Paul McCartney Live at the Hollywood Bowl... That's Right, A Beatle... Live

I just saw a face I can't forget the time or place... the face was Paul McCartney's and it was at the Hollywood Bowl on March 31st, 2010.  I haven't really done any concert reviews recently, and even if this isn't the type of music I normally talk about, it's an absolute must for me to talk about it.  Last night, at the Hollywood Bowl, I saw a Beatle.  Being able to say that really means a lot to me; the Beatles are the most influential people in the history of popular music (i.e. music that isn't classical) no question, and to be able to see one of the most iconic figures in all of music performing live, let alone at a venue as incredible and prolific as the Hollywood Bowl, is a treat unimaginable, especially for someone like me, whose first CD (and yes I recognize the, if not irony, comedy that I'm talking about the Beatles and CDs not records... I guess that just goes to show how much of a lasting impact they have had) was a Beatles CD (Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band).  It it was one of, if not the, greatest concert I have ever seen.  Why was it so great?  There were almost too many reasons, and I'll get into them now.

First of all, the sheer length of the concert!  Paul and his excellent backing band (which includes Abe Laboriel, Jr., whom my friend whom I went with informed me is one of his favorite drummers...) played for nearly three hours!  There were two encores, but the breaks between each were barely more than 60 seconds, so Paul was pretty much rocking around the stage for almost 180 minutes!  I'd like to see a band that I go see on any other day play that long...  Also, Don't forget that PMc is 67 years old!

Next Up:  Paul's Stage Presence.  His experience (nearly 50 years worth...) certainly shows.  He is instantly charming and lovable, showing why Beatlemania struck.  He was at the same time very funny, quipping about the cold weather or the crowd, reminiscent, telling great stories from his days in the Beatles, and sentimental, telling emotional, but not cheesy in anyway, anecdotes about George, John and Jimi (Hendrix of course... no love for Ringo though... hmmm) and then going straight into beautiful tributes to them (the best song of the night was probably one of those tributes, but more on that later).

The next reason: Paul didn't just play Beatles (which I would have absolutely loved), but he also played some of his solo stuff and some of his stuff from the Wings.  As much as I love the Beatles (I know pretty much every song by heart...), I never really got into/listened to a lot of solo Paul; of course I knew Band on the Run, Jet, and the great Live and Let Die (I'm also a James Bond fan...), but to be exposed to this other stuff by PMc that I really probably wouldn't be exposed to was pretty cool.  Even though the Beatles material was wayyy better than most (but not all) of the PMc stuff, the PMc stuff was still great, and I enjoyed listening to some new songs.  My favorite of the ones I didn't already know was definitely Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five, which retained the pep and energy of the Beatles, but also had a slightly updated sound.

Those are the reasons that are sort of more about the performance, and now, the stuff about the music.

Not a single song lacked anything in any way.  They all struck the perfect balance between the different aspects of each song, whether it was how the keyboards played off the guitar, or how all the instruments sunk into silence as the piano took over.  Paul's voice never wavered, and as he would change voice registers he would almost shout, bringing a spark to the song.  All the songs had a certain energy to them, which was brought about by the fact that pretty much everybody in the Bowl knew pretty much every lyric to pretty much every song, and of course, sang those lyrics.  It produced the feeling that everybody really wanted to be there, and was sharing in the celebration of music; it created the perfect environment.  For me, the Beatle's songs were the best, but not a single song felt like a dud to me.

The first song that to me seemed just incredible was "I've Just Seen a Face."  The second he started playing it, it felt like Paul was thrusting you into the almost trance-like state that he is trying to express with the almost frantic vocals and the acoustics guitar, later being joined in by the rest of the band for harmonies that were just as good as the actual Beatles; that was another thing that I forgot to mention - all night long the harmonies were absolutely beautiful.


The next song that really stood out was "Blackbird."  Blackbird is of course one of the Beatles' most poetic songs, so of course when he played it solo and preluded it by talking about how they wrote it when they were looking at America and how horrible the South was at the time, and then saying, "We've come a long way baby," (although I wish he would have said "not long enough" - Prop 8 passed after all...), it was of course very moving and profound; the solo acoustic guitarist singing a song as poetic as "Blackbird" is classic image that never fails to stir emotions.


Right after that, Paul did something he usually doesn't do, making it that much more meaningful.  He talked about his regrets of his relationship with John ending prematurely, and then payed tribute to him with an acoustic "Here Today."  Rather than seeming a sad lament about "What could have been" it instead seemed to show a maturity, the idea of moving on, and what sort of seemed like acceptance and looking at what Paul could do in the future to be better.  It was a song I had never heard before, so it made an even deeper impression because I had no prior ideas about the song/it wasn't connected to anything in my head already.


A few songs later was "Eleanor Rigby".  There's not much to say about it; it's one of the greatest songs of all time (IMO), and there's nothing to compare seeing it live to for me.  


After "Eleanor Rigby" was what I think was probably the best song of the night, "Something."  Before playing "Something," he told a story about how George loved the ukulele, and how they would sit around all day and play it together.  One day, Paul said to George "I learned how to play one of your songs."  Paul (Hollywood Bowl Paul, not story Paul) then promptly started "Something."  The black stage with the sole figure illuminated contributed to the extremely emotional atmosphere,  and the uke sounded incredible.  Mid-song, the rest of the band came in, and Paul exchanged his uke for a guitar.  Images of George, Paul and George, and the whole band began to roll behind them, and Paul went into an epic guitar solo that in no way was about him, but was instead the ultimate tribute to George.  


