You know that feeling when you meet someone new and you think that they're treating you differently than anyone else they've met before? And then you quickly realise that they haven't and it's their same old act. Last night, Paul McCartney made me feel that way.
Any show you see at the Air Canada Centre (or other venues of that size) have been tailor made to satisfy all the viewers needs. There are many ups and downs to this, the first up being that most of your senses can be met, with the exception of sight, because I had my eyes glued to the TV monitor the entire time - which is also the first down as well. I often find myself questioning why I bother seeing shows at big, big venues if I'm watching the damn screen for the entire show. The concert DVD is about the same and a fraction of the price of a ticket.
The second up is the flawless performance you will see, it's pretty exciting to be able to see a flawless live show. In that sense, Paul McCartney and his band are truly performers as they are constantly putting on the same live show with each city they go to and sometimes two times over. You can bet your bottom dollar that their set list is going to be the exact same between nights.
Does it make them less of musicians if their stage show is completely planned?
The third up is certainly the stage show. For every reason I loved seeing Rain, Paul McCartney one uped every reason. Their backdrop and filming was incredible and I couldn't ask for better effects. His performance of the 1973 James Bond film's theme song "Live and Let Die" was incredible. Just as the song was taking off huge bursts of fires were triggered, throughout the entire tune fireworks were let off, all timed to the music of course.
I'm sorry for the spoiler if you're going to tonight's show. "Helter Skelter" is also tagged on the end of that video. The performance was identical to the one I saw last night. Again, really salting my excitement for an original show. I can't stress how staged seeing McCartney is, it's choreographed to a tee.
The fourth up is that Paul McCartney totally has a heart. After playing "Blackbird" he hugged a young fan after reading her sign that read "My dad drove me 2,000 miles to be hugged by a Beatle" the girl had to be no more than twelve years old. He had just played "Blackbird" and he had muffed up the verses a bit and he said that he finds himself super distracted by the signs when playing. His explanation was really heartfelt and honest, he came off sounding really cool and easy. I was really impressed by how fluid he was live, even if he acted most of it out. Although, I am certain that he didn't act this bit out.
He gave a really nice talk before jumping into "Blackbird" about how he wrote it for the Americans in the south who in the '70s struggled a bunch with rights. He hoped that this song would help them get through.
Paul paid good tribute to a couple of his lost friends, John and George. Very nicely I may add - he first started by honouring John by playing a tune that he wrote shortly after John passed away in 1982. He said he wrote it as a conversation that he may have had with Lennon... Again, you can see a carbon copy of the words I heard him say last night -
\
The second and far more touching for me was George's tribute done much later in the show. He mentioned how George was a very good ukulele player and that he had given Paul the very ukulele in his hands -
The transition was incredible from ukulele to full band. It was very flawless and for a second I felt George was really in presence.
Note the shot of Yoko and Harrison's wife Olivia.
In playing these tributes, I really felt the Beatles were there. I'm very gullible so even in seeing Rain I felt it too. but there was 'something' (!!) really special about seeing a real Beatle live. It was almost as if I saw the Beatles. I didn't get this when I saw Ringo ten years back at the wonderful Casino Rama. I didn't remember feeling much at all. This was probably because I was a little runt at the time with no respect for the Beatles.
Paul played some other Beatle tunes like "I've Just Seen a Face" -
"I Saw Her Standing There" - I would have gave a limb to see this gig. A tight Cavern Club return.
I was most surprised by his bold indulgences in tunes like "A Day in the Life" with him very beautifully singing the John bit. This is a song that really core shakes me, it's really exciting with the shifts, splashes and turns. I thought his performance was perfect. with "Give Peace a Chance" at the end, it really felt like a John tribute.
I really got excited hearing a lot of the material off of his work with Wings' 'Band on the Run' -
My favourite was the well-crafted end with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" and "The End". With a seamless transition. I really wished they played "Her Majesty" at the end, as 'Abbey Road' played.
In thinking about the show, I'm really questioning my giving Rain flack for their ultra rehearsed performance when McCartney's shows play live a musical. Although, in reading the program I read that they only truly rehearsed for one week before the show with one full stage run through. So, really I guess the best, most fun shows to see of McCartney's would be the first and last gigs of the tour.
Just on a side note, I would really like to point out that there are so many kid prodigies on youtube now. I stumbled upon this kid -
and of course this gem-
No comments:
Post a Comment