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© 2005 COPYRIGHT JORIE GRACENSandy Lopez, Miguel Carrera, Patricia Leimkuhler, Greg Dinsmore, Ricky Streight, Jeff Rosado, Bill King, Rick Glover, Chip Nelson, Kitty Martin, Brian Peterson, Tom Demi, Dawn Dunham, Steve Springer, Harry Legum, Bob Ward, Dave McLean, Mark Rudnick, Tom Liverani, Cornell Stamoren, Mike Kapla, Bob Gannon, Marilyn Blake, Janet Nathanson, Janet Esterly, Bob Ward, Lucas Carrier, John Breen, Patty Martucci, Rick Cipolla, Bill Greenberg, Ron Lavalle, Pat Deese, Andrew Grobman, Kevin Bradley, Tom Aguiar, Jody Toth Ann McDermott, Paul Fournier, Susan Sheldon, Joan Scordo, Danny Solazzi, Bill Dolan, Rick Finkelstein, Pam Walker, Fred Tragardh, Keith Rotenberry, Mike Dagger, Stuart Zolotorow, Esmirelda, Doug Thompson, Brenda Spencer, Cathy Oliver, Craig Wilcox, Mike Gagnon, Andrew Boon, Don Kreuger, Pam Junge, Rick Glover (Beatlefan),Terry Matlen, Michael Whan, David Cederstrom, Dave Wilson, Ted Montgomery, Lisa T., Don Slobodien, Dennis Adkins, Gina Smith, Jane Gaudi, Lane Boldman, Lyn Talley, Barb Tyler, Chuck Klenovich, Ann Stevens, Dave McLean, Teresa Dankoski, Michelle Milan, Tyler Smith, Joe Lampinen, Larry and Courtney Brewer, Mike McGrath, Dawn Reynolds, John Jagler, Jan Laures, Barb Shaw, Karen Swiat, Brenton Alexander, Matt Burley, Erica Mohs, Jim and Kim Juno, Pat Greenwood, Craig and Kathy Cermak, Michael Minter, Joshua Noyes, Linda Robbins, Brad Gerndt, Mary J. Tunno, Kevin Harmon, Chuck Dorsett, Robert York, Theo Pozzy, Barry Orton, Greg Chenoweth, Andrea Wall, Mollie Donley, David Duggan, Julia Myltseva, harleyblues, Steve Levinson, Mark Homen, Frank Baldevarona, Pam Walker, Joe Kraeske, Trini Schultz, Vicky Nelson, Mia Fergus, Susan Wilson, Katie Pishny, Ann VanOvereem, Francesco Phan, David Leu, Mike Berry, Lisa Tongis, Linda Matyja, David Fung, Mitra Anurag, Ed Beebout, Melissa Thomas, Joshua Wise, Sandy Kasper, Elsa Buckingham, Anthony Hatty, Charles Heard, Sherry Childress, Mike and Carol Dagger, Laura Dever, Wynn Drumm, Mark Glinsky, Rob Suffoletta, Gloria Stalarow, Michelle Ballard, Keith Kinkle, Dale Hanson, Sarah Parker, Alisha Tremaine, Kathleen Auckly, Gayle Good, Mark Pawlowski, Ann VanOvereem, Tom Rector, Susan Miller, Richard Rodriguez, Jr. and Carmen B. Rodriguez, Jeffrey Stepek, Cale Guthmiller, Michelle Sawyer, Gilda Russell, Gerard van Os, Todd Costa Rica, Chris Kinard, Lisa Telles, Jay Judson,Scott Overfelt, Greg Swan
September 16 - Miami, FL - American Airlines
Arena
September
17 - Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum
September
20 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
September
22 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
September
23 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
September
26 - Boston, MA - Fleet Center
September
27 - Boston, MA - Fleet Center
September
30 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
October 1 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
October 4 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
October 5 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
October 8 - Washington DC - MCI Center
October 10
- Toronto, Canada - Air Canada Centre
October 14 - Detroit,
MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
October 15 - Detroit, MI -
The Palace of Auburn Hills
October 18 - Chicago, IL - United Center
October 19 - Chicago,
IL - United Center
October 22 - Columbus, OH - Value City
Arena (Schottenstein Center)
October 23 - Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center
October 26 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
October
27 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena
October 30 - Omaha, NE - Qwest Center
November 1 - Denver, CO - The Pepsi Center
November
3 - Seattle, WA - KeyArena
November 4 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden
November
7 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
November 8 - San Jose, CA -
HP Pavilion
November 11 - Anaheim, CA - Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
November 12 - Anaheim, CA -
Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
November 16 - Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
November 19 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
November 20 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
November 23 - Phoenix, AZ - Glendale Arena
November 25 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand
Garden Arena
November 26 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
November
29 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
November 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples
Center
Paul's car pulled past a movable
metal gate and stopped inside the parking lot. Macca got out of
the car and waved to the fans. One of the fans had a ticket he
got from another fan who couldn't make the concert because he
was working for the phone company in Alabama restoring phone lines
from the Katrina disaster. It just so happened that the fan who
couldn't make it was on the phone with his friend who described
Paul's arrival. Mitch said, "Paul, I have one of your fans
on the phone who is helping to restore phone service to the area
affected by Hurricane Katrina and had to miss the show."
Paul asked for the cell phone and talked to Barry for a half a
minute and thanked him for helping out in the disaster recovery.
Paul mentioned that some of the proceeds from the world tour will
be donated to the Katrina disaster relief fund. Macca said he
had to leave because he was 'due in wardrobe' and took off.
