Paul McCartney: One: One on one
As this summer has gone by, the acts i’ve seen have only gotten bigger in stature. Tonight’s concert was by the biggest name of them all in my book.
It’s no secret that i am a massive fan of The Beatles as they are the first band i ever got into. From the first moment that i sang along to “She Loves You” as a kid in my dad’s car without reason, it cemented into my head what rock and roll is. It would take six more years and a few extra viewings of The Simpsons episode, “Meet The Besharps” for that moment to sink in.
But the notion of seeing Sir Paul in concert did begin until Thanksgiving eve in 2002. That night,ABC aired a special from the “Back In The US” tour supporting his album, “Driving Rain”. I was enthralled by what i saw. It would take nine years for the opportunity to come around. In 2011, my sister, my hero was able to get me a ticket for his show at Yankee Stadium that July. It helped take the sting of me coming home from my notary public seminar when he played Citi Field that night and i could see the show from the bus and wanting to cry wishing i had gone. I had the time of my life the night of July 15th, 2011. From the start of the show to the end, i sung along to every word of the thirty eight songs and was on cloud nine. I regard that night as my favorite concert ever to this day.
I did miss the next time by at the Barclays Center in June 2013 as the show was sold out. I would hear of his next show earlier this year. On a particular Monday morning in April, the presale was scheduled to begin at 8AM. With the code in hand, i was able to get a ticket for his show at Met Life Stadium. And then, i started my work week. In most cases, i wouldn’t set foot in NJ for a concert as it took me a while to get home from the U2 concert in 2009 and i swore not to do so again. But this was the one exception to the rule and i couldn’t wait for Sunday night.
To get to Met Life Stadium, i had to take the NJ Transit train from Penn Station by way of Secaucas. But as the sunset, i arrived at the stadium and with a cup of Dogfish Head beer in hand, i made it to my seat. As the day turned to night, the opening to “A Hard Days Night” rang out and the crowd went nuts. That was a sign of the night to come, rabid enthusiasm for songs by The Beatles and Wings combined with more recent solo works. The enthusiasm reached fever pitch with “Live and Let Die”, fireworks and all followed by the mass singalong aka ” Hey Jude”, with all the na, na na’s you can handle.The encore would end with three of the final four songs off the second side of Abbey Road, capped off with confetti and even more fireworks. At the end of the night, I was sweating bullets but i was happy as it felt like all was right with the world.
The show was great, there’s no question about that. But my tiny quibble lies upon exiting the stadium. As i was all the way in the 300 section, it took a while to see the exit. Add in a long wait for the NJT trains and the subway and i didn’t get home until 2:15AM thanks to taking a taxi home from Roosevelt Avenue. Still, i had a great night despite the inevitable transit headaches.
With this hard days night in the books, it’s the last concert for a while. Next up is Chvrches at Radio City Music Hall on 10/15 followed by the likely last show of the year, Foals at the United Palace Theater on 11/4. It is safe to say that I have covered most of Manhattan in concerts this year. Both of these shows are in a squeeze play, with my trip to Spain in the middle during the last week of October. Tonight is a perfectly illustrated example of why I go to so much trouble for the sake of live music. It brings a level of joy that can’t be described in words. And I hope to have many more of these joyous moments, even if it demonstrates my naievete about life. I want to enjoy every minute of my life in peace and live music has helped me do that and it will always help me to have a sense of inner peace.
