Weekend Story 1//3 : Paul

On the 30th of October, I got to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert.

It never really hit me, and it still hasn't I think, that I got to see a living Beatle. The Beatles are the one band I've been listening to basically since I left the womb. To see Paul serenade me (and thousands of others) with Beatles songs in real life was just a surreal experience.

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I'm pretty sure I was one of very few people there who were under 50. During the concert it was very obvious who had been a hippie back in the day. One couple I spotted down on the floor seats were probably in their 60's and both of them were getting so into it and dancing their butts off. It made me really happy. Then there was the guy a section over from me who completely lost in when Back in the USSR came on. I'm surprised he didn't hit the people sitting next to him. I ended up watching him dance more than what was going on on stage.

But anyways, onto Paul. He was such a wonderful live performer. With all those years of concert experience I would expect him to be, but it was really lovely. He brought such a unique energy to all of his songs, whether they be Beatles, Wings, or his solo album songs. Between every few songs he would also tell the audience a story about something that happened in his life. He talked about his first time meeting Jimi Hendrix, his relationships with John and George, the time he met the Defense Minister of Russia, and he read all the signs that the people in the floor seats had brought.
One sign said "trick or treat, sign my feet." and at the end of the concert he actually brought the lady up on stage and signed her feet for her. He said that was the first time he'd done that (and the last). He also did these adorable little dance moves which made me laugh.

Another thing I want to comment on about the performance, is the animations that played on the screen behind him during the songs. They were absolutely stunning. I was annoyed because they were so cool and interesting to watch that I was getting distracted from watching Paul. I really want to know who made them so I can tell them how good of a job they did.
The guitarist, bassist, and drummer that were on stage with Paul also did a really awesome job. They brought an awesome energy to the whole thing.

Some really great moments during the concert for me was Paul's tributes to John and George and Hey Jude.
For John's tribute, he sang 'Here Today Gone Tomorrow' and between the song and what he said about John beforehand, I admit I teared up quite a bit. It was all just really moving. For George, he started off singing 'Something' with just a ukulele and then went into the full accompaniment. It sounded even more beautiful because you could hear the audience singing along.
Hey Jude was the first song where they stopped playing halfway through and the audience kept going. Seeing everyone with lighters and flashlights singing the "na na na" part of the song was so incredibly beautiful. I felt so privileged to be a part of it.

McCartney came out for TWO encores as well. He finally finished the whole thing off with the Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/In The End medley.

Honestly I could write so much more about this concert, but I think I'll leave it at that. In summery, it was one of the best concerts of my life and there's no way I could ever forget it (not just because I filmed basically the entire thing on my phone). Getting home and 1:30 in the morning after a thing like that was just to awesome for words.