The
band opened with "Magical Mystery Tour" with Paul on
bass instead of piano. It was precision all the way, a testimony
to the tightness of the band who had been rehearsing for almost
a month at the nearby Miami Arena. Paul who seemed overwhelmed
by the audience reaction almost missed his vocal coming to the
microphone late. He grinned as he quickly shifted himself to the
microphone making it in time.
Next was "Flaming Pie" which got a cooler audience reception
because the majority of concertgoers were not fans and were unfamiliar
with the song. Paul's grunts during the song were worth the price
of admission!
"Jet" rocked the audience who quickly got the hang of
pointing to the sky at the appropriate time in the song. Paul
even did his 'limp wrist' "Ooh, what you say."
"Good evening Miami! Good evening Florida! Good evening America!
It's called the US Tour because it's all about us, right? We're
all in this together,'' said Paul to the audience who responded
with a loud cheer. "This next song is an old one... If you
remember it, you weren't there!"
A capella vocals of "Oh, yeah, Oh, yeah" began one of
the surprises of the evening, "I'll Get You." The band
harmonized well on the song and Wix played harmonica.
"This is the song we did at the Super Bowl" Paul said
as he launched into "Drive My Car." In the background
were black and white videos of classic cars from the '50s in showrooms.
"Till There was You" (from "The Music Man")
was introduced as a song the early Beatles needed to learn because
at the time Cabaret music was very popular at the clubs they played.
"Smoochy," said Paul.
Paul introduced Abe who said "It's been a long time"
since they played the US and he wanted to know if the audience
was still "Ready to ROCK!" They screamed loudly but
Abe asked for more and got it. Meanwhile, Paul switched to the
Les Paul guitar and began "Let Me Roll It." Rusty and
Paul traded off riffs with Macca really rocking on lead guitar.
The song ended with the Jimi Hendrix "Foxy Lady" ending.
After the song, Paul quickly stripped off his jacket to a few
cat calls and whistles and switched back to the Hofner.
Paul was sweating quite a bit during the concert. His T-shirt
was spotted with sweat. At times he did the 'hair toss' and even
ran his fingers through his hair -- which stopped a few female
hearts in the audience.
"Got To Get You Into My Life" had a shortened ending
with Paul singing "Got to get you into my life..." at
it's end rather than the usual brass ending played on previous
arrangements.
The grand piano came up from a hole in the floor and Paul said
"This is a new song from my album" and played "Fine
Line." In the background were animated pencil drawings from
the album artwork. There were neon lights at the lower part of
the backdrop that pulsated with the music. The Miami crowd was
really into the new song and were singing along.
Paul paused to praise the audience. "Miami! Good people,
lovely bunch."
Macca's vocals for "Maybe I'm Amazed" did not disappoint.
He did however lose his way with the lyrics, reversing "pulled
me out of time" with "hung me on a line." He realized
it making a face, and switched them around in the song. It was
a good save.
"The Long And Winding Road" was played as always with
Paul adding some bluesy sounding chords as he tinkered on the
Yamaha grand. On the video screens were images of trees that changed
to a wintry scene with snow gently falling.
The band left the stage and Paul said, "Hola Miami! This
is the part I get to be all alone with you. I think I'm ready..."
Paul performed the McCartney-Harrison
composition "In Spite of All the Danger," which he explained
was the very first recording made by the Quarrymen at Percy Philips
studio in Kensington, Liverpool. Paul said that each performer
on the recording contributed £1 each and were allowed to
take the record home for a week each. This included Paul, John,
George, John Duff Lowe and Colin Hanton. He said that Duff kept
the recording for 23 years! Then Paul asked the audience to repeat
after him the "Oh-oh-oh-oh's," at the appropriate time
in the song and they did adding their own embellishments. At the
end of the song he praised the audience and said, "Excellent!
You even made up bits I DIDNT ASK YOU TO DO..."
The introduction for "I Will" started out with a story
about someone who offered to buy Paul a drink at a restaurant
in Pasadena, California. Paul said, "Some guy offered to
buy me a drink and I said 'No' which is unusual." That drew
a laugh from the audience. Paul continued the story and was told
by the man that his teenage daughter had to come up with a song
to perform for her school. And the song she picked was "I
Will."
"Jenny Wren" sounded great live. Paul sailed through
intricate chord changes showing his versatility as a guitarist.
His face showed sadness as he crooned about Jenny's troubled world.
The audience politely began to sit down. For those who remained
standing ushers asked asked them to sit because people were complaining
they couldn't see. One usher yelled so loud at the front rows
you could hear her over Paul which was disruptive to the song,
but Paul played on. Wix accompanied Paul on accordion.
After the song, Paul did an audience check. "Are you having
a good time?" Paul asked. There was a big cheer.
Macca pulled out another surprise gem to please Beatles fans,
"For No One." He played the familiar piano rhythm that
simulated a harpsichord with Wix on synthesizer supplying the
French horn.
Paul messed up the lyrics on "Fixing A Hole." He had
problems reading the teleprompters that were at his feet squinting
to read them. He stopped the song, yelling "HANG ON! Hang
ON!" He started to play the song again and still didn't get
it right. He said, "Another edit!" Then he made another
attempt which was still wrong. He started again and finally got
it right. At the end of the song he joked, "I meant to do
that! Spot the deliberate mistake in the middle of the song!"
