That is exactly what it felt like for me on April 30, 2016 when I saw Paul McCartney in concert in Little Rock, Arkansas. Of course as a fan, going to a Paul concert isn't simply just going to a concert---it is an event and a chance to be around like-minded fans. I had a wonderful time at the meet-up before the Paul concert. I talked to a lot of Beatle friends old and new and it was great.
After the meet up, we went to the Limo Watch. Paul drove by with the window down and gave a wave and a thumbs up and it was the most exciting 8 seconds ever. If you have time on the day of a Paul concert to do a limo watch, I highly recommend it. It is just a lot of fun and a great time with other fans.
The concert started with the slideshow. This was a different slideshow than what was shown during the "Out There" tour, Instead of scrolling up and down, this one moved side to side. Honestly, I didn't like this one very much. The slideshows are always a highlight for me because they often show rare photographs. This one was difficult to see all the photos and I didn't notice anything new or different.
Paul came out and the first song he sang was "A Hard Day's Night." That is an interesting choice, but I didn't care of it. As I have mentioned many times before, I do not like Paul singing songs that are thought of as "John" songs. "A Hard Day's Night" is not in Paul's register and he was struggling to sing the high notes.
All of the songs that Paul sang that were in his upper register did not sound great, especially "Maybe I'm Amazed." I know that this is the song he sings in memory of Linda, but I really wish he would drop it from his setlist and pick another song he wrote for her. At this point, it is getting painful to hear and I am concerned that he is damaging his voice chords singing it so often. However, the songs Paul sang in a lower register sounded really great. "Lady Madonna" "We Can Work it out," etc all sounded spot on and were extremely enjoyable to hear.
Songs I could have done without were "Letting Go," "Temporary Secretary" and "(Being for the Benefit of) Mr. Kite." My favorite part of the show was the acoustic set where Paul and the band came down front and played "In Spite of all the Danger," "You won't see me" and "Love me Do". The entire band sounded great on these songs and I had never heard any of them in concert before.
The most emotional song of the night was "Here Today." I was amazed by the huge standing ovation John got when Paul said, "Let's hear it for John." It was well over a minute of people whistling and applauding for John and you could see that Paul was touched by this. While Paul was singing the song in memory of his friend and he sang the line, "I love you..." the whole place erupted in applause again. I am not sure if this is common during this song, but it was very touching to me and put a lump in my throat. Paul's voice sounded a bit emotional as well as he continued on with the song.
Paul called up two groups of fans in Little Rock. The first group was four ladies that had a sign that lit up, asking Paul to have them come up on stage. They seemed nervous and they were cute as could be. Paul actually signed autograph photos (not tatoos) for them, which I didn't think he did.
The next group was a guy and a girl who had traveled from Japan to see Paul. The guy wanted to ask the girl to marry him and Paul made him get down on one knee and propose. The timid girl said "yes" and automatically turned and hugged Paul! It was so funny! What a great engagement story for them!
Overall---the experience of the concert and the excitement of it all made it well worth the money spent to go. Paul always puts on an amazing 3 hour show without any breaks (except for one short encore). Paul's voice might not be as strong as it once was, but he still sounds like "Paul" on the majority of songs. I hope you get a chance to see Paul One on One in the near future!
*All photos taken and belong to Sara Schmidt. Please ask before sharing.
Great review and good advice for PM that I hope he heeds if someone tells him. So many other songs to choose from that are easier for him to sing - - or else transpose now impossible ones like 'Maybe I'm Amazed' and 'Blackbird' into a lower key.
ReplyDeleteSARA ; good review and am so happy that you were able to see Paul in concert again - saw Elvis toward the end and he was so terrible that I was sorry I saw him at this stage but older fans there from the 50's didn't care because they just wanted to see him in person again
ReplyDeleteYour stupid....the show was FANTASTIC....you are not a fan but a wanna be useless music critic!
ReplyDeleteDid you read the whole review? Did you read the last part where I said the show was awesome? How about how I said Paul sounded great on most of the songs? Just because I think he needs to drop songs, especially Maybe I'm Amazed that are in his upper register doesn't mean it wasn't a great show. Paul could go up on stage and fart in a microphone and I was be thrilled and would still pay the money I paid to see him. I am offended that you say that I am not a fan. If I was not a fan then why do I have this blog? And for that matter why did I travel 6 hours to see Paul McCartney in concert? I am not a wanna be music critic---I am a wanna be Beatles historian---please get it right. And it is you're not your.
Deletewell Sara, I give you credit for even posting that Blue Meanie's comment. I was lucky enough to see Paul in concert last year in Philadelphia and, as usual, it was great. Paul singing "Maybe I'm Amazed" on "Saturday Night Live' last year was dreadful so I do agree with you about him singing that song in concert anymore. Almost nobody in the audience seemed to know "Temporary Secretary" or anything off of the "New" album. (MarkZapp)
ReplyDeletethank you Sara for another good honest review and you never have to defend your views- I love Paul but truth being I have heard him sound off key, not really singing well & hoarse in concert and hope he'll choose songs easier to sing
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