July 10, 2019: Mid-Week McCartney

San Jose, CA

SAP Center

My night out to see Paul McCartney did not start off well... I had a mediocre dinner (how someone can screw up a grilled ham and cheese sandwich is beyond me!) and then after walking the 10-15 minutes from the restaurant to the SAP Center I was greeted by a new policy that restricted bags to 5"x8" or smaller. If they were larger they needed to be clear bags or you had to check them for $5 and get a clear bag in return. I briefly considered checking my bag, but when I saw how long the line was to check bags I knew it'd be ten times worse retrieving it after the show, so I turned around and walked the 10-15 minutes back to my car to lock my purse in my trunk after taking out the essentials I'd need for the evening. I'll save my rant about the stupidity of this security theater for another day, but will just say this -- how hard is it to send an email to people who bought tickets in DECEMBER for this show to inform them of a new policy enacted on July 1?! Annoying as hell.

With the need to trek back to my car and then return to the arena, it was nearly 8:00 by the time I actually got inside. I wasn't too concerned -- I've seen Paul often enough to know that he doesn't start his show a the stated ticket time. I grabbed a bottle of water and made my way down to my seat. I knew when I bought the ticket that I'd gotten a pretty good seat, but I had rather forgotten where it was when I got to the arena. Third row up from the floor, right near the stage! Wow! Definitely the closest I've ever been for McCartney. As I worked my way down to my seat, I passed a couple of women who were in a bit of a tizzy. I assume that they, like pretty much every other woman I chatted with on my way in to the arena, were annoyed by the new bag policy. Nope, they had gotten seriously scammed on scalped tickets and had lost several thousand dollars! Yikes! It all ended well as they wound up with pretty decent seats, but also learned a really valuable lesson.

Paul took the stage about 8:25 and kicked off the show with "Hard Days Night" and everyone was on their feet singing and dancing along. Being so close to both the floor and the stage meant it was an up on my feet show most of the way through. Fine by me, though brutal for a school night, I was gonna pay the next day at work! Paul's got a new album out which I received a copy of when I purchased the concert ticket, and he played a few songs from it to an okay response from the crowd. While everyone appreciates his talent, folks are there to hear songs they've known and loved for decades. I will say, however, you know you're a rock god when you can get Meryl Streep (among many other A-list celebs) to dance around a recording studio for your music video (from an album released a few years ago.)

Still, the highlights are always the Beatles' classics, and while I didn't get "Michelle," I did get a lot of my favorite tunes. Personal highlights included "Let 'Em In" -- the first solo McCartney song I recall hearing as a kid, his tributes to John and George ("Here Today" and "Something"), and of course the finale of the show "Let It Be," "Live and Let Die," and "Hey Jude." Being so close to the stage when all the pyrotechinics went off during "Live and Let Die" was amazing. And HOT! Wow! Lots of flames (including one that didn't quite go out at the end of the song and kept burning a bit at the beginning of "Hey Jude".) While there are always songs you wish you could hear when someone has a catalog like Paul McCartney, I was a bit surprised not to hear "Yesterday" at all. Especially with the new movie out.

The show ended about 11:30 -- so a solid three hours of a well paced show, which considering Paul is 77 is impressive as hell. I hiked back to my car humming songs that are older than I am and appreciative of another opportunity to see an absolute legend at work.

Set List (courtesy of setlist.fom)

A Hard Day's Night
Junior's Farm
All My Loving
Letting Go
Who Cares
Got to Get You Into My Life
Come On to Me
Let Me Roll It  (followed by "Foxy Lady" jam)
I've Got a Feeling
Let 'Em In
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
Maybe I'm Amazed
I've Just Seen a Face
In Spite of All the Danger
From Me to You
Dance Tonight
Love Me Do
Blackbird
Here Today
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna
Eleanor Rigby
Fuh You
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Something
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

Encore:
Birthday
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Helter Skelter
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

August 14, 2014: And In The End, The Love You Take Is Equal To The Love You Make

San Francisco, CA
Candlestick Park

I'm not a huge fan of stadium shows. They're too big and even if you get a seat close to the stage, the stage is so high you're not really all that close. Seats on the lawn are looking at the backs of heads and the actual stadium seats are miles from the stage.

Candlestick Park is a decrepit dump. It's freezing cold with howling wind and located in the single most inconvenient location in San Francisco. Getting there is a nightmare. Getting home is worse. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to build a stadium on Candlestick Point back in 1958 is well beyond me.