Then he shrugged his shoulders with his hands up at his sides,
cocking his head in disbelief of what had just transcribed as
he rolled his eyes upwards.
At the beginning
of "English Tea," Paul sat at the piano and said not
sang, "Would you like a cup of English tea?" He then
pantomimed pouring, stirring and drinking tea from
an imaginary cup. When he was done he started the song. Behind
him on the large multi-section video screen comprised of geometric
squares, was a projection of a beautiful garden complete with
trees and hedges that looked like mazes. Butterflies danced across
the screen in time to the music. One of the highlights of the
song was Paul whistling on the number. Brian played a custom Yamaha
bass.
When Paul was
changing over to his acoustic guitar some guy in the front yelled
out "RINGO!" Paul looked at him and said, "Ringo?"
Then he started singing "In the town where I was born...."
And the audience joined in with "We all live in a yellow
submarine..." Then Paul put his hands up to stop the singing
and joked, "Save the rest for Ringo's tour!"
Next came "I'll Follow the Sun" which Paul explained
was the shortest song he ever wrote. He wrote it in his parents'
house at 20 Forthlin Road. When he finished the song he sang the
end twice with a dramatic pause between the reprises to keep the
audience wondering if he was going to do it again. "Tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow
the sun..."
"Follow Me" was similar to the Glastonbury version and
at the end of the song there were columns of fireworks shooting
up the backdrop. It was quite impressive and unexpected.
The introduction for "Blackbird" was different then
back in 2002. Paul told a story about learning to play a J.S.
Bach piece with George when they were young, to impress people.
The piece called "Bouree" Lute Suite No. 1 in E Minor
is what the song "Blackbird" was based on. He said that
neither he nor George could ever play the Bach piece without making
a mistake. Then he played the song and flubbed the chords. "I've
been practicing it and I STILL GOT IT WRONG!" he said feigning
disgust. That drew loud laughter from the audience.
Macca messed up the lyrics
to "Blackbird" stopping the song and saying "How
long have I been singing this? It's the first night and I don't
care." He shrugged his shoulders, giggled and said, "At
least you know it's not on tape!'' Then he continued the song
and got it right.
"Eleanor Rigby" asked the question: "Where is Brian
Ray?" Only Wix, Rusty and Abe were on-stage with Paul. They
stood on either side of Paul sans instruments to sing the "All
the lonely people..." chorus.
"We're having fun tonight?" Paul asked. The audience
screamed "YEAH!"
Another unexpected surprise of the evening was "Too Many
People" which Paul said, "This is for the Wings fans."
(NOTE: the song from "Ram" (1971) was technically not
a Wings song though soon to be Wings drummer Denny Seiwell
is on it.) Abe did a great job
on the drums as did Rusty on the song's lead guitar. There was
some minor feedback during the song, but it didn't disrupt or
repeat. When the song finished it segued seamlessly into "She
Came In Through The Bathroom Window" which was faithful to
the Beatles version. Another unexpected suprise.
Paul started talking about the space shuttle launch back in July. He said it was the first time NASA had a female commander, Irene Collins -- which brought cheers from the women in the audience. "The mission had some trouble and they did a walk to fix it," he explained. "When they wanted to come back to Earth the weather turned bad and they were running out of supplies so they had to wait another day for the weather to clear up. That next day I'm proud to say that the astronauts were told the weather had cleared and they played my song." Then you heard the actual "wake up call" to the astronauts and Paul launched into "Good Day Sunshine." During the song spectacular video of the space launch was shown on the screens. When Paul sang, "take a walk, the sun in shining down" they showed the astronauts taking a space walk. At the end of the song the shuttle landed and you saw the entire crew smiling on the video. Paul said, "How proud am I...?" The audience cheered. "How proud would you be if it was your song?" More applause.
"Band On The Run" was the same as on earlier tours. This one did not have the slow intro. Paul did the usual pointing to the fans in the audience on the lyric "They're searching for YOU everywhere." He also did the 'double leg kick' during the song accenting the double drum beat that comes in the middle of the song.
"Penny Lane" had a minor goof up in the lyrics that produced a Paul eye roll.
"I've Got A Feeling"
had Abe and Rusty trading off verses with Paul. In the background
were images of pulsating black and white speakers.
"Back In the USSR" showed videos of Olympic ice skaters
and scenes from Russian landmarks. Paul made sure to emphasize
the lyric, "Flew into MIAMI BEACH..." which brought
a loud roar from the audience.
"Wow! Miami! Buenas Noches!" said Paul to the cheering
crowd.
Paul launched into "Hey Jude"
with no fake out song intro, saying "Miami Beach, here's
a song you will recognize when it arrives." It was the 'traditional
Macca version' that he's been doing for years on tour. Brian played
tambourine for the first verse and then tossed it to some lucky
fan in the audience. Brian played wonderful bass parts during
the song. The audience participated in the sing along with Paul
directing, "Now, just the guys!" He put on quite a show,
posturing like a muscle man, slapping his thigh and trying to
looking tough. "Just the ladies!" Macca did some effeminate
hip swiveling with one arm behind his head and one on the hip
as the women sang the "nah, nah, nahs." At the song's
end he did his usual, "You were great...."
"Live and Let Die" had spectacular pyrotechnics and
if you were up front you could really feel the heat from the explosives
and flame throwers that shot 20 feet into the air. The back drop
had a dazzling display of fireworks shooting up in controlled
columns as flames from jets fired down from the top. The explosions
were louder than at previous shows with blinding flashes. Rusty
did his usual stage dive during his solo. At the song's end Paul
put both hands in his ears and grimaced mocking what he had seen
in the audience when the explosions caught unsuspecting fans by
surprise.
