"Peradventure," did anyone else go to Paul McCartney's concert tonight, or see him elsewhere on this tour?
I got my mom the tickets for Mother's Day, so she got the present itself rather late. But I just had to get them for her, regardless of how the timing would have fallen. She's one of those people that won't spend money for things for herself. I can't get her everything I think she should have, but since music is one of my things, I like to make sure that we (the family) get her tickets to the concerts that are important to her.
Actually this is the second time I've taken her to Paul McCartney. The first time was in '92 or '93, can't remember which part of that school year, but I know it was that year. I knew she wanted to go, but she had to work that day and couldn't get in line to get the tickets. And I had just enough money for the two tickets, and I went and got them and surprised her with them later that morning. It was awesome. She took me with her (I gave them to her not expecting she had to take me, but whomever she wanted, but she asked me to go) and we had a great time.
I don't know if he's been back since then, not that I remember hearing about, although I might not have, since I lived in LA for 7 of those years. But I know she hasn't seen him again since. And again, she wasn't going to take the time or the money to get the tickets. And my mom isn't the type that is doing that so someone else has to get them for her. She just won't spend the money on herself. So I got them again and surprised her again, and she wanted me to go with her again. So here, 6 months later, it was concert night!
As for the concert itself, it really was a great show. He played 2-1/2 hours, much with his band, some solo acoustic. Which is always neat to see a guy fill the space and carry it like that all by himself. The band is amazing. Abe Laboriel, Jr. on drums (too bad you couldn't hear him, more about that later), a great keyboard player named Paul-something, and two guitarists, the mostly-lead guitarist named Rusty Anderson, and the mostly-rhythm guitarist/sometime bassist (when Paul switched to guitar) whose name I can't remember. Bad me for that. Really tight band and immaculate musicianship all around. What a great gig, and what a thrill it must be for those guys to be playing with Paul McCartney. Especially the two guitarists, who weren't kids, but you can tell they're a good bit younger than he is, anyway. And the rhythm guitarist's parents live in Durango, and came to the concert, so he had the whole crowd yell, "Hi Mom!" That was fun. He didn't spotlight his mom and put her face on the video screen or anything though. I guess 16,000 people saying hi to her was embarrassment enough for the lady!
Sadly, while the concert was fantastic, the sound sucked. You know, when the band drops out and the drummer is holding it down, and you can STILL barely hear the drummer, the drummer is NOT LOUD ENOUGH! Actually it kinda sounded like the drum set had some horrid compression, and every time Laboriel would get going, it smashed the whole drum set right down to nothing. Even during the straight groove parts though, you could barely hear the snare. You could feel the kick, hear a little high-hat now and then, some snare sometimes, feel but not hear definition from the toms, and there were pretty much no cymbals at all. It made it feel almost like we were watching the show on tv instead of being there for it. Our seats were directly in front of the stage, but all the way at the opposite end, first row of the highest section. So we were straight-on, no weird side sound or anything, but at that distance, the only guy whose actual motions of playing his instrument could be seen was the drummer, and there wasn't any sound happening when he was hitting things, so it really did seem like we were seeing something on tv with a bad mix. Of course it was more immediate watching the big video screen than the stage, but then that really WAS watching it on tv even though we were there!
Aside from having the most undefined low-end I've ever heard, where you could feel bass and kick, but not really hear individual notes, the mids were totally hyped from about 2k-4k. The mix was all about guitars (the lead guitarist was LOUD!), lead and background vocals, and sometimes piano and keys. The guitars sounded fantastic, no doubt... there were Fender, Mesa Boogie, and Vox amps up there, though hard to tell who was playing through what for sure. But wonderful guitar sounds. And great vocal sounds too, loud, clear, and the harmonies were amazing. But really smashed into that whole midrange thing, and again, missing all the highs that would have come from cymbals, which literally could not be heard most of the time. Kind of funny, when Paul did his thank you's to the crew in one of the encores, he thanked the guys at the mixing desk for doing such a great job. I know it's good form and stuff, but I wonder if he has any idea what the mix actually sounds like out in the arena? Oh well, the monitor mixes are probably great, so they deserve thanks from the band for that, anyway!
Ok, having gotten that technical criticism out of the way.
Paul McCartney is such a natural, personable performer. He tells jokes and funny stories, obviously having a good measure of how to pace for crowd response, while still managing to sound casual and not overly-scripted. The band has tons of energy along with their great musicianship. They interacted with the crowd, with each other, and it was awesome to see the hugging, back-slapping, and old-fashioned, joined-hands-arms-upraised bowing at the end of the encores.