But oh the memories....

Candlestick Park (and always Candlestick Park, any other name the place has held over the last 54 years was always irrelevant) was where Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, and Juan Marichal reigned supreme in the 1960s. John Brodie, Gene Washington, Jimmie Johnson and later Jim Plunkett and an aging O.J. Simpson brought football in the 1970s. Candlestick Park was home for Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Steve Young, and oh so many more stars for those 1980s championship 49er teams. Will Clark, Robby Thompson, and Matt Williams brought good, exciting baseball back to Candlestick in the late 1980s and in 1993 the best player in the game signed with his hometown team -- Barry Bonds came to play at Candlestick Park.

The Rolling Stones played concerts at Candlestick Park. I can vividly remember them coming to town in the early 1980s and the hype and hoopla surrounding these 40 year old guys playing a rock concert.

And, of course, the Beatles played their final concert at Candlestick Park. All reports have always been it wasn't a very good concert, but it was always a point of pride for that lousy old dump off Highway 101. Now that the 49ers have followed the Giants and moved on to greener pastures, it was only fitting that the final event to be held at Candlestick Park be a concert by Paul McCartney.

Talk about this concert began sometime last year after Sir Paul appeared at the Outside Lands festival, and as soon as I heard there were plans in the works to try to get him to Candlestick for one last hurrah, I planned to be there. When the concert was finally announced earlier this year, I made sure I knew every which way to get tickets. This was a hard ticket to get and I was in a panic while trying to buy seats -- nothing would come up over and over and over again no matter what I tried. After what seemed like days of selecting tickets and hitting enter on Ticketmaster, I was finally able to snag two tickets in the lower reserved section. My cousin Eileen would be coming up from L.A. to join me for the show.

The day of the show finally arrived and since Eileen was coming up, I had planned ahead and taken the week off. I picked Eileen up at the airport Thursday morning and after doing a quick hometown tour of Millbrae and dropping things off at my place, we were off to spend the afternoon in San Francisco before heading to the show. A yummy lunch was followed by a stroll down the Embarcadero through the throngs of tourists. Back to the car by 4:15 or so and over to Candlestick. Sure, the concert wasn't scheduled to start until 8:00, but the parking lots opened at 3:00 and the gates would open at 5:00. I'm no fool, I've spent a lifetime going to Candlestick and know it's best to get there early or you'll never get there on time.

We got to the parking lot around 4:45 and got out to the usual howling cold wind. The weather had been very pleasant with a slight breeze downtown. Not Candlestick Point. Popped the trunk and pulled out the sweatshirt and coat, grabbed the gloves just in case, and pulled my hair up. Now I'm ready for Candlestick!

The gates didn't open right on time at 5:00, so it was probably closer to 5:30 or so when we got in. A nice treat, everyone was handed a souvenir ticket as they entered. In these days of electronic and print at home tickets, that was a nice touch. (I had opted for the traditional ticket, so I have that souvenir too.) We found our seats easily through the early crowd and chatted there for a bit before heading off to check out the swag table and grab something to eat. We both picked up a t-shirt that listed only the Candlestick date on the back, but finding food was a trick. The concession stands were clearly not being operated by whoever ran them when the 49ers were still there, so there were lots and lots of options for wine and beer but trying to find a simple hot dog was a chore. Once we did find a vendor selling hot dogs, we had to wait a good 10 minutes for them to be ready!

Candlestick gradually filled up and I was pleasantly surprised to find that our seats were pretty well sheltered from the wind. It was howling like mad on the concourses, but where we were sitting (approximately behind the old third base visitors dugout) it was actually pretty nice. We were miles from the stage, which was set up in what had been the north endzone (home of "The Catch"), but the HUGE video screens would be fine for viewing.

The show didn't start until nearly 9:00 (which I had more or less expected despite the "promptly at 8:00" notifications I had been receiving) which was quite beneficial to those folks who were stuck in Candlestick traffic. I've seen Paul quite a few times by now, and this show was on par with all his previous performances. A mix of classic Beatles tunes, Wings hits, a few new songs that got polite applause, a few lesser known Wings tunes, and a couple of covers. As he so often does when in town, he played "San Francisco Bay Blues" which got a marvelous response.