This was the end of the first part of the show and the band bowed
holding hands and quickly exited the stage.
"Yesterday" was the same as always with Paul making
that sorrowful expression as he looks up. Afterwards he hoisted
the acoustic guitar in the air saluting the audience. "It's
great to back in America," said Paul.
"Get Back" featured the familiar 'jump kick' that Paul
used to do on the 1989-90 tour. Paul was very energetic, bouncing
to the rhythm of the song. Brian Ray hammered out a hard-drivingIn
lead guitar.
Paul told the audience, "It's great to be back in America.
Do you want to hear some more? [the audience screamed for more]
This song has never been performed on American soil."
"Helter Skelter" featured videos of amusement park slides
and roller coasters as the band rocked the Triple A. Paul's blistering
vocals were lifted by the band's backing harmonies leading to
a crescendo of gutsy hard-edged polished rock.
When it was finished the band joined hands and bowed. While they
were still bent over they did a silly shuffle with their legs
in unison to the left, for a short distance, all the while laughing.
Then they left the stage.
For the last encore Paul emerged wearing a "no more land
mines" red T-shirt and waved a very large American flag as
he walked from one side of the stage to another waving it over
the audience. The crowd cheered their approval.
"Are you enjoying yourselves this evening?" Paul asked.
There was a thunderous ovation accompanied by Beatlemaniacal screaming.
Which brought a grin to Paul's face.
"Please Please Me"
placed at the end of the show was an infectious surprise as well
as a nostalgic crowd pleaser. Paul said, "We haven't done
that one in a long time. That's a blast from the past." Vocal
harmonies reminiscent of The Beatles did not disappoint the over
50's crowd.
The psychedelic upright piano was wheeled out for "Let It
Be." Paul said he was trying an experiment. He had a short
fat white candle sitting on top of the piano and attempted to
light it. At first it didn't light but then it finally did.
Paul thanked the crew and the band and said, "But most of
all I want to thank YOU," to the audience.
Paul ripped into "Sgt. Pepper "(Reprise) with an arena
rocking, guitar trading, lick-a-thon. Rusty, Brian and Paul feverishly
unleashed rapid fire dueling lead guitar licks trying to out do
one another. Paul played a power-riff and threw his hands up feigning
defeat. Abe pounded the drums with the familiar "Pepper"
drum jam. It was a awesome ending to a tremendously enjoyable
concert. Paul left his fans in a stage of exhaustion!
"See you next time!" he shouted before leaving the stage
at 11:15pm.
Paul signed an "Unplugged" vinyl album cover for someone
in the front row. He tossed the album back to the owner and then
tossed pens and picks out to the audience. From the sides of the
stage red, white and blue confetti shot out of machines covering
those near the front of the stage.
After the performance Paul
threw the official after-party at his fave restaurant, Cantina
Beach at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne. A group of 40 celebrated
the very successful opening concert with a private soiree filled
with Mexican culinary favorites. Fans in the know headed to the Ritz after the concert
but Paul was not in sight by the time they got there. Paul had
left the party early and was spotted after midnight walking on
the beach with Heather. He and Heather retired to their secluded
private condo on the hotel's property around 12:30am. The band
however was up and about in the hotel and decided to take a swim
in the pool. Some enterprising fans jumped in to join them!
Signs in the audience: "CUPPA, MACCA?"( illustrated
with a white teapot, a union jack and a teacup next to it) "WE
LOVE U PAUL!"
Tour merchandise:
There were about 20 T-shirts, jerseys, jackets starting at $35
to $100, a mug for $20, keychains $7, laminates $20, button pack
$15, program $30, posters $15, logo hats $40, collage lithograph
$60, magnets $20.
Just after 5pm Paul 's motorcade approached the Forum where about 70 fans were waiting. Paul was in the back seat on the passenger's side and lowered the window to wave to the fans as the black Lexus turned into the backstage parking compound. The car did not stop.
Songs heard at the 'end' of the Soundcheck:
Paul did his 'mass-sage' music
before beginning "Lady Madonna" and went into a long
jam at the end of the soundcheck.
Phobee Henry the 15-year-old singer/songwriter publicized as the
'opening act' for Paul's show had a stage "outside"
the entrance of the arena and performed for the crowd standing
in line to get inside Paul's opening act was DJ Freelance Hellraiser
as in Miami.
Most of the dialog was the
same as the first show. The set list was the same as Miami except
Paul did not perform "Yellow Submarine." Paul wore the
same stage clothes as in Miami. The show started at 8:15 to a
sold out crowd of 18,095.
When the stage curtain was drawn to reveal Paul and the band it
got caught on Paul's microphone almost knocking it over.
Paul messed up the lyrics to "I'll Get You" but made
a good recovery.
After "Drive My Car"
he looked at the packed house and said, "I get the feeling
we're going to have some fun. You know what? I'm going to take
a moment to drink this all in."
He looked around the arena for a moment and paused. He seemed
overwhelmed by the warmth and love of the audience.
Right after "Got To Get You Into My Life" Paul accidentally misstepped when the trap door on the stage floor opened to raise his grand piano before "Fine Line." He had just taken off the Hofner and turned to his right and stepped into the open trap door.
