Paul McCartney August 4th at GABP

[GAC]

We're pretty much straightaway - section 424, row D.

[Caveat Emperor]

Found out my GF is able to go to this show, so I'm dipping out of my previous seat and looking for a pair somewhere.

I'm sure I'll be able to find something, but I'd like to use this forum to vent about the awful that is print-at-home tickets. It's impossible to trust anyone online selling these damn things (for all I know, they sat at a copier and ran off a thousand of these things to sell). I long for the simpler days when they just mailed you your tickets to shows like this.

[Matt700wlw]

AMAZING!!!! Thank you, Sir Paul McCartney!

[bigredmechanism]

AMAZING!!!! Thank you, Sir Paul McCartney!

Did they do Band on the Run?

[Matt700wlw]

Did they do Band on the Run?

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/paul-m...-7bd09674.html

Of course!

[Caveat Emperor]

AMAZING!!!! Thank you, Sir Paul McCartney!

Yeah, so that was all kinds of cool last night...

[KittyDuran]

AMAZING!!!! Thank you, Sir Paul McCartney!

Fanfreakingtastic! I cried a few times during some of the songs. I apologize to GAC but I didn't leave my seat from 7:30 till the end. So I didn't seek you out. Believed I had the best seat in the house! Sound was great and the bass was pounding. My worst fear never materialized... Paul's voice sounding bad. IMHO it seemed to get stronger as the night went on. Was also worried about the crowd... But I believed we made the city proud. People were well behaved and respectful to others and to Paul. It was wonderful to hear the stories and the general banter between songs. Can't forget his awesome band, each member was great but a special shout out to the drummer not only for his musical skills including vocal but his dance moves! Did you see the keyboardist waving a number one Reds fan foam finger, the shot of the Reds cap by the front of the stage, plus Paul's Reds jacket? It was at GABP after all! Hopefully there will be more concerts held there...for it being the venue's first time it was done right (tho it seemed that more than a few people there had never been to the GABP). Good, no GREAT time was had by all!

[Caveat Emperor]

It was kind of amazing to hear a crowd of 40k+ go completely silent whenever Paul was talking. I wasn't expecting him to do as much talking as he did during the show -- it actually made the concert feel a lot more intimate than a giant stadium show.

And Paul's voice? Wow. For him to be able to sing like that at his age is nothing short of incredible.

[redsmetz]

Here's what I wrote on my Facebook wall along with the pictures I put up. It's a little disjointed since I had to do various "comments" to get all of what I wanted to say. A couple of additions are in brackets to give you some further info.

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Here's the set list http://www.paulmccartney.com/n?ews.php#/2257/2011-08

The only thing not shown is he followed "Let it Roll" with a jam of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" to segue into telling the story of Jimi creating his own version of Sgt Pepper two days after the album's release, performing it onstage the Sunday after it's Friday release.

My overall impressions of the show last night: I think it may well have been the best concert I've ever been to, and I've been lucky enough to see some great ones. From start to go, McCartney & his band ran through Paul's opus with topnotch performances. At nearly 70 (how is that possible?), he still kicks tailend in his performances and his voice didn't give out on any of the songs, you could hear some hoarseness in his voice by the end. In the days when you couldn't hear what the Beatles were playing (due to the limitations of amplification of those days and the ubiquitous screaming of their fans), you could forget how great a performer McCartney is (and the other Beatles) and many of songs rock as good as anything. The band he has now is tremendous (although intros were not given, so I don't know who most are) and is faithful to the catalog while expanding in the sort of performance you expect nowadays.

Only a couple of hiccups. I saw a review in the CSM of the Chicago show that said the coupling of A Day in the Life finished with John's Give Peace a Chance "felt crowbarred" and I would agree. Likewise, in one encore, he brought some folks on stage, four women dressed in Sgt Pepper jackets (ironically, 3 from the UK, 1 from Australia; go figure) was fairly lame. Both those were the only misses.

I called my Mom to tell her about the concert and to absolve her for refusing to drive us by Crosley Field when going to visit Dad in the hospital back in 1966. She said she can die a happy woman now. I suggested she hold off on that for a bit [Note: Mom's 83 & not in the best of health]. Of course, none of us can ever hear "Get Back" without thinking of Jay T. Metz [my youngest brother] singing "Sweet Loretta Metz" instead of "Martin" - so I told her I thought of her during that song. Of course, she would have said it was too loud, but she never said "turn that crap down" to any Beatles music.