The show was quite good and the audience enjoyed it quite clearly. There were many points when I could hear the 49,000 or so people singing along with those oh-so-familiar songs. A couple of personal highlights: "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" got people up on their feet dancing and singing along, "Here Today", Paul's tribute to John which always puts a tear in my eye, "The Long and Winding Road" reminded me of the first time I saw him in Berkeley in the early 1990s, and the fireworks show with "Live and Let Die" is always much more fun outdoors than inside.

But it was the songs you knew would be the cream of the crop that took the show. "Let It Be" with a galaxy of mobile phone "stars" throughout the stadium was amazing. "Hey Jude" and the massive sing-along chorus. And the simple mastery of "Yesterday" that always makes me think of just how young Paul was when he wrote this amazing tune.

Over two and a half hours later, the show was over. At 72, I gotta say that's pretty impressive. The show just flew by and it was sad to see it end. Eileen and I hustled back to the parking lot and were in the car by 12:00. Pushing through the traffic and pedestrians to get to the freeway, we managed to make it to 101 by 12:30 and home by 1:00.

Good ole Candlestick Park... you decrepit dump of ice cold, bone chilling wind. I'm not sorry to see you go. I will miss seeing the home of so many memories, but I will always have the memories. Glad I got to capture the last memory anyone will ever have of an event at Candlestick.

Set List (courtesy of setlist.fm)*

Eight Days a Week
Save Us
All My Loving
Listen to What the Man Said
Let Me Roll It
Paperback Writer
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
The Long and Winding Road
Maybe I'm Amazed
I've Just Seen a Face
San Francisco Bay Blues
We Can Work It Out
Another Day
And I Love Her
Blackbird
Here Today
New
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna
All Together Now
Lovely Rita
Everybody Out There
Eleanor Rigby
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Something
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band on the Run
Back in the USSR
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

Encore 1:
Day Tripper
Hi, Hi, Hi
I Saw Her Standing There

Encore 2:
Yesterday
Long Tall Sally (last song played by the Beatles at Candlestick in '66)
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

*There was a bit of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" played early on in the set I think between "Listen to What the Man Said" and "Let Me Roll It", but I'm not totally sure. That was followed by a nice tale of Jimi Hendrix playing songs from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" two days after it was released and Jimi asking Eric Clapton to help him re-tune his guitar.

July 10, 2010: Sir Paul in San Francisco!

San Francisco, CA
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.

November 7, 2005: The Comforts of Sir Paul

San Jose, CA
HP Pavilion

I woke up yesterday mostly refreshed and recovered after a weekend spent doing as little as humanly possible after a particularly stressful week. A new week, start off with a new attitude (or at least don't drag last week back in) and it was going to not only be a short week, but a fun one too with two concerts in two days -- Paul McCartney and U2. Things started off pretty well until my mom called around noon to let me know my aunt Diane had lost her battle with cancer that morning. I contemplated not going to the show, but came to the conclusion that not only would it mean that the alternative was sitting at home feeling down but that it might do me some good. I needed an emotional boost before the day had started, so I definitely needed one now.

Since I was going solo to the show (everyone else I know with tickets are going to tonight's show) I tried to kill some time at work before going to grab something to eat. Concentration wasn't the best, so I just gave up and got in my car and headed off. I'd brought a book with me which I read during dinner and while I was waiting in the arena for the show to start. I'd have stayed longer at the restaurant, but it was getting crowded and I was taking up a table for 4 so I headed over to the arena about 6:30 -- well over an hour before the show was scheduled to start. When I arrived, the line was moving slower than usual to let people in. At first I thought they were doing a more thorough camera search than usual as there were signs posted all around the entrance lines that the concert was being filmed and that no cameras of any kind were allowed period! It turned out that the line was slowed by the fact they had set up metal detectors at the entry and virtually everyone set off the detectors (gee, go figure, everyone's walking through with either a purse or keys and change in their pockets!) Even more effective, once you set off the detector (like I did) you stood to the side while someone waved a wand over you and DESPITE another beep when it passed over my purse that was the end of it. Heck, no one even looked in my purse when I went through the door with my ticket! Rather pointless security wouldn't you say?