In a scary moment, Macca fell several feet through the hole landing on top of the piano which was moving up. The Hofner he was holding tumbled down with him though he was not wearing it. Paul banged his elbow and back as he fell. His body rolled from the force of the fall and he braced himself with his hands holding onto the side where the keyboard was. He managed to right himself after 15 seconds and was helped by Rusty and John Hammel who handed him a microphone. Paul scrambled around the piano as it rose shaking his finger at it like "bad piano" and walked over to sit on the piano bench when the piano came up. He joked about the fall though he was visibly shaken as was the crowd who were silent the moment he fell into the hole. He received a thunderous cheer once he appeared onstage.
"Ok there's a big hole
in the stage and I just fell into it! We've been expecting this
to happen and it happened in Tampa. Woo! So the guys [band members]
come up to me... 'NO!, NO!, NO! DON'T!' and I was in it man. But
I don't care.
"OK, word to the stage crew: I want a big fence around here
tomorrow. A little picket fence. It will look good."
Paul carried on with the rest of the show sweating more than usual
with his energy level dropping slightly from the night before.
He put on a great show in spite of his injuries which luckily
appeared to be minor.
He sang flat on parts of "Maybe I'm Amazed" which came
one song after he fell into the hole.
For the acoustic just before "In Spite of All the Danger"
Paul said, "This is the part where everyone goes off and
leaves me alone with you and it's pretty nice."
Then he introduced "In Spite of All the Danger." At
the mention of Kensington there were screams. He commented, "There's
always one person in the audience from England that knows where
that is... probably
the studio manager."
Paul described making the first recording with the Quarrymen back
in the '50s and said, "We were babies." Then he explained
what the recording sounded, "That reminds me. It's all..."
(makes a hissing noise describing the bad sound of the record)
That brought laughs from the audience. After the song he praised
the audience for doing their part in the sing along. "Amazing
how musical audiences are..."
Macca
kept his composer though he still had trouble with a few songs.
He flubbed the words to middle 8 on "I Will" singing
"Love you since I" instead of "Love you forever."
He stopped the song saying, "Hang on. OK, ok. It's alright.
It's a long time ago, ok? We have to make mistakes, right?"
The audience laughed. Then he finished the song shouting, "MIDDLE
EIGHT! Love you forever..."
At the end of the song he said, "People say, 'do you do that
every night?' At least you know it's not taped. It's LIVE."
People applauded.
After "Jenny Wren" he said, "Thank you! That was
Jenny Wren off our new album. Thank you!
"Ok, if the piano rises as it should, then I don't fall in
the hole. It's all extra production value. You know nobody else
is going to see me fall in a hole. You never know, I might keep
it in every night."
He began "For No One." After the song he leaned back
slightly on the piano bench and grimaced from pain.
He said," Having fun in Tampa, Florida?" The audience
screamed back "Yes!"
Paul said he wrote "I'll Follow The Sun" in the front
parlor of 20 Forthlin Road. There were screams when he mentioned
the famous address. "Let's have a scream for a house,"
he said jokingly.
Before "Blackbird" he told the same story about being
a teenager and trying to play Bach with George to impress people.
There were screams when he said 'teenager." "Let's hear
it for teenagers!" he said bating the audience. This time
when he demonstrated the J.S. Bach piece on guitar he did it without
a mistake. And to the delight of the audience he sang the notes
as he played, "de do,do, do, de do..."
After "I've Got A Feeling" Paul said, "I have have
a feeling we're having fun here in Tampa, Flori-DA."
He did a snippet of "Baby Face" as the fake-out before
"Hey Jude." He said, "No, No, No....No, No, No!"
And begain "Hey Jude." This time he instructed, "Just
the people at the top, all the way around" to sing the "nah-nah-nahs."
Then it was, "Now just the people on the floor... men only...
and now the women!"
Before "Get Back" he teased the audience and said, "Are
you ready?"
After "Get Back" he uttered the old familiar Macca seal
cry "Oo-Oo-Oooo!" Not heard for many years. Then he
said, "Do you want to rock a bit more? The audience screamed
"YES!" Paul said with a grin, "I thought so,"
and launched into "Helter Skelter."
For the last encore he came out waving the American flag and wearing
the "no more land mines" red T-shirt.
"It takes me back, baby!" said Paul about "Please
Please Me."
It was clear his arm was hurting because he had trouble removing
and lifting his guitar. He whacked the bass right into the microphone
as he was turning to hand it to his assistant John Hammel after
"Please Please Me."
The previous night in Miami he had trouble lighting the small
candle on the upright psychedelic piano before "Let It Be."
This time there was a much larger and taller version of the candle
that could be more easily seen. Paul had no trouble lighting that
one.
After "Let It Be" he told the audience "Well, this
has been a night not without incident and we have had a great
time with you folks. "We've got to go home and yeah you've
got to go home." The audience booed their disapproval. "You
mean 'cause it's Saturday night?" [he mumbles the words to
"Rip It Up" really fast] "'Cause it's Saturday
night and I just got paid. I'm a fool about my money, Don't try
to save. My heart says 'go go, have a time' Saturday night and
I'm feelin' fine..." The audience went wild!
He thanked the crew the band and the audience before "Sgt.
Pepper."
Right after "Sgt. Pepper
"a zealous teenage male fan somehow broke through the hole
in the Macca's security system and managed to get onstage. Paul
was just removing his guitar when the enthusiastic fan screaming
"Paul I LOVE you, kisses...kisses!" grabbed Paul's shoulder
and gave him a hug and wouldn't let go. Security peeled him away
from Paul who shook his hand and gave him the thumbs up before
the deliriously happy fan was roughly dragged off the stage and
detained by Paul's security and the police. Paul's T-shirt was
ripped in the incident.
