We Love Him. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

I was listening to the radio playing McCartney A to Z on the drive home from work yesterday. They played a clip of an interview where he said that he flies in from his base of operations (LA on the west coast), does his sound check, and plays the show. Then he flies home and sleeps in his own bed. Sounds good to me. Unfortunately, his flight must have been delayed. At 7:00, when the concert was supposed to start, everyone was waiting outside of the arena while the sound check was still under way. Of course, I don't think I ever went to a concert that started on time, so it was no big deal.

The show finally started about 8:30 to a full house of cheering fans. A lone DJ was on stage playing an interesting mixture of samples from the songs of Paul McCartney's career. I liked it, my wife didn't. It went on for about 15 minutes.
Then Paul McCartney and his band came out and played for almost 3 hours. They didn't just play, they put on a show. There were lights, visuals, one-liners, and of course the music. We heard songs ranging from before the Beatles up to the current album. Not unexpectedly, the Beatles' songs got the loudest cheers. There was a nice variety of hits and B-sides, something for every level of fan. After the main performance and 3 encores (I think), the show finally ended aroud 11:30. It will be remembered as one of my favorite concerts ever.

Random concert thoughts:

I wish I looked as good in my 40's as he does in his 60's. It must be genetic.

I saw 2 different mixing boards. From the way they looked, there should be a concert DVD coming out some time after the tour is over.

I definitely need to start playing again and find a band to play in. Just once, I would like to get paid to play. That marks a level of accomplishment for me. It means I'm good a enough musician that people, intentionally, come to hear me play. I've played in a band a couple of times for free. It was an incredible feeling to have people applaud when you play. I can understand why Paul McCartney is still touring. I'm sure it's not for the money.

Thanks for coming back to town, Paul. We'll see you again next time.