Once I got inside the arena, the doors were still closed to the actual seats, so had to kill some time and that was when I had my first celebrity sighting -- as I was leaving the ladies room, I heard someone say "well, we're thinking about a new album", so I turned and looked to see who it was, and it was Johnny Colla of the News. Well, kewl. I finally got to my seat a little after 7 and was quite pleased. It was the first time I'd ever had floor seats for Paul and while it was in the 29th row, that row turned out to be an aisle row, so there was a large gap between me and the row in front of me -- I could see the stage clearly all night long and was in the center in front of the sound board! Excellent! People filled in and I tried to read my book while I waited, but it was made difficult by the two disco balls spinning at the top of the arena. Oh my eyes!

8:00 came and went and the show hadn't started yet (where is Bill Graham when you need him?) About 8:20 the PA music got louder and a few minutes later we were treated to a techno disco DJ remixing a variety of McCartney tunes. Uh... yeah. For those going tonight, bring ear plugs. Trust me. That ended after a while and the video screen above the stage started showing WWII footage and TA-DA! A short film on the history of Paul. (Ear plugs again needed for the scenes with screaming Beatles fans.) Then the curtain was pulled back and the crowd was on their feet and cheering -- it was time!

Paul and his band launched into "Magical Mystery Tour", which I've always thought was a rather odd song, but it is a good concert opener. This was followed by "Flaming Pie", which I was very surprised to recognize quickly as I've probably only listened to the CD once in the last 5 years. As with past shows, the set list was dominated with Beatles songs and so many different thoughts raced through my brain as each one was played. The most frequent of these being that most of those songs are older than I am, yet they still sound fresh. In fact the only song of the whole night that didn't was the only cover tune of the night "Til There Was You," the '50s era tune from some musical I can't recall now. It sounded 40+ years old. The Beatles tunes didn't.

As I suspect most of you know, Paul has a new album out and he played 4 songs from it. I don't have the CD yet and have only heard bits from a VH1 Classic special I managed to catch a few months back, but I really enjoyed them. "English Tea" is a bit of a silly Paul ditty in the vein of many other silly Paul ditties, but "Fine Line", "Any Situation" and especially "Jenny Wren" were quite good. But, of course, no one was there for the new stuff. No one is ever there for the new stuff. Heck, only those 4 plus "Flaming Pie" were recorded after 1980!

No, what people wanted to hear was "The Long and Winding Road" (which zapped me straight back to the very first time I saw Paul in 1989/90 and spontaneously burst into tears when he played that tune), "Eleanor Rigby," "Penny Lane," "Good Day Sunshine" (those going tonight, watch for the false ending[s])... and on and on and on.... And with the amazing age range in the crowd from the 20 somethings (including one who was wearing a t-shirt that said "Mrs. McCartney"!) to people in their 40s with their kids to people who obviously could remember the Beatles on Ed Sullivan (my apologies to those of you included in that category) it speaks to just how timeless that music is. Heck, I still have a vivid memory of being at a party in high school and someone putting on the "red" and "blue" albums of Beatles tunes and all my friends and me singing along. One of the few bands we ALL liked back then -- at that was 20 years after the Beatles first hit the US (and high school is now 20 years in my past.)

Now, unlike every other McCartney show I've ever attended, I was actually on my feet for a good 75% of the show (if not more) as the folks on the floor didn't sit a whole lot. (Wow!) It was fun to be up and dancing for a change, especially when some of those rockin' tunes you forget are in the catalog pop up. The show wound down, and of course we hit the granddaddy of all "na-na" songs... "Hey Jude." It's still very cool to hear 18,000 people singing along in unison and not missing a beat.

The main set closed out with "Live and Let Die" and the pyrotechnics were impressive, and HOT! I could feel the flames all the way back where I was sitting! One thing you are always guaranteed is a great production, and this was just more frosting on an excellent production. As the band exited the stage, I did a mental checklist of what had yet to be played and came up with "Get Back," "Let It Be," and "Yesterday" and guessed that would be the encore and the show would end. I was half right.

The first encore opened with Paul alone singing "Yesterday" -- amazing that such a masterpiece is only 2 minutes long. The band came back and launched into "Get Back" (me dancing wildly) and then holy smokes what a surprise! "Helter Skelter!" Maybe it's because I'm seeing U2 tonight, but all I kept hearing in my head was Bono saying "Charles Manson stole this song from the Beatles, we're stealin' it back" from Rattle & Hum. Having both "Yesterday" and "Helter Skelter" in the same sequence of songs does remind you of just what a range of style Paul has. He's so often lumped into the "silly love songs" category, that you forget he knows how to rock out too.