Paul took his bows with the band and did not sign any autographs.
As he was leaving a fan held up a sign that said "What about
Rusty?" For some reason Paul had forgot to introduce Rusty
during the show and didn't remember. He said swinging his arms,
"What do you mean?" [points to sign holder] "There's
someone down the front who's got a sign that says, "What
About Rusty? Well Rusty's beautiful. I admit it. [Paul giggles]
After that he quickly left the stage.
Paul left the arena from the stage and was taken to a helicopter
which took him to the airport where he spent time in Delta's Crown
Room until his jet was ready to leave for Miami. He was seen the
next day taking a swim in the Ritz swimming pool.
Signs in the audience: "LOVE Chaos," "Follow"
"Me" (two signs held up together during the song which
Paul acknowledged).
Philips Arena had a sell-out show of over 21,000 with a very enthusiastic
crowd who stood for most of the show. The new songs 
were well received and the Beatles songs got the
crowd rocking.
Songs heard at the sound check:
"San Francisco Bay Blues," "Midnight Special,"
"C Moon," "Lady Madonna," "Coming Up,"
"Honey Don't," "Matchbox," " Atlanta
Jam."
Freelance Hellraiser (Roy Kerr) opened the show and played a new
remix that contained unreleased McCartney music. Kerr has been
substituting different songs at each show.
Atlanta had the same set list as the Tampa show minus "Baby
Face" before "Hey Jude."
Paul's stage outfit was the
same as the other shows except his black jacket had black satin
lapels. He was wearing Beatle boots.
Macca was having a good time and joked around. His energy level
was high and he was clearly enjoying Atlanta's exuberance. He
was in good voice all night.
New to the stage are fiber optic red lights that flash from below the stage floor to signal that the trap door is open and the piano is rising. The lights flashed a blinking red grid onstage too. They turn off as soon as the piano is in it's place.
Some highlights from the show:
Paul mentioned his unfortunate accident in Tampa to which the audience sighed. He said he was OK and joked that he was just looking for sympathy. Which amused the crowd.
"I'll
Follow The Sun" had three reprises with each one getting
more humorous.
As Paul was scanning the audience for signs he talked about how fan signs can be very distracting and make you lose your place though he loves the signs. He said now people hold up cell phones and that is a whole new level of pressure because you have to get it right so you don't disappoint momma listening on the phone back home.
He spotted a sign that read "PAUL, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" and had the person hold it up for all to see. "You come on, show 'em," he coaxed pointing to the sign holder. Then he said, "Well, happy birthday!" and the audience cheered. (Congrats to Stacy Brown who had the best Macca birthday present!)
Rusty Anderson aced the tricky guitar solo in "Too Many People" and got a smile and an off mike "All right!" from his boss who flashed the Wings sign at the end of the song.
For the intro to "Back In the USSR" Paul mentioned playing Red Square and his concern for the weather since it was outdoors. He was told by Russian officials that everything would be fine. He asked how they knew that and they said Russian President Putin ordered jets to seed the clouds.
Following "Hey Jude"
Paul noticed an infant (8 weeks old) being held in the audience
and said, "Look at that baby there [points]..."Someone
is holding up a little baby! I see you little baby... Hi there,
little baby. 
"Hello Baby!"
[waves to baby] "That baby should be in bed by now!"
After "Live and Let Die" Paul looked at the baby and said, "I don't know how that little baby took the loud bangs... The baby probably loved it and I hope he remembers his 'first' concert."
At the end of the first encore someone threw roses to Paul who picked them up and took them with.
When the band came back for the second encore Paul was carrying the large American flag and didn't wear the "no more land mines" T-shirt. Rusty had the Georgia state flag. Both walked around waving the flag over the audience who cheered.
Macca reversed the lyrics to "The End" singing "the love you make is equal to the love you take." He realized it and raised his hand to his head and made a face like "Oh, well."
As he was leaving the stage
Paul waved and said "See you next time!" He autographed
a sign someone threw to him.
After the show a
group of fans followed
Paul's tour
bus to the DeKalb-Peachtree
Airport (PDK). Macca waited 20 minutes before getting off the
bus. He walked over to the fence where the fans were waiting and
signed one autograph for each fan. (Congrats to Spencer Anderson
for the "Revolver" autograph)
Sign in the audience acknowledged by Paul "Venus & Mars/Rock
Show."
Men in Black: There men dressed in black from Paul's staff seeking
out enthusiastic fans in the nosebleed sections for upgrades closer
to the stage.
Paul's black Lexus SUV arrive
d around 5:30 pm, 10 minutes after the
band showed up in their tour bus to a big cheer. Macca popped
his head out of the window and waved to the fans while talking
on the cell phone to WMGK's Andre Gardner for a couple of minutes.
The car didn't stop until it was inside a secure area. Paul closed
the window for about 5 minutes while the car stayed stationary.
He opened up the window again and fans yelled "Welcome to
Philly Paul!" He gave them the thumbs up and yelled "Thank
you!" as the car pulled into the arena.
Earlier around 4pm, Paul's people randomly picked 20 fans to come inside and hear the sound check. Also before the show 'the men in black' came and randomly relocated fans in the nosebleed sections up to the front. One fan got a pair in the front row! Point and shoot cameras and disposable cameras were allowed at this show.
