Macca at Fenway

Sir Paul

I went with my dad last night to see Paul McCartney (A BEATLE!!!!) play at Fenway Park. I love the Beatles (can anyone say they don’t?), so I was pretty excited to see the only surviving one (ok, Ringo’s alive, but he so doesn’t count) live.

 

As someone who likes a lot of music that came out twenty years prior to my birth, I’ve been blessed enough to catch the Rolling Stones five times in concert. Seeing the Beatles would be next on my to-do list.

Unfortunately, due to the deaths of the two awesomest (I know it isn’t a word) Beatles, the nicest Beatle and a kick-ass band would have to do.

And they were pretty kick-ass. The drummer, Abe Laboriel, Jr., looked almost pained as he bashed the drums. He kind of looks like the big Hawaaiian guy in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But you could tell he’s been having the time of his life for the 30 years he’s backed up Sir Paul.

The guitarist and Keyboard/some kind of weird fake horn/harmonica player were also superb.

But Paul. SO good. At first, I couldn’t help but think that with all his plastic surgery, he looked a lot more like my 81-year-old grandmother than everyone’s favorite Beatle. However, it didn’t take long for me to remember why everybody loves him.

Macca engaged everyone in the stadium (which was a TON of people), sharing anecdotes between almost every song and taking in the praise of his audience. In a particularly adorable moment, he spoke of how the Beatles could never hear themselves sing in the early days because of how loud the girls were screaming. Of course, this prompted a very looong scream from the girls (read: middle aged+ women) in the crowd. After the next song, he said he just couldn’t get enough of it, and did it again.

He really was funny. And he sounded GREAT. Not only did his fingers manuever around his lefty guitar as nimbly as ever, but his voice sounded really good, for the most part.

McCartney opened with “Drive My Car” before going into a few of his solo songs and some songs by Wings. The majority of the show was a big ol’ Beatles sing-a-long, though, and it was fabulous.

I have to admit I was on the verge of emotional tears singing the “na na nas” of “Hey Jude” with thousands of people. And the beauty of acoustic numbers like “Blackbird” and “Yesterday” gave me chills.

I also loved the awesome pyrotechnic/firework display during “Live and Let Die” and the ’60s dance moves (mashed potato and all) of the Sarah Palin clone sitting in front of me.

Paul paid tribute to his long-gone friends, mentioning his late wife Linda more than a few times, much to my pleasure (I love Linda, and screw that Heather Mills bitch). He started “Something” with a ukelele, paying homage to my first favorite Beatle, George Harrison, and got everyone to cheer and give a standing ovation for John Lennon. However, I’ve gotta admit, the song he sang after that ovation, one he wrote for Lennon after his untimely death, was downright horribly crafted. Sorry, Paul.

Overall, it was an incredible experience. The fire the Beatles ignited in America in the ’60s was apparent as the older folks all around me danced their hearts out to “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” and it was awesome to snag a piece of the history the Beatles made.