The band left the stage again, and still no "Let It Be," so duh, of course they're coming back. People seemed to grasp this and mostly stayed in their seats (as opposed to what happens at so many shows I attend.) The band came back out a with Paul carrying a US flag and wearing his "No More Landmines" t-shirt and one of the band members carrying a California state flag. Long-time band member Wix had a much smaller Union Jack to wave around. They kicked off with "Please Please Me" before lowering the lights and starting "Let It Be" by candlelight (more or less.) I love that song (and c'mon, who doesn't?) and was thinking of my aunt Diane through the whole song.

The show ended about 11:30 -- nearly 3 hours long. Not bad for a guy the same age as my mom! I headed out into a light drizzle for the walk back to my car when I had my second celebrity sighting of the night (yes, remember way back at the beginning I said the "first sighting"?) when I passed this pudgy aging hippy standing outside the door who looked familiar. I took a few steps on when I thought "Was that Herbie Herbert?" I dawdled a bit until he turned around in my direction -- Yep! it was. [For you non-Journey freaks -- Herbie Herbert = Journey's former manager.]

Set List
(as I can decipher from my scrawl, it's a bit messier than usual)

Magical Mystery Tour
Flaming Pie
Jet
I'll Get You in the End
Drive My Car
Til There Was You
Let Me Roll It
Got to Get You Into My Life
Fine Line [new]
Maybe I'm Amazed
Long and Winding Road
[can't read my scrawl]
I Will
Jenny Wren
For No One
Fixing a Hole
English Tea [new]
I'll Follow the Sun
Any Situation (I think) -- cool pyro
Blackbird
Eleanor Rigby
Too Many People
She Came Through the Bathroom Window
Good Day Sunshine
Band on the Run
Penny Lane
I Got a Feeling
Back in the USSR
Hey Jude
Live and Let Die

Encore 1:
Yesterday
Get Back
Helter Skelter

Encore 2:
Please Please Me
Let It Be
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)
The End

October 22, 2002: Sir Paul Makes My Life!

San Jose, CA
HP Pavilion

I've waited a few hours to share this, so I'm much calmer now than I was last night, but I thought you'd all like to hear this little tale... I had a ticket to go see Paul McCartney last night in San Jose. With the World Series going on, I was tempted to sell it to get a ticket to the Series. I had just seen him 6 months ago, and thought, briefly, "Well, I don't need to see him AGAIN." Fortunately, such thoughts were fleeting and I kept my ticket and went to the concert last night (thus missing the shellacking my poor Giants took!)

The set was similar to the one I'd seen in April, but about half way through the acoustic set (a couple of songs after he did his John Lennon/George Harrison tributes which had me in tears, again) he started talking about growing up with John and how their age difference of a year and a half was a big deal when they were teenagers. He started talking about these parties they'd go to and his attempts to appear more sophisticated, so he said he would wear a black turtle neck sweater and sit in the corner with his guitar and pretend to be French and make up these songs in French.

This is when I started holding my breath as I'd heard a variant of this story. Could he be about to sing what I think he's going to sing?? He finished the story (something to the effect of John saying one of those silly French songs was good) and he did it, he launched into the song.

HE SANG "MICHELLE"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I was a complete and total wreck and just SOBBED through the whole song. My entire body was shaking. I don't remember what the next couple of songs were 'cause it took me that long to recover. This is the 4th time I've gotten to see Paul McCartney, but this is the first time he'd ever performed the song I was named for. I still can't believe it. The crazy thing is, "Michelle" isn't even my favorite Beatles song, but OMG it was so powerful to hear it live. I'll never forget it.

And now, I'm outta here, I've got tickets to game 4!!!!!

Aprl 1 & 3, 2002 - Paul McCartney Tour Opener

Oakland Coliseum Arena
Oakland, CA

April, 2018: While reformatting and otherwise cleaning up this site, I stumbled upon a couple of emails to a friend on the Journey Digest about this show. I've modified it a bit to fit with the other tales on this site.

One word...

AWESOME!

And that doesn't even begin to cover it. Religious experience has been thrown around.

The show opened about 8:25 (25 minutes late) with a bunch of costumed performers walking up to the stage from various points of the arena. I can't really describe it, but think of a circus act with people in period costumes. I thought it went on a little too long, but it was interesting. (Of course, only Sir Paul could get away with something like that to open the show -- anyone else would have seemed pretentious). When the opening performance ended the video screen went white and a silhouette of Paul's bass appeared. The crowd goes wild. Then a silhouette of Paul, and, well, insanity.