Songs heard at the soundcheck:
"Friends To Go," "Anyway," "Lady Madonna"
with 'mass-sage' intro jam, "Coming Up," "Midnight
Special." Paul joked at the soundcheck, "They can even
hear us out in the parking lot!"
The show started at 8:15 which
is the 'usual' start time. Freelance Hellraiser opened again and
by the end of his set the restless Philly crowd turned on him
and started booing. He left when his set was finished and the
movie started, ending with the familiar "3-2-1" countdown.
The curtain was raised at 8:45pm and took Paul's microphone with
it. Macca stepped up to where the microphone was supposed to be
and watched it with mouth agape as it was carried up. He and the
band were laughing as was the audience who found it hilarious.
Roadies scurried out to retrieve the AWOL microphone while the
band continued to play the intro. Abe said "This is "LIVE
Rock 'n' Roll." Paul joked, that something weird like this
had to ha
ppened
during "Magical Mystery Tour," of all songs. Later he
told the crowd, "It was a strange sensation to watch the
microphone float away. It was very magical."
With the microphone back down to earth, Paul picked up the beat and launched into the song, accompanied by the roar of the audience.
The sold-out Philly crowd was energized from start to the finish. Macca commented many times about how "into it" the crowd was. The new songs were received much better than at earlier shows proving that people were buying the album. Paul's voice was nearly flawless throughout the show and Paul thankfully didn't always stick to the 'script.' The audience was treated Paul's impromptu stage banter which was more fun when not scripted.
Macca did some "swishy" side-to-side motion with his legs as an attempt at Cabaret dancing during "Till There Was You."
Paul got sidetracked during
the "I Will" story saying he was in a Mexican restaurant
"having pizza" when the guy offered to buy him a drink,
and then realized how strange that sounded and substituted "nachos
or something" as his food of choice.
In a moment of complete silence when Paul was settling himself
in at the piano prior to "For No One," a woman (Congrats
to Jody Toth) yelled out "I love YOU!" He paused for
a second, and then said mocking her in a falsetto voice, "I
love YOU, too!" shaking his head in amusement.
Fans were treated to story about his use of the word "peradventure"
after he sang "English Tea." He pointed out how interesting
the concert is because it's also a learning experience, "...because
you come to concerts to learn things... and you learn new words,"
he joked. Paul explained
what it meant ("maybe") and gave an example, "Peradventure
I'm Amazed."
The four reprises at the end of "I'll Follow The Sun"
had Paul hamming it up with each successive one sillier than the
other.
Once again Paul tried to 'nail'
the Bach piece before "Blackbird" messing it up twice
and commenting, "I've been known to get this right and I'll
give it one last try." He got most of it right on the third
try.
Something to watch: When Paul is singing
his parts on "Eleanor Rigby," Rusty and Abe back away
from their microphones and bow. Next comes a little synchronized
dance. Abe does three or four steps and Rusty follows. Then they
dance together. Quite amusing!
Macca messed up one of the lyrics to "Too Many People"
but most didn't notice. Someone held up a sign at the beginning
of the song that read: "Ram' Best Album EVER!" which
Paul acknowledged.
As Paul was talking about how distracting signs in the audience are, someone held up at sign that read: "I QUIT SMOKING." Paul laughed and said, "Great, but what does that have to do with me?"
He introduced "Yesterday" as "...one you'll remember from the Ed Sullivan Show."
At the beginning of "Let It Be" the psychedelic piano was in the "wrong mode" and Paul couldn't get it to work. Wix and a tech ran over to help. Paul told them to turn it off and back on to re-boot commenting to the audience, "Hmmmph COMPUTERS!" Macca threatened to start telling jokes if the wait took too long. He said, "We're getting to the bit where I'm about to start telling jokes and you don't want that!" Re-booting did the trick and Paul began the song to cheers.
He joked about falling 50 FEET into the piano pit in Tampa and said his only thought when falling was, "How deep is this hole? Is it 5 feet or 50 feet?"
Paul introduced Brian Ray, who said that sometimes they see a whole different show from the stage. Brian pointed out three children in the 7th row all wearing blue (Paul's Pepper suit color) Sgt. Pepper outfits. The kids were waving a sign that read: "Triplets Love Paul!" Paul waved to them and kept looking at them as he played the next song. The kids were brought up to the front of the stage to Paul's right before the last encore.
When the band came back for the final encore Paul had the American flag, Rusty had the Pennsylvania state flag and Wix waved his tiny Union Jack flag.
The highlight of the evening was "Sgt.
Pepper Reprise/The End." Paul signaled with a nod and the
three children aged 6 (two girls and a boy) were brought onstage.
The children were triplets: Audrey, Jennifer and Joseph Johnson.
When Paul shook their hands, one of the girls had a 'blown away'
look on her face.
They took their place behind Paul who showed them how to dance
while the song was going on and then he went back to singing.
Paul danced with them and bent down on one knee to play them his
guitar solos.
He kept looking over at them while he sang. The two girls knew
the words for "Pepper" and "The End." Rusty's
mike cut out during the song and there was a glitch when the video
screens went dark for a moment. When the song finished, Paul,
the band and the triplets locked hands (between Paul and Wix)
and took a bow together before they were led offstage. Paul tried
to get them to raise their interlocked hands on cue, but they
were too overwhelmed.
Nothing was signed at the end of the show.
Signs in the audience:
"2nd Generation Beatles Fan" which Paul read out loud.
"Elvis is Dead, Long Live the Beatles," "WE LOVE
(Big red heart) CHAOS" (Paul pointed out the sign and said
he "appreciated it.") "Best Day Of My Life."
