Sara meets a Beatle …for real! (well sort of)
Written for Meet the Beatles for Real
May 2013
I have been to three Paul McCartney concerts in my life,
which isn’t very many by anyone’s standard, but still I have been to three
concerts. Each concert was very
different and yet very much the same. The
emotions a fan has at the concert doesn’t change. You get this shocked thought of “that’s
really him” over and over during the first song. It takes a while to soak in that you are not
looking at some Paul McCartney impersonator or a tribute to Paul, but the real,
living breathing Paul McCartney. The guy
that you spend hours of your time researching and blogging about (well I do at
least). And there he is right in front
of you singing a song that you have heard basically your whole life.
When I am at a Paul (or Ringo) concert, I pretty much block
out everyone else around me. As far as
I know, he is singing just for me. Other
concerts I have attended, I enjoy watching the reaction of the audience as much
as I enjoy watching the performer, but Paul (and Ringo) are very
different.
The Memphis concert was the first time I was up close to
Paul. I was in the center of the 4th
row. I could see him and he could see
me. There was a tall guy in front of
me for part of the show which got annoying, but luckily he sat down for a big
portion of the concert.
I am not going to go through the whole set list because you
can look that up on other websites. And
while there were a few song
surprises (Mr. Kite, Lovely Rita, You’re mother should know, Hi Hi Hi), the
majority of the songs he performed were the same ones he did in St. Louis this
past November. I was glad that he
dropped that Day in the Life/Give Peace a chance song, although hearing Paul’s
voice sing “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” was strange. I am a John girl all the way and I guess I
just want to hear John’s voice singing John’s songs. Having Paul sing “Something” has never
bothered me. He sang a lot of Wings songs, and I really
enjoyed them. I would enjoy hearing a
bit more from his solo years catalog (something from Flaming Pie would be cool
or Run Devil Run), but I know the truth of the matter is that most of the
concert goers come to see Beatle Paul or Wings Paul and they aren’t as familiar
with the regular solo material as I am.
But he always does most of the big “hits” and he never seems to
disappoint.
Being in the 4th row center was a different
experience. There were many, many
times when I thought he was looking right at me. I thought he might have pointed at me or
waved at me. I wasn’t for sure. A group of people said that during “My
Valentine” everyone was going to make the heart sign with your hands towards
the end. When he got to the last “What
if it rained” section I did the heart as planned, but very few others seemed to
be doing it. At the end Paul looked in
my direction and made the heart sign right back with his hands. Did he do this because he saw me doing
it? I don’t know for sure. Maybe it was someone behind me. But in my Beatle girl mind, it was because
of me.
Between the songs “We can work it out” and “Another day”
Paul stood there with his guitar and I could tell that he was going to go into
his sign reading bit and so I held up the sign I made.
I was hoping that one of three things would happen at this
concert. Either 1)
Paul would call me up on stage and I would get to shake his hand or hug
him. 2) Paul would see a sign a made
and would read it. 3). Paul would see me in the crowd and either
point to me or wave at me. In reality
I knew that number 3 was the most likely to happen and number 1 was most likely
not to happen at all. History shows
that Paul typically called people up in Europe and South America, but rarely
has done so in the United States. So I
decided to work on making a sign. You
might recall that I asked for suggestions about my sign because I am terrible at
coming up with ideas for stuff like that.
I thought to myself, what do I want to happen and what do I expect to
happen? I didn’t expect for him to call
me up on stage, so I wasn’t going to make a sign that asks for an autograph or
a hug or something like that because I knew he most likely would just skip over
the ones that ask for requests. My
first idea was to make a sign that said something like “We miss you Linda,” but
then I figured that was just too sad and he wouldn’t want to read a sad
sign. I felt like “I love you Paul” was
overdone and he would ignore that. So I
decided to put exactly what I wanted to happen on the sign. I used the die cut machine from work and cut
out all capital letters on bright yellow cardstock. My sign read, “PAUL PLEASE READ MY SIGN.” When I was cutting out the letters, I saw
that there were a few scraps of read paper lying by the machine, so I cut out
two hearts to add to the sign. I knew
it was a bit goofy and a bit cheesy. I
also knew that Paul just might find it funny and it wouldn’t take him long to
read. It was worth a try. My game plan was to only hold my sign up
during the times when I knew Paul was reading the signs from the audience. I think it is rude to hold a sign up for a
long time during a song. It is rude to
the people behind you and it is rude to the person singing because it could mess
them up on their song.
So Paul goes through his whole bit about reading signs in the
audience and then he says,
“Here you go, ‘Paul Please read my sign.’ I did it!
I read your sign! (When he is
saying this he was looking directly at me).
That was easy!”
I then yelled out “Thank you Paul!”
I am totally sure that he heard me. He goes woo…alright and my memory was that
he gave me a thumbs up, but when I look at the video I do not see that happen
at all. But he was smiling right at me for sure.
While this was happening, I was thinking, “Paul is talking
to me!” It was just so surreal.
Afterward everyone around me was patting me
on the back and saying how lucky I was.