He opened with "Hello Goodbye" (perfect) and closed with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"/"The End" (more perfect.) A friend of a friend sent me the set list as he noted it (see below.) My first "burst into tears" moment came when he performed "All My Lovin'" with clips of the Beatles arriving in New York up on the screen. The first two faces on the screen were George and John.

Things slowed down a bit when he did a few songs from Driving Rain. Very good songs, but not what anyone paid to hear of course. That was followed by an acoustic set -- just Paul and an acoustic guitar. Some of the band came out for one or two songs, but it was mostly Paul. That was "burst into tears" moment number two. He paid tribute to both John and George. First by playing "Here Today" (a song that has made me cry every time I hear it for the last 20 years) and then telling a story about how George loved playing the ukulele. Paul launched into "Something" while strumming the ukulele as images of George flashed on the screen. (I've discovered it's quite difficult to sing along while simultaneously having tears streaming down one's face!)

"Live and Let Die" was literally explosive as fireworks went off several times. I can't even pick a favorite moment in the two and a half hours of sheer bliss, but one high point was hearing "Getting Better" which Paul introduced by saying it was the first time he had ever played it live. Wow oh wow. He flubbed the lines a bit to "You Never Give Me Your Money" but in a very charming amusing way by singing something like "I can never remember the words until the end of the tour" over the part he forgot and rolled right on through.

There were, of course, the mandatory Paul songs -- "Let It Be", "Hey Jude", and "Yesterday" -- all towards the end of the set. I didn't get my song, but when almost every opening note sent a thrill up my spine, I can't really complain.

This was a near perfect show. Paul has that charming presence that just sucks you in immediately. The band was incredible and very personable as Paul would introduce a member before heading to another part of the stage (either to or from the grand piano) and they each got a little time to talk to the crowd. There were a few little glitches with the video system, but nothing major (or given much notice other than in passing). Lots of video clips from the Beatles era -- which were everything from touching to amusing to a bit surreal. (Seeing a 25 year old Paul cavorting in a field while listening to a 60 year old Paul singing "Fool on the Hill" and realizing he hasn't changed all that much over time...)

The crowd was great, even if it was a bit yo-yo-ish (up, down, up, down...) all night long. And what was really impressive was the age range. I rode over to the arena on BART (subway) and chatted with a fellow who was bringing his 8 year old daughter. And when I left I saw several women who must have been in their 70s. And everything in between!

I've just been grinning from ear to ear since the show started (yes, even during the sobbing moments) and absolutely can't WAIT for tomorrow night and show number. (And hope this whole ramble hasn't been TOO ebullient for you, but it was just an incredible show.)

Set List:

Hello Goodbye
Jet
All My Loving
Getting Better
Coming Up
Let Me Roll It
New Song ("I Hear The Music", "Don't Wanna…")
Driving Rain
True Love ("Kiss My Blues Away")
Acoustic Set
Blackbird (Paul - Solo)
Every Night (Paul - Solo)
We Can Work It Out (Paul - Solo)
Mother Nature's Son (w/ Wix on accordion)
Vanilla Sky (w/ Wix, Lead Guitar & Drum)
You Never Give Me Your Money (Paul on "Magic Piano")
Fool on the Hill (Paul on "Magic Piano")
Here Today (dedicated to John)
Something (dedicated to George; Paul on ukulele)
Eleanor Rigby
Here, There and Everywhere
Band on the Run
Back in the USSR
Maybe I'm Amazed
C Moon
My Love
Can't Buy Me Love
Freedom
Live and Let Die
Let it Be
Hey Jude

Encore 1:

Long and Winding Road
Lady Madonna
I Saw Her Standing There

Encore 2:

Yesterday
Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)>You Never Give Me Your Money>The End
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HP Pavilion
San Jose, CA

The second night was much the same as the first (same set list) and was actually a GREAT thing to do. I could sit back and appreciate the show better with out that "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S PLAYING THAT" reaction to nearly every song. I brought my mom (her very first rock concert!) and she had a blast. And, apparently, my dad was quite jealous! (The mental image of me at a concert with BOTH my parents is hugely amusing!) I'm sorely tempted to pick up a ticket to LA, but just can't afford it!