Seeing one of the Beatles in person has to be one of the most exciting things that we as Beatle fans are able to do. We spend so much of our personal time focused on the four guys from Liverpool, listening to their music and studying their lives that when the opportunity arises to actually see one of them in the flesh, it is a time full of joy. There is an electric feeling in the air and you have a big adrenaline rush.
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.