As for the material, with the available repertoire, how can it go wrong? Some highlights for me included "Long and Winding Road," "Maybe I'm Amazed," "Live and Let Die," and "Hey Jude," (mandatory audience singalong!) and those last two were the set-enders. Which were completely huge, and how could you get much stronger, except when you can come back for an encore with songs like "Yesterday," "Get Back," and "Helter-Skelter," and then another encore with "Let it Be."
He did a few songs from the new CD, which I just got Mom for her birthday and only heard in the car on the way to the show, so I didn't really know those, but she pointed them out, and they were good songs.
Out of all the great songs and performances, I had two favorites though. One was "Eleanor Rigby," on which the vocal harmonies on "ah, look at all the lonely people" appproached transcendent. And I made it through the whole set without crying at anything, which is weird to have to mention, but good music, especially live, does things to me. Having said that though, I almost lost it during my other favorite, "Blackbird." That is one of those simple songs that I find completely haunting and gives me chills.
The light show was great, the floor and backdrop of the stage were made of the "tv screen" tiles, across which colors, lights, and images can be projected. There were real pyrotechnics, big flashpots, on the punches of "Live and Let Die," and that was pretty spectacular, too. Mom was hooting and hollering for the whole show, and from about the middle on, I was too.
I'm so glad Mom enjoyed the show. She kept thanking me and thanking me for getting her the tickets, saying that she never thought she would get to see Paul McCartney once, and now she's seen him twice! She really loves him, saying that he's someone she has such memories of from, associated with so much of her growing up. She even said he's one she would consider paying lots for the good seats for. I said hopefully he will be back before another 13 years are up, and that maybe the whole family can pitch in for close-up seats next time. Because unless I start making a whole bunch of money, the way concert tickets keep going up in price, I'll be lucky on my own to be able to buy her one nosebleed ticket next time, much less a pair of prime seats. But, if he comes back again, whether or not I'm going with her again, I will do my best to see that she gets to go to her concert.
Sometimes it feels like there's little enough I can really give back to my parents, especially my mom, but it's nice to know that something I can make possible, like getting her a ticket to a concert she wouldn't have gone to otherwise, really meant a lot to her. I had a great time too, and it's going to be a good, good memory. Of course I'm also going to see if the concert shows up for download, so I can preserve the memory that much better!
I got my mom the tickets for Mother's Day, so she got the present itself rather late. But I just had to get them for her, regardless of how the timing would have fallen. She's one of those people that won't spend money for things for herself. I can't get her everything I think she should have, but since music is one of my things, I like to make sure that we (the family) get her tickets to the concerts that are important to her.
Actually this is the second time I've taken her to Paul McCartney. The first time was in '92 or '93, can't remember which part of that school year, but I know it was that year. I knew she wanted to go, but she had to work that day and couldn't get in line to get the tickets. And I had just enough money for the two tickets, and I went and got them and surprised her with them later that morning. It was awesome. She took me with her (I gave them to her not expecting she had to take me, but whomever she wanted, but she asked me to go) and we had a great time.
I don't know if he's been back since then, not that I remember hearing about, although I might not have, since I lived in LA for 7 of those years. But I know she hasn't seen him again since. And again, she wasn't going to take the time or the money to get the tickets. And my mom isn't the type that is doing that so someone else has to get them for her. She just won't spend the money on herself. So I got them again and surprised her again, and she wanted me to go with her again. So here, 6 months later, it was concert night!
As for the concert itself, it really was a great show. He played 2-1/2 hours, much with his band, some solo acoustic. Which is always neat to see a guy fill the space and carry it like that all by himself. The band is amazing. Abe Laboriel, Jr. on drums (too bad you couldn't hear him, more about that later), a great keyboard player named Paul-something, and two guitarists, the mostly-lead guitarist named Rusty Anderson, and the mostly-rhythm guitarist/sometime bassist (when Paul switched to guitar) whose name I can't remember. Bad me for that. Really tight band and immaculate musicianship all around. What a great gig, and what a thrill it must be for those guys to be playing with Paul McCartney. Especially the two guitarists, who weren't kids, but you can tell they're a good bit younger than he is, anyway. And the rhythm guitarist's parents live in Durango, and came to the concert, so he had the whole crowd yell, "Hi Mom!" That was fun. He didn't spotlight his mom and put her face on the video screen or anything though. I guess 16,000 people saying hi to her was embarrassment enough for the lady!