And now, for some things that aren't as much about the music, but more funny things; I figured I would do them here since this is where they occurred in the set list (If you haven't noticed I've been going in order of the set list, which is below).  In the song "Sing the Changes," Obama was on the screen behind them, his image composed of stars that would explode and then coalesce again.   Later, "Back In The USSR" would be played with lots of energy and fire, just as it should.  After he told a funny story of how after a concert in the USSR, some Russian bigshot came up to him and said "We learn to speak English by your songs," which was funny enough because of Paul's storytelling and Russian accent, but it was made even funnier by the fact that there was a Russian guy behind me who was translating what Paul said in between songs for his mother, and when Paul said this he laughed and said "Da, Da," which means Yes, Yes, in Russian.  Also, along the translating lines, during the show I saw somebody a few rows in front of the stage who was facing the crowd, had the spotlight on, and from where I stood, seemed to be dancing.  I later realized that the person was doing sign language for the lyrics and the chatter in between songs!  It just goes to show how much people love the Beatles... Directly after "Back In the USSR" was "I've Got a Feeling," which wasn't a standout or anything, but I did have a funny comment about it that I think I will share...  After the song I turned to my friend and said "That's based off of the Black Eyed Peas song right?"  I found it comedic... I was kidding of course.  Another good BEP joke from the night: we were thinking about if there was anybody from our generation (i.e. 1990s/2000s)/anybody since the Beatles who are/will be as prolific as the Beatles and I said, "well, the Beatles are sort of the Black Eyed Peas of their generation...  Both of those were probably funnier to me than anyone else...


Later on... "Paperback Writer" had probably hands down the bets harmonies of the night.


After "Paperback Writer," they played "A Day In the Life," possibly the best Beatle/rock song of all time.  It was of course epic in all ways; it was one of the songs where the screen in the background actually had stuff that contributed to the performance.  It started out with what looked to be some sort of garden, but it was very sad and somber, partly because it looked almost like a graveyard and (this is a bit more obvious) because it was in black and white.  As they got to the end of the part where the music is starting to get chaotic and build up to the happier/second segment of the song, and the chaos starts to hit a zenith, two lone monarch (or at least whatever the orange butterflies are) butterflies started to flutter around the screen; they were the only color on the screen, and when they hit the chord that starts the second part, the garden seemed to stretch out behind them and fill with color, uplifting the spirits.  It really stood out to me because it managed to make you notice it and contribute to the atmosphere without seeming cheesy at all.  


Midway through the song though they did something very unexpected, which I guess some people may not have liked at all, but I thought it worked perfectly; they did a seamless transition into "Give Peace a Chance."  This song is of course the type of song that everybody sings along to, so in the middle song the band stopped playing and the entire crowd belted out "So give peace a chance,  All we are saying, is give peace a chaaance."  


At this point, the set was beginning to hit its climax.  The last three songs were pretty epic; he started with "Let It Be," probably the most "iconic" Beatles-song.  PMc on the piano again was about as classic as it gets.  Then he took up the guitar again for probably the highest energy song of the night, "Live and Let Die."  The song had the power guitar that its famous for, and it even featured pyrotechnics, including fireworks; even though it is sort of showy and uncharacteristic, it just made the song more colossal in how hard it hit every chord.  Then, of course, they closed with "Hey, Jude" on the piano, with about a 5-minute section of the crowd singing Na, Nah, Na Na Na, etc.  It was the culmination of a celebration of the Beatles right?  


WRONG!  They came right back out after barely more than a minute and played a very peppy, upbeat three song encore.  They started with possibly my favorite song of the night, "Day Tripper."  It had lots of pop to it, and it made you feel like they still had the energy and and feel that it put the energy back in you to be there for another three hours.  DAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Tripper!


Then the always fun Lady Madonna, and then another exciting song; it was "Get Back" it felt very similar to "Back In the USSR."


They then went back off for barely a minute, and Paul came out for one final encore, again made up of three songs.  It started with a very beautiful "Yesterday" on acoustic guitar, and then the rest of the band came out for a guitar-solo laden "Helter-Skelter."  Finally, the night came to a conclusion with a perfectly suited "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" medley, which then flowed into "In the End."  Couldn't have ended better. 


One of the things that was very interesting was that despite being Paul McCartney, Paul never came off as cocky in any way; instead he came off as a humble guy, who despite selling out every single show he plays, still is amazed by how much people love him, and still manages to make a completely filled 17,000 seat amphitheater fell intimate.  


--  A Teenage Elephant


Set List


1.Venus And Mars / Rock Show
2.Jet
3.All My Loving
4.Letting Go
5.Drive My Car
6.Highway
7.Let Me Roll It / Foxey Lady
8.The Long And Winding Road
9.Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
10.Let ‘Em In
11.My Love
12.I’ve Just Seen A Face
13.And I Love Her
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

Encore 2
33.Yesterday
34.Helter Skelter
35.Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End