Sir Paul's bucket list gig in Vancouver exactly what the fans ordered
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/McCartney+brings+legacy+town/7609458/story.html#ixzz2DLxrsK2B
The last time Paul McCartney graced a stage in Vancouver was Aug. 22, 1964. The show was cut short due to fear of a riot.
"Its been a long time since I was here last," said McCartney. "They tell me 48 years. That can't be right, I haven't even turned that yet."
There were times last night at B.C. Place when the 70-year-old could make you believe the clock was running backwards.
Opening with Magical Mystery Tour, things got off to a bit of a rough start. But by the third song, a wee ditty titled All My Loving, he was dropping those signature "woohoo's" like someone at least a third his age. This back and forth would continue all night.
Those high-pitched harmonies in The Night Before are indeed a young man's game. But Let Me Roll It from Band On The Run burned with McCartney tearing off the tune's feedbackdrenched licks with panache. He and powerhouse drummer Abe Lagoriel Jr., were beaming during the wee Foxey Lady interlude at the end.
This gave McCartney a chance to tell a story about Hendrix that was both funny and a reminder - if you needed one - that he was the Sixties. No doubt many of the 40,000-plus at the sold out local date of the On The Run Tour wanted to be reminded of the decade. Many more just wanted to say they saw a Beatle once.
Besides the animated Lagoriel Jr., guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian and keyboardist Paul Wick-ens backed Sir Paul with The requisite journeyman chops you would expect. All provided harmonies to make tunes such as Nineteen-Hundred-and-Eighty-Five soar when it needed to and then swagger along to McCartney's boogie-woogie piano man.
I suppose having Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp onscreen providing signing for My Valentine gave the song some celebrity cred. But the song from McCartney's most recent album
Kisses on the Bottom is a full-on clunker. Maybe I'm Amazed, easily one of the best songs of his postFab Four career followed and literally wiped the preceding track.
You really get the sense he loves this song because, man, did he ever sing the heck out of it. Much worship followed.
To say that hearing I've Just Seen A Face was fantastic is gross understatement. One my fave songs off Rubber Soul was followed by And I Love Her and Blackbird - a pretty epic one, two, three combination if there ever was one. A quite different setlist last night than the previous three shows, lucky us.
Here Today from Tug of War was dedicated to his friend John. Nice, but again not much of a tune. McCartney's sappy side always got the better of him without the other three around to say nay.
Nonetheless, more worship followed.
The catalogue of tunes is positively staggering. It was pretty clear that McCartney really loves performing them too. From the ukulele strumming on Something to the other classics during the latter half of the night he was in much better voice and bouncing around in those Beatle boots like a mop-topped lad of yore.
That may have been decades ago, but Paul McCartney still does his legacy justice. Few of his living peers can make any similar claim. This was a bucket list gig and turned out to br one for the memory books as well.
Thanks for that.
Sderdeyn@theprovince.com Twitter.com/StuartDerdeyn
"Its been a long time since I was here last," said McCartney. "They tell me 48 years. That can't be right, I haven't even turned that yet."
There were times last night at B.C. Place when the 70-year-old could make you believe the clock was running backwards.
Opening with Magical Mystery Tour, things got off to a bit of a rough start. But by the third song, a wee ditty titled All My Loving, he was dropping those signature "woohoo's" like someone at least a third his age. This back and forth would continue all night.
Those high-pitched harmonies in The Night Before are indeed a young man's game. But Let Me Roll It from Band On The Run burned with McCartney tearing off the tune's feedbackdrenched licks with panache. He and powerhouse drummer Abe Lagoriel Jr., were beaming during the wee Foxey Lady interlude at the end.
This gave McCartney a chance to tell a story about Hendrix that was both funny and a reminder - if you needed one - that he was the Sixties. No doubt many of the 40,000-plus at the sold out local date of the On The Run Tour wanted to be reminded of the decade. Many more just wanted to say they saw a Beatle once.
Besides the animated Lagoriel Jr., guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian and keyboardist Paul Wick-ens backed Sir Paul with The requisite journeyman chops you would expect. All provided harmonies to make tunes such as Nineteen-Hundred-and-Eighty-Five soar when it needed to and then swagger along to McCartney's boogie-woogie piano man.
I suppose having Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp onscreen providing signing for My Valentine gave the song some celebrity cred. But the song from McCartney's most recent album
Kisses on the Bottom is a full-on clunker. Maybe I'm Amazed, easily one of the best songs of his postFab Four career followed and literally wiped the preceding track.
You really get the sense he loves this song because, man, did he ever sing the heck out of it. Much worship followed.
