Highlights of seeing Paul McCartney live:
- The songs. Man, talk about a catalog. It had to be hard just to cull a set list for this tour. Growing up I’d listen to my sister’s records of Revolver, Sgt. Pepper and The White Album, never thinking that I’d hear “Eleanor Rigby” or “Blackbird” performed live.
- The music. Not just great songs, but great songs performed extremely well. Everyone on the stage brought their A game, and even though the strings and horn sections were synth, the man on keyboard used a wind controller to make it sound a bit more natural.
- The stories. Paul took time between songs to share inspiration about the music or experiences around creation or touring. He was very much aware the audience and our attention (even bringing up crowd facing lights at the end of each song.)
- The energy. I hope to have just a fraction of Paul McCartney’s energy when I’m 72. The first set lasted over 2 hours, and he never took a break. Every 5th song or so he would carry solo or start on piano, guitar or ukulele. It truly felt like this is what this man was on earth to do: write songs and play them. Reminds me of an article I read this week about Old masters at the top of their game.
- Lasers. There were even pyrotechnics during “Live and Let Die” that gave me a start. All the staging was a joy to watch, even if some of the animations were strange.
Overall? I’m super glad I went. Hat tip to my partner Tom for alerting me it was going down and making it happen.
Bonus? If you’re ever through Louisville, have a meal at Harvest. Get the jalapeño bacon grits.