Sadly, while the concert was fantastic, the sound sucked. You know, when the band drops out and the drummer is holding it down, and you can STILL barely hear the drummer, the drummer is NOT LOUD ENOUGH! Actually it kinda sounded like the drum set had some horrid compression, and every time Laboriel would get going, it smashed the whole drum set right down to nothing. Even during the straight groove parts though, you could barely hear the snare. You could feel the kick, hear a little high-hat now and then, some snare sometimes, feel but not hear definition from the toms, and there were pretty much no cymbals at all. It made it feel almost like we were watching the show on tv instead of being there for it. Our seats were directly in front of the stage, but all the way at the opposite end, first row of the highest section. So we were straight-on, no weird side sound or anything, but at that distance, the only guy whose actual motions of playing his instrument could be seen was the drummer, and there wasn't any sound happening when he was hitting things, so it really did seem like we were seeing something on tv with a bad mix. Of course it was more immediate watching the big video screen than the stage, but then that really WAS watching it on tv even though we were there!
Aside from having the most undefined low-end I've ever heard, where you could feel bass and kick, but not really hear individual notes, the mids were totally hyped from about 2k-4k. The mix was all about guitars (the lead guitarist was LOUD!), lead and background vocals, and sometimes piano and keys. The guitars sounded fantastic, no doubt... there were Fender, Mesa Boogie, and Vox amps up there, though hard to tell who was playing through what for sure. But wonderful guitar sounds. And great vocal sounds too, loud, clear, and the harmonies were amazing. But really smashed into that whole midrange thing, and again, missing all the highs that would have come from cymbals, which literally could not be heard most of the time. Kind of funny, when Paul did his thank you's to the crew in one of the encores, he thanked the guys at the mixing desk for doing such a great job. I know it's good form and stuff, but I wonder if he has any idea what the mix actually sounds like out in the arena? Oh well, the monitor mixes are probably great, so they deserve thanks from the band for that, anyway!
Ok, having gotten that technical criticism out of the way.
Paul McCartney is such a natural, personable performer. He tells jokes and funny stories, obviously having a good measure of how to pace for crowd response, while still managing to sound casual and not overly-scripted. The band has tons of energy along with their great musicianship. They interacted with the crowd, with each other, and it was awesome to see the hugging, back-slapping, and old-fashioned, joined-hands-arms-upraised bowing at the end of the encores.
As for the material, with the available repertoire, how can it go wrong? Some highlights for me included "Long and Winding Road," "Maybe I'm Amazed," "Live and Let Die," and "Hey Jude," (mandatory audience singalong!) and those last two were the set-enders. Which were completely huge, and how could you get much stronger, except when you can come back for an encore with songs like "Yesterday," "Get Back," and "Helter-Skelter," and then another encore with "Let it Be."
He did a few songs from the new CD, which I just got Mom for her birthday and only heard in the car on the way to the show, so I didn't really know those, but she pointed them out, and they were good songs.
Out of all the great songs and performances, I had two favorites though. One was "Eleanor Rigby," on which the vocal harmonies on "ah, look at all the lonely people" appproached transcendent. And I made it through the whole set without crying at anything, which is weird to have to mention, but good music, especially live, does things to me. Having said that though, I almost lost it during my other favorite, "Blackbird." That is one of those simple songs that I find completely haunting and gives me chills.
The light show was great, the floor and backdrop of the stage were made of the "tv screen" tiles, across which colors, lights, and images can be projected. There were real pyrotechnics, big flashpots, on the punches of "Live and Let Die," and that was pretty spectacular, too. Mom was hooting and hollering for the whole show, and from about the middle on, I was too.
I'm so glad Mom enjoyed the show. She kept thanking me and thanking me for getting her the tickets, saying that she never thought she would get to see Paul McCartney once, and now she's seen him twice! She really loves him, saying that he's someone she has such memories of from, associated with so much of her growing up. She even said he's one she would consider paying lots for the good seats for. I said hopefully he will be back before another 13 years are up, and that maybe the whole family can pitch in for close-up seats next time. Because unless I start making a whole bunch of money, the way concert tickets keep going up in price, I'll be lucky on my own to be able to buy her one nosebleed ticket next time, much less a pair of prime seats. But, if he comes back again, whether or not I'm going with her again, I will do my best to see that she gets to go to her concert.
Sometimes it feels like there's little enough I can really give back to my parents, especially my mom, but it's nice to know that something I can make possible, like getting her a ticket to a concert she wouldn't have gone to otherwise, really meant a lot to her. I had a great time too, and it's going to be a good, good memory. Of course I'm also going to see if the concert shows up for download, so I can preserve the memory that much better!
wow, living with 4 dogs and 4 cats! I love animals...especially dogs. If you would ever like to go to a dog park let me know...there is a super good one downtown-ish.
How long have you played guitar?
*Henry is adorable*
[Edited on Nov 02, 2005 3:02PM]