To say that hearing I've Just Seen A Face was fantastic is gross understatement. One my fave songs off Rubber Soul was followed by And I Love Her and Blackbird - a pretty epic one, two, three combination if there ever was one. A quite different setlist last night than the previous three shows, lucky us.
Here Today from Tug of War was dedicated to his friend John. Nice, but again not much of a tune. McCartney's sappy side always got the better of him without the other three around to say nay.
Nonetheless, more worship followed.
The catalogue of tunes is positively staggering. It was pretty clear that McCartney really loves performing them too. From the ukulele strumming on Something to the other classics during the latter half of the night he was in much better voice and bouncing around in those Beatle boots like a mop-topped lad of yore.
That may have been decades ago, but Paul McCartney still does his legacy justice. Few of his living peers can make any similar claim. This was a bucket list gig and turned out to br one for the memory books as well.
Thanks for that.
Sderdeyn@theprovince.com Twitter.com/StuartDerdeyn
© Copyright (c) The Province
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McCartney cements his status as a legend
Return engagement was 48 years in the making - and it was worth the wait
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/McCartney+cements+status+legend/7609341/story.html#ixzz2DLz0NflE
PAUL MCCARTNEY
Sunday night BC Place
It took close to half a century for Paul McCartney to step on a Vancouver stage for the second time in his musical career, and in the span of nearly three hours at BC Place, Sir Paul closed the gap, looped the loop and gave his fans a timeless experience.
By comparison, McCartney's 1964 concert at Empire Stadium with the Beatles was a mere blink of an eye, a shambolic mess that lasted under half an hour, security breaking down and the Beatles being rushed off the stage and flown out of the Lower Mainland in about as much time as it took McCartney to sing Hey Jude along with 40,000 or so fans that had come from far and wide to see the 70-year-old legend Sunday night.
With a playlist comprising close to 40 songs and covering pretty much every corner of his career, with heartfelt nods to old pals John Lennon and George Harrison along the way, McCartney never even paused to take a break, commanding the stage with more power, presence and stamina than pop stars half his age.
It's no mystery why McCartney's output with the Fab Four, Wings and on his lonesome will be loved and appreciated by past, present and future generations: McCartney's pop songwriting mastery is virtually unmatched, and the execution Sunday night was near flawless.
Backed by an ace band consisting of guitarist/vocalist Rusty Anderson, keyboardist/guitarist/percussionist Paul Wickens, guitarist/bassist Brian Ray and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., McCartney kicked off, quite fittingly, with Magical Mystery Tour, the stadium transported back in time to rainbow-era Beatles, back when the Walrus was Paul.
And off Macca was, On The Run, as his tour is called, handing out memory-filled classic after another, mixing things up early on - Wings' Junior's Farm, Jet and Let Me Roll It; the Beatles' All My Loving and Paperback Writer; a few solo tracks including Maybe I'm Amazed - before truly settling into a Beatles-centric groove and sticking mostly to the Fab Four's greatest cuts from the halfway mark on.
McCartney was indeed in a form that makes you wonder where he stores all that energy: He still shimmies and shakes and flashes his trademark pouty grin, wielding his signature Hofner bass like only he can, and barely pauses for a drink of water or to catch his breath, telling anecdotes about departed friends like Hendrix.
The fans that braved the bottleneck madness at Gate A and eventually made it through unscathed (while most of the other gates were a breeze) were originally greeted by a remixed mashup of some of the Beatles classics and an animated memorabilia display on the giant screens on both sides of the stage, the concert eventually kicking off about 45 minutes after its scheduled start time.
"It's been a long time Vancouver," McCartney said a couple numbers in. "It's good to be back. I have a feeling were going to have a real good time here tonight. Oh yeah."
Looking rather spry in his sharp blue jacket (which he would later remove during "the evening's only wardrobe change"), McCartney's voice took a few numbers to really warm up, fully finding its spark in a fist-pumping Jet and Drive My Car, which he prefaced by saying, "It can't have been 48 years. I'm not even 48!"
Sunday night BC Place
It took close to half a century for Paul McCartney to step on a Vancouver stage for the second time in his musical career, and in the span of nearly three hours at BC Place, Sir Paul closed the gap, looped the loop and gave his fans a timeless experience.
By comparison, McCartney's 1964 concert at Empire Stadium with the Beatles was a mere blink of an eye, a shambolic mess that lasted under half an hour, security breaking down and the Beatles being rushed off the stage and flown out of the Lower Mainland in about as much time as it took McCartney to sing Hey Jude along with 40,000 or so fans that had come from far and wide to see the 70-year-old legend Sunday night.
