I wasn't supposed to see Paul in Kansas City, Missouri on July 16, 2014. I was supposed to see Paul in Louisville, Kentucky on June 26th. However, when Paul got sick and had to re-schedule the Louisville show, I was no longer able to travel down to see it. I really can't travel 6 hours south on a Tuesday in October. So I started to look for another date that worked for me in this tour and Kansas City seemed to be the best fit.
I was not sitting on the floor for this show. I was in section 101, which is the first section past the floor seating. I had seats that were in the center and had a wonderful view of Paul the entire time. These were basically the same seats I had when I saw Paul in St. Louis in 2012. You really get a different concert from the floor and the stadium seating. When you see Paul on the floor, you are obviously part of the action. You are an active participant in the concert. He appears to make eye contact with you and those around you. Everyone stands for the entire concert and you can tell from the dancing and singing that the people with you are Paul fans and love him with the same passion that you do. When you sit up in the stadium seating, most of the people remain seated for a big part of the concert. They do stand a bit for some of the songs, but you are sitting for most of the show. There were times that I wanted to stand, but I felt like it would have been rude to those behind me. You feel so far away from Paul. While I could see him so well, there was a disconnect for sure. And you are sitting near a majority (not all) of people who like Paul because he was in the Beatles and Wings and are not familiar with any of his solo work. The plus side of having seats farther away is that you get to enjoy the show aspect. When I was sitting in the 4th row last year, I did not know that when Paul sang, "Here Today" it looked like he was standing on a waterfall. I was too close to notice it. However, by having seats farther back, it was neat to see. You can make out all of the photos farther back and enjoy the laser lights much better.
Paul sang most of the songs that he has been singing in concert the past few years. However, he has cut some of the Wings numbers to add in some songs from "New." He sang "Save Us," "New" "Queenie Eye" and "Everybody Out There." I was sorry to see "Junior's Farm" and "Mrs. Vanderbilt" leave the set list. However, the songs from "New" sounded really great! I love the "New" background and Paul and the band really, really seemed to enjoy playing the songs.
Some things that I noticed specifically to the Kansas City Show. Paul did not read any of the signs out loud. I saw all sorts of people down front holding signs, and I saw Paul pointing to them, but he did not ever look out and read any of the signs. Someone had thrown a pair of panties up on the stage and Paul picked them up and said something about how it wasn't a Tom Jones show and this had never happened before. I seriously doubt that in 2014 Paul McCartney had his first pair of women's panties thrown on the stage!! But it was a really funny part of the show. Paul seemed to be a bit more talkative between songs. He mostly stuck to his script, but there were a few little things that I think he added and he in general seemed to be a tad bit more chatty.
When he sang "My Valentine," he dedicated it to Nancy who he said was in the audience and he pointed towards her. I thought the KC crowd was extremely rude during this song. It looked like a mass exodus of people. Everyone must have thought "My Valentine" is a code song for "bathroom and drink" break. Actually, I was surprised how much people were leaving their seats throughout the concert. If it wasn't a Beatles song, it seems like people were leaving. There were some people in my row that were constantly coming and going. They were coming back with popcorn and hot dogs and who knows what else. Whenever I go to a Paul show, I stay in my seat the entire time. I do not want to miss a thing! Those tickets are extremely expensive! I can eat popcorn or go use the bathroom later---you only have so many chances to see Paul McCartney in person.
Paul messed up the words on "We can work it out." He sang, "Only time will tell if I am wrong or I am wrong...." He always seems to have a hard time with lyrics to that one. Overall Paul sounded good, but by the time he sang "Day Tripper," you could tell that his voice was getting tired. Personally I did not think "Helter Skelter" sounded very good because Paul's voice just sounded like it was ready to give out.
Of course the real treat of the night was Paul performing "Kansas City (Hey Hey Hey )" which he did instead of "Hi Hi Hi." He sang the "Beatles" version of the song with the crowd all doing the echo part. This might be one of my favorite personal Beatle memories of my life. Just something about singing the song Kansas City along with Paul in Kansas City----you just can't beat that!
If you haven't seen Paul during this tour, you have to go! I know it is extremely expensive. I know it is often in the middle of the week. But you will regret it for the rest of your life if you miss out on this tour. If you go and happen to have sensitive eyes, you will want to bring along some sunglasses. There are a lot of bright lights and strobe lights that go out into the audience. My mom has eye problems and the lights were really hurting her eyes until she got her sunglasses out of her purse and then she could see Paul and not be blinded. So if any of you have eye problems....I thought I would pass along that advice.
Have fun out there!
*All photos were taken by Sara Schmidt. Please ask before you use these photos elsewhere (and I always say yes!)
