2 1/2 Years Later and I Still Love Paul!

 

George knows how to make me happy!  When he heard that Paul McCartney was coming to Portland, he called and asked me if I wanted to go.  Only one answer to that - YES!  Our friends the Mathews and the Lowes came.  An absolutely perfect night!

First song "Hard Days Night" - 2nd time he's performed it as a solo artist, the 1st was the night before in Fresno.  That opening guitar cord sure brought back memories to this Beatles fan!

And he went on from there with everything from "Love Me Do" to  "We Can Work It Out" to "Band on the Run," as well as recent Rihanna and Kanye West collaboration "FourFiveSeconds."
"Live and Let Die" featured blasting pyrotechnics, sprays of lasers and climactic fireworks.  Another of my favorites was his tribute to George Harrison singing "Something", starting off with uke-only and ending with a fantastic full band. 

 To quote from the on-line review of the night:

All of it was joyous, exuberant, a gift from one of the world's greatest songwriters to the fans who have followed him for decades.

That's 5+ decades for me!


 Calling a McCartney gig a concert is like calling "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" a movie. The legacy, the nostalgia, the expectations—McCartney understands all of it. His "One on One" show rolled out the expected lighting rigs and video screens, but the real stagecraft was his storytelling: he touched on playing ukulele with Harrison, meeting Russian officials who learned English from Beatles songs, being nervous in the studio recording "Love Me Do" with late producer George Martin, and penning "Blackbird" to support the 1960s civil rights movement. These moments from rock history were funny and humble, €”or as humble as one can be about, say, Jimi Hendrix learning your new song in two days, as the guitar god did for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" upon its release. On Friday, McCartney returned the tribute with an instrumental jam through "Foxy Lady," taking his major guitar solo for the evening.

He even mentioned my home state of Arkansas as he explained the writing of "Blackbird" saying, "I heard about civil rights in places like Alabama and Arkansas and wrote the song in support."  It is a beautiful song!

 

His voice is not quite as smooth and strong as it once was but it is still great.  I told George that if he comes back in a couple of years and isn't using a walker and if we aren't using walkers, I want to go again!