AT&T Park
I've been trying to recall just how many times I've seen Sir Paul over the last 20 years. I know the first show was 20 years ago at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley and that was the one and only time in my life I camped out for tickets. All I can say now is thank god for the internet and credit card pre-sales!
In any case, this was at least the 5th time I've seen the former Beatle. And this time it was in San Francisco proper -- the first time he's played inside the city limits since the last Beatles concert at dear old dreary Candlestick. (AT&T was a cold and a bit foggy, but still a far cry from the 'Stick!) The combination of a stadium show and seriously expensive tickets meant I was headed to the show by myself this time. I'm not a huge fan of stadium shows, but there are definite exceptions. This was one and to heck with the cost!
Granted, that meant paying way too much for a seat too far back to see the stage over the heads of the folks in front of me, but it also meant a seat on the lawn in front of the sound board. Couldn't see the stage much, but the sound was GREAT!
I got to the park a bit early, but got in easily since I didn't have to go in through the Willie Mays gate, but through the Marina gate -- no lines! Alas, not so lucky grabbing some food -- slowest moving lines I've ever encountered at the park. Quite obviously I was in line behind people who'd never ordered a hot dog before! Sigh. I did get a kick out of the two girls behind me in line who were so excited to be at the show. One was wearing the t-shirt from that Memorial Stadium show and I said "hey I have that shirt!" She replied -- "Yeah it's my mom's. I was born two years after this show." Ouch. Still, there's hope for the next generation.
I settled in and waited for the show to start and visited with folks sitting around me including a 60-ish couple who were seeing Paul for the first time. A "bucket list" item the husband told me. He was a bit surprised that I had seen so many shows.
We watched the stadium fill and by the stated start time of 7:30 it looked like everyone was in their seats. I didn't expect the show to start at 7:30 (really, who does?) so when 8:00 hit and the video screens on each side of the stage came on I figured here we go. Well, no. 25 minutes of scrolling video to remixes of various Beatles/Wings/solo material. Not particularly stimulating, but hey you just go with it. Paul will take the stage when he's ready to take the stage and not a second earlier.
8:30 the lights on the stage start going, people are on their feet, and Paul and the band finally take the stage. ROAR. And the show opens up with "Venus and Mars/Rockshow" a pretty decent opening, but I've seen him open better. "Jet" came next and got a better response.
The opening few tunes were a mix of very old, old, obscure, and new. A little tepid I thought. Not that the crowd didn't eat them up, but you could feel people wanting to really sing along and the choppy mix made it hard to sustain the energy.
But still, this is a Beatle. Solid musicianship and excellent production are a requirement and as always I was not disappointed. Macca's band is fantastic -- he's been touring with the same 5 guys for a while now and they can nail the harmonies and are just fabulous musicians.
The show really got rolling about 10 songs in with a solid set of known tunes. As he did the last time I saw him, he played "Here Today" - his tribute to John. That song made me cry the first time I heard it in 1982 and every single time I've heard it since. Saturday night was no exception especially as the older I get the more I understand the feeling behind it. One of three teary-eyed moments of the night -- the others being "The Long and Winding Road" (the first song I ever burst into tears upon hearing live back in 1990 shocking myself even more than my cousin Denise) and "Something" (Paul's tribute to George of course.)
From time to time, Paul would stop and talk to the crowd and strut on stage and every time I couldn't help but think "Wow, it's like my dad trying to be cool." It was unintentionally humorous to me. Of course then I thought "Well, he's just an old hippie and doing things that were cool when hippies were cool." Still at 68, he may be almost as old as my dad, but definitely way cooler! (Sorry Dad!)
The show went on for three hours with no intermission and not a lot of down time between songs. THREE HOURS! He's SIXTY EIGHT!
Amazing.
One of the neat things about having my seat somewhere in the vicinity of second base meant that there were thousands of people sitting behind me and when people started singing along you could feel the wave of voices coming from behind. It was pretty incredible. People were singing along all night though some tunes were more vocal than others. When he spun from "A Day in the Life" to "Give Peace a Chance" the crowd was incredible. And of course the closing song "Hey Jude" and 40,000 voices singing along. Fantastic.
An upside of a stadium show -- more fireworks! Paul always sets off fireworks for "Live and Let Die," but of the indoor variety -- great, but tame. Outdoors -- a whole different show! Fireworks on the stage (which I could barely see.) Fireworks off the top of the rigging (which all of San Francisco could see!) And the added bonus of that fireworks smell.
Two encores and 11:30 arrived and the show came to an end. Walking back to my car (yes, I drove -- train takes too long to get home!) everyone was humming a different tune and commenting on what a great show it was. If anyone left disappointed it wasn't because of the performance.
Who knows if/when Paul will come through town again, but he's always on my "don't miss" list.
Set list*
(courtesy of PaulMcCartney.com)
1. Venus and Mars/Rockshow
2. Jet
3. All My Loving
4. Letting Go
5. Got To Get You Into My Life
6. Highway
7. Let Me Roll It
8. The Long And Winding Road
9. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five
10. Let ‘Em In
11. My Love
12. I’m Looking Through You
13. Two Of Us
14. Blackbird
15. Here Today
16. Dance Tonight
17. Mrs Vandebilt
18. Eleanor Rigby
19. Something
20. Sing The Changes
21. Band On The Run
22. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
23. Back In The USSR
24. I’ve Got A Feeling
25. Paperback Writer
26. A Day In The Life / Give Peace A Chance
27. Let It Be
28. Live And Let Die
29. Hey Jude
Encore:
30. Day Tripper
31. Lady Madonna
32. Get Back
Second Encore:
33. Yesterday
34. Helter Skelter
35. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End
*Set List addendum: San Francisco Bay Blues was played somewhere early on, but not included in the official set list posted. Paul's comment was "we had to throw that one in." Pretty nifty while sitting on the shores of McCovey Cove.