With a playlist comprising close to 40 songs and covering pretty much every corner of his career, with heartfelt nods to old pals John Lennon and George Harrison along the way, McCartney never even paused to take a break, commanding the stage with more power, presence and stamina than pop stars half his age.
It's no mystery why McCartney's output with the Fab Four, Wings and on his lonesome will be loved and appreciated by past, present and future generations: McCartney's pop songwriting mastery is virtually unmatched, and the execution Sunday night was near flawless.
Backed by an ace band consisting of guitarist/vocalist Rusty Anderson, keyboardist/guitarist/percussionist Paul Wickens, guitarist/bassist Brian Ray and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., McCartney kicked off, quite fittingly, with Magical Mystery Tour, the stadium transported back in time to rainbow-era Beatles, back when the Walrus was Paul.
And off Macca was, On The Run, as his tour is called, handing out memory-filled classic after another, mixing things up early on - Wings' Junior's Farm, Jet and Let Me Roll It; the Beatles' All My Loving and Paperback Writer; a few solo tracks including Maybe I'm Amazed - before truly settling into a Beatles-centric groove and sticking mostly to the Fab Four's greatest cuts from the halfway mark on.
McCartney was indeed in a form that makes you wonder where he stores all that energy: He still shimmies and shakes and flashes his trademark pouty grin, wielding his signature Hofner bass like only he can, and barely pauses for a drink of water or to catch his breath, telling anecdotes about departed friends like Hendrix.
The fans that braved the bottleneck madness at Gate A and eventually made it through unscathed (while most of the other gates were a breeze) were originally greeted by a remixed mashup of some of the Beatles classics and an animated memorabilia display on the giant screens on both sides of the stage, the concert eventually kicking off about 45 minutes after its scheduled start time.
"It's been a long time Vancouver," McCartney said a couple numbers in. "It's good to be back. I have a feeling were going to have a real good time here tonight. Oh yeah."
Looking rather spry in his sharp blue jacket (which he would later remove during "the evening's only wardrobe change"), McCartney's voice took a few numbers to really warm up, fully finding its spark in a fist-pumping Jet and Drive My Car, which he prefaced by saying, "It can't have been 48 years. I'm not even 48!"
From the stands, the sound was punchy and crisp, with minimal distortion. You have to hand it to both McCartney's and BC Place's sound techs, this was a great-sounding gig.
McCartney sounded especially at home behind the piano for The Long and Winding Road. The Wings material was particularly snappy, with Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five stirring up quite a groove, while the tender My Valentine paid tribute to his wife Nancy, with Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman providing a video where they signed the lyrics. And then there was I'm Amazed, dedicated to Linda, which lifted the stadium high.
The pacing of the concert was expertly conceived, McCartney spending the middle part of the concert on the acoustic guitar, playing a disarming And I Love Her, and taking a solo turn on Blackbird, which echoed beautifully in the building, dedicated to the civil rights movement in the '60s.
Rumours that were started by radio station CKNW on Friday said Bruce Springsteen was slated to join McCartney Sunday night to resume the joint set that had been interrupted earlier this year at London's Hyde Park when London shut down the concert due to curfew.
At press time, there had been no sign of The Boss. Instead, McCartney was paying tribute to Lennon playing Here Today.
Halfway in, McCartney's was already a concert for the ages, and one that will have touched Vancouver's history as much as Sir Paul's first "on the run" show here close to five decades ago.
fmarchand@vancouversun.com Blog: vancouversun.com/awesomesound twitter.com/FMarchandVS
McCartney sounded especially at home behind the piano for The Long and Winding Road. The Wings material was particularly snappy, with Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five stirring up quite a groove, while the tender My Valentine paid tribute to his wife Nancy, with Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman providing a video where they signed the lyrics. And then there was I'm Amazed, dedicated to Linda, which lifted the stadium high.
The pacing of the concert was expertly conceived, McCartney spending the middle part of the concert on the acoustic guitar, playing a disarming And I Love Her, and taking a solo turn on Blackbird, which echoed beautifully in the building, dedicated to the civil rights movement in the '60s.
Rumours that were started by radio station CKNW on Friday said Bruce Springsteen was slated to join McCartney Sunday night to resume the joint set that had been interrupted earlier this year at London's Hyde Park when London shut down the concert due to curfew.
At press time, there had been no sign of The Boss. Instead, McCartney was paying tribute to Lennon playing Here Today.
Halfway in, McCartney's was already a concert for the ages, and one that will have touched Vancouver's history as much as Sir Paul's first "on the run" show here close to five decades ago.
fmarchand@vancouversun.com Blog: vancouversun.com/awesomesound twitter.com/FMarchandVS
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
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