Sorry to add all the comments, but FB won't let me write enough at one time. There were times when you'd hear songs I've heard most of my life and I'd think to myself, I'm hearing this live and I have to admit to a couple of instances of goosebumps, but thankfully, my fear of "screaming like a schoolgirl" was all for naught.

As aside, when Carol [my wife] was in college (can't remember if it was Sr. year or her Masters year), she did a paper on temporary deafness from rock concerts. I read it and mentioned that I'd actually walked right up to the stage at a Leon Russell concert at XU and listened with my ear right up to his stack of Marshall amps. Sort of the poster boy from that paper. Still, the only time she held her ears was due to the guy on the other side of her who had a booming voice when he was cheering. This was a good & loud concert, just the way I love it. I said "IT WAS A GOOD AND LOUD CONCERT!" - oh, sorry, was I yelling?

[Larkin Fan]

That was quite simply the best concert I've ever been to. I had chills running up and down my spine during the entire show. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness such legendary greatness and I feel so fortunate to have had the chance.

I was amazed not only by the strength of his voice throughout the entire 3 hours, but also the fact that he remained energetic throughout the entire show. There are many artists half his age that would be hard pressed to keep up with him (energy-wise, not artistically because that would never be a contest!). That's amazing.

In addition to the songs, I truly enjoyed hearing his stories. Like Bach's Bouree in E minor being the inspiration for the guitar riff of Blackbird. The story about Hendrix learning Sgt. Peppers in two days and then sending his guitar wildy out of tune with the vibrato bar and asking Eric Clapton to come on stage to tune it for him. Among others. There's no doubt that Paul has a million more stories just like that.

Simply put, I don't think there truly are words to describe the concert last night. It was phenomenal.

[redsfanmia]

Great show and Paul was wonderful. Only hiccup for me was the jerk who told my wife to shut up and made her cry and I almost had to fight him, other than that a great show.

[Natty Redlocks]

Yep, best show I've ever seen. And I sang "Jay Bruce" instead of "Hey Jude" the whole time and no one even noticed.

[KittyDuran]

It was kind of amazing to hear a crowd of 40k+ go completely silent whenever Paul was talking. I wasn't expecting him to do as much talking as he did during the show -- it actually made the concert feel a lot more intimate than a giant stadium show.

And Paul's voice? Wow. For him to be able to sing like that at his age is nothing short of incredible.

I've been thinking about the silence between the songs... and one theory, a personal one shared by me and many in the ballpark, was this was the first time hearing Paul talk LIVE, not recorded. It was about 47 years of waiting for me. The fact that he lived up to and exceed my expectations was the icing on the cake. He was witty, reflective, and it was all done with that still lovable Liverpool accent which didn't seem to age.

I'm still on cloud nine (hi GAC!). Is there any hope that a DVD comes out of this show?

[reds1869]

That was the best concert I have ever been to. My wife and parents feel the same way. I am so thankful to Sir Paul for coming to Cincinnati and the Reds for making it happen.

[GAC]

I really wish I could have met up with some of you prior, but oh well. Rachel and I had a blast. Best concert I have ever been to PERIOD!... and I've been to more then my share in my "younger days" (last one was in the mid-80s). Of course back then I was not only much younger, but also wasn't as "lucid" (for lack of a better word). At 55, it was nice just being able to sit back, soak it all in, not go to the restroom where someone was throwing up, and actually remember the concert the next day! LOL

But redsmetz pretty much echoed my sentiments. This band has been together for several years now. And Paul has assembled one solid, and talented group. I too wish he had introduced them.

But I was like a teenybopper most of the night, sitting there in awe telling myself "I can't believe I'm finally getting to see a Beatle live and in person".

And Paul did not disappoint one bit. It's funny, because there were songs I wish he had played; but the guy has such a huge repertoire (Beatles and thereafter) it's impossible. I kept saying to myself "I hope he plays a this song off of Ram and Venus and Mars", but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Loved Junior's Farm!

We took a bunch of good pics.

And Paul - ya did great guy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!