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| Getting Out There: Paul's pictures scroll on the Jumbo trons before the show. |
This is more of a picture blog because there are really no words to describe the exhilaration and thrill of seeing Paul McCartney in concert.
I have seen Paul a total of 3 times in 3 consecutive years now. All in the United States too. He LOVES it over here and the United States loves him.
Just to give the people who have never been to a Paul McCartney concert an idea of what to expect when they do attend, here's what goes down:
When you take your seats, the jumbo trons scroll a collage of pictures and film, some never seen before and probably from Paul's personal collection which is accompanied by remixes of Beatles songs and Paul's solo stuff. Right before he's about to come out, the Hofner in lights appears on the Jumbo tron and then the arena goes dark.....
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| Just before the show begins.... |
And then he just walks on stage. The place goes WILD. And I mean you will hear a single tone of "WOOOOOOOO" for several minutes straight.
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| Macca begins his show with the Beatles 1965 classic 'Eight Days A Week' |
He waves casually to the audience and then he turns to his band members, Guitarists Rusty Anderson & Brian Ray, Drummer Abe Laboriel Jr and Keyboardist Paul 'Wix' Wickens who have backed Paul on tour now for almost 15 years. Wix is the longest serving member, having accompanied Paul on his 1989/90 and 1993 world tours.
After leading us through one of his songs from his just released 'New' album 'Save Us' and then the Beatles 1963 classic 'All My Loving' and then the 1975 Wings rocker 'Listen To What The Man Said' Paul switched to the electric guitar and took his jacket off to rock out on 'Let Me Roll It' from 1973's 'Band On The Run' which ended with a snippet of Hendrix' 'Foxy Lady' and a story about Hendrix and Eric Clapton!
It really is a shame Paul doesn't get on the electric guitar more often as he can really let rip with his riffs.
Then he treated us to 'Paperback Writer' on his famed Epiphone Casino. This is his favourite electric guitar, he got it in 1964 and the casino can be heard on the aforementioned song, 'Ticket To Ride', 'Taxman', 'Another Girl' and many more Beatles tracks! Paul played lead guitar on a few Beatles songs.
This last pic I snapped rather quickly as Paul decided at the end of one of his new songs 'Everybody Out There' to strum it on the fretboard and sing the refrain again for a second. It was an odd moment and spontaneous. I suppose he just felt like doing it and he could, because you know what? HE'S PAUL MCCARTNEY! HE CAN DO WHAT HE BLOODY WELL LIKES!
As you can see from the last two photos during the Hey Jude singalong, It got very smoky in there due to his performance of Live & Let Die. That one is extremely invigorating. Explosions and fireworks galore!
After Hey Jude the band leaves the stage, making people who are not familiar with this practice and this is their first Macca gig believe the show is over.....
It's not over. A couple in front of us got up to leave but we shook our heads at them and told them to wait....
Paul and the band run out with flags. Since Paul was in Texas, he held the Lone Star state flag, Rusty has the US flag and Wix holds the UK flag.
After the flag waving, it's back to the music. Paul took us through Daytripper, Get Back (I wish he'd play I Saw Her Standing There', next time though!), Yesterday, which he did on his Epiphone Texan and finally 'Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End"
After a bow from the band and a "Thank you! See ya next time!" from Paul, the confetti explodes. I captured this last picture and the confetti is in the shape of a heart. Not sure if this was intentional on their part or not but it makes for a pretty awesome shot!
Thank you Paul McCartney. For everything you have done and continue to do. Yes, we do want to keep on rocking.
"And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make"
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