So there you have it friends. Your webmaster here at “Meet the Beatles for
Real” has finally had her very own story to add to the files. It wasn’t as exciting as many of you who met
one of the Beatles in person and had your photo taken with him or sang with
them, or hung around their house. I didn’t
really “meet” him, but in 2013 I think that moment was as close as I am ever
going to get. Plus it is MY
story. It is one of those memories
(along with when Ringo pointed at me during the No No Song at the St. Louis
concert in 2000) that I will cherish for the rest of my life. And
to think that I was planning on throwing away that sign after the concert, and
now I am finding a place to hang it up in my Beatles room.
It was also neat to see myself on the big screen behind Paul
several times during the show. I am
trying to find decent video footage of “Obladi Oblada” because I know for
certain that they zoomed in on me during the sing along for that one. And the last part that I liked was having
the confetti fall on me at the very end.
I have watched that happen and it was neat to be in the middle of
it. I even kept some of the confetti
for my scrapbook. The only negative
about being that close was that Live and Let Die scared me half to death! And I knew what was going to happen, and I
still jumped.
I took a TON of photos.
I will share some of my favorites here and post the rest on flickr if
anyone is interested. Please know that all photos were taken by me and are copyright Sara Schmidt. You are free to use these photos if you want. That is why I took them, so people can enjoy them, but if you post them online please link back to this blog.
Thanks for reading this.
I hope no one thinks I am trying to brag or gloat about all of
this. I am just super excited and wanted
to share my excitement with other people who understand.
Eight Days a Week |
My favorite photo that I took |
I like this one because he is looking at me. don't you think? |
Your Mother Should Know with Beatles in the background. Very cute! |
What's the use of any thing? (Mrs. Vanderbuilt...love that song!) |
Something |
Live and Let Die |
Waving the Tennessee Flag |
Wonderful write up! I think that was a brilliant unique idea, and so happy that it got him! Sometimes we call that S.E.C. {significant eye contact} And so many things you mention are spot on. And I have been to a few Maccashows as well, and I can also say that even after however many show, THAT 'thing' doesn't change. I wish I had realized that you were webmiester, and we could have talked more! See you on fb, but wanted to put this note here! Rick G FOTR
ReplyDeleteSara, loved your story! You are forever changed once you are the recipient of 'the gaze' !!
ReplyDeleteMBlake
Please Read My Comment! ;)
ReplyDeleteOh my god, I would have collapsed. You're SOOOO lucky. I'm going to see him in July but I have bad seats, so there's not a single chance of him seeing me. :(
ReplyDeletesara, i have tears in my eyes, i'm so happy for you!!! the sign was simply brilliant, it couldn't have been better. congratulations, my dear friend, and you deserve it sooooo much! next time he needs to call you onstage and hug you!
ReplyDeleteHello Sara,
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased for you, I too loved your story as it shows your real love for Paul and the Beatles, keep up the good work with the pictures and stories
Cheers
Lesley
MAYBE I"M AMAZED, Sara! This is the most incredible blog I have ever read and FAB photos! So excited for you---a SOUNDCHECK-with PAUL in same room! WOW
ReplyDeleteI'm usually just an occasional reader of this blog and not a commenter, but this is too great for me to simply read and not react. I'm so happy for you, Sara! If anybody deserves to be noticed by Paul, you do. :) It must have been absolutely wonderful! And your photos from the show are FAB.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to see Paul (in Tulsa) tomorrow - an opportunity which I've been dreaming of for years. My seat is nowhere that I'll ever be seen by Macca, but frankly, just BEING THERE will be enough for me.
Thank you everyone for your kind words. I appreciate all of your support and kindness. It makes the moment even better for me when I know that others can share and understand just how excited I am.
ReplyDeleteto all of you going to see Paul in the near future: have a wonderful time and remember to soak it all in. It really doesn't matter where your seats are located, you are sure to have a wonderful time. Let me know if anything exciting happens at the shows you go to!
Congrats! I love your idea for the sign, and it worked! Such a great story you'll treasure forever.
ReplyDeleteWell done! I see you've met Pete Best too. Not bad going in 2013, only 3 people walking the earth can truly say they were a 'Beatle', Okay 4 if you include 10 day stand-in Jimmie Nicol.
ReplyDeleteLovely story - this are the bits why we are fans. I met Paul 2 times eye to eye and i do remember all of it...
ReplyDeletethorsten
www.bravo-beatles-blitztournee.de
Way to go Sarah:-) your joy is infectious. You have been looked upon by a Beatle. You are one of a very few.The pictures are great too. j0j0
ReplyDeleteIt does remind me on the night I almost "met" Ringo!!
ReplyDeleteGIRL (shouts to Ringo): I love you, Ringo!!
RINGO: I love you, too!!
ME (To Ringo): I love you more!!
RINGO (To me): And I love YOU, too!!
He really spotted me, and spoke to me!!! This is why I was happy to have a great seat EVER!!! I was sitting in Row D. It was awesome getting his attention lol!!! This was at a Ringo's concert in St. Louis at the Fabulous Fox, September 7. 2018!!