Seen in the audience: Sid Bernstein
Macca and band stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel while in Philly.
Heather was spotted there after a shopping spree.
Paul got to the Wachovia Center around 5:25pm escorted by four police motocycles with sirens blaring and another black Lexus SUV. The caravan slowed down as it passed the fans and Paul rolled down the window, waved, gave the thumbs up and said "Hello." The fans were visibly moved with smiles and screams.
Once the sound check started the music could be heard outside.
Song heard at the sound check: "Lady Madonna."
The show started around the same time as the other shows with DJ Freelance Hellraiser presenting more intense and uptempo Twin Freaks material after getting booed the night before. The crowd seemed more attentive to the music, but it went on too long to keep their interest. There was no booing tonight, however.
The set list remained the same
and so did Paul's stage outfit except that he wore black trousers
instead of the jeans. Paul was in very good voice and stayed more
with the 'scripted' dialogue.
The band was extremely tight, energetic and animated. Paul was
in top form and seemed more relaxed and loose. The audience was
on their feet as soon as Macca got onstage and Paul kept saying
how "HOT" the Philly crowd was.
The curtain opened without incident though
Paul waited until it was completely out of the way before he walked
up to the microphone. He joked about the microphone taking off
with the curtain on the previous night and told the audience that
he had the microphone stand 'nailed to the stage' to prevent it
from taking off.
"It's great for us to
be back in Phila-delphi-a! I just want to take a moment here.
I just wanna drink all of this in. [applause] Alright, this number
goes back so far that if you remember it you probably weren't
there." Paul launched into "I'll Get You."
"You know I'm getting that feeling again like we're gonna
have some fun tonight," said Paul.
For the intro to "Drive My Car" Paul said, "This
is a song that we performed earlier this year at the Superbowl."
"Oh, man. Beep-beep and beep-beep, yeah. Ok, ok. You're a
great crowd. [cheers] A great crowd. Oh yeah, oh, yeah.
"You know when we first started out mainly, we used to play
in the clubs, in the rock and roll clubs, the R&B clubs but
um, there were some other clubs that were better paid and we kinda
used to try and aspire to them you know. There were these cabaret
clubs but the only trouble to get gigs at those clubs you had
to do some sort of smoochy numbers you know you had to put a few
of them in your act and you could get in you know. So this is
one of the songs we put in. And actually the guy who was our roadie
then helping us... is here tonight in the audience Mr. Neil Aspinall...
[Paul laughts] This smoochy one is for him." Paul begain
"Till There Was You."
"Thank you for the smoochy
stuff there," said Paul at the song's end.
As the piano was rising for "Fine Line" fans held a
sign that read "Mind the Gap" (a UK expression to remind
people not to fall into the opening between the trains and the
platform in the underground stations) Paul acknowledged the sign
and talked about his fall into the piano pit which he still finds
very amusing.
After "English Tea" Paul said,
"Thank you, That song's called 'English Tea'. And uh, I was
saying to the audience last night, there's a word that I managed
to work into the lyrics of it, which is just some old word I must
have dredge up from like a school book or something. This is you
see where you can go 'round now, you can go and amaze your friends
with this word. This word is 'paraventure.' Now who knows what
that means? And you come to a concert like this, you didn't expect
to find a word like that. But I hear,..I explained last night.
I looked it up. I thought I hope it works cause it fits. And yeah,
sure enough It means perhaps or maybe. So peraventure I'm amazed.
And I hear there are people walking about Philadelphia now saying,
'What do you think of the weather? oh-ah Peraventure...' Apparently
It's in wide usage now in Philadelphia.
"OK This next song is another one that goes back away and
I still remember writing this one standing in the front parlor
of Fortlin Road with the little lace curtains. It's ever so short.
It's a wee song." He began, "I'll Follow the Sun."
For the fourth reprise of "I'll
Follow The Sun" he sang, "Peradverture, tomorrow may
rain, oh, I'll follow the sun..."
He nailed the Bach piece the first time around and as an added
treat extended it a few bars.
The story about the "weather in Red
Square" evolved into Paul speaking with a Russian accent
where needed to embellish the story. "You know we went to
Red Square and I finally got to do that number to the Russians,
you know. I was waiting a long time and we finally did it. And
the weather wasn't too good. And I said to one of the guys who
was with the concert, 'How's the weather going to be?' He said,
'Don't vorry ze veather vill beet kood.' I said, 'You think so?'
He said, 'I knote zoh.' And afterwards I said, 'How did you do
that? He said, 'Prezedent Putin zends planes oop in sky, makes
veather kood.' ... I heard that's true. They spray it with something
and what did they spray it with? And it's not cornflakes... It's
true!...."
Paul read several signs out loud during the evening including: "My mother was at Shea Stadium."
Referring to the audience, both nights he said, "The Philadelphia Story continues..."
Paul did the "Baby Face" teaser at the beginning of "Hey Jude." He stopped the song and said, "No, no, no, no, no... No that's not the one I meant." "Oh, come on, Paul," said a band member. "That wasn't the I wanted them to do though they could of and would have... " said Paul. Then he started "Hey Jude."
When it was Brian Ray's turn to be announced Paul said, "I like to present to you our bass player, guitarist, singer, the man on my left BRIAN RAY!"
"Good evening Pennsylvania!"
said Brian "...It's great to be here tonight and you know
what? We've done about 200 shows and I never got a chance to do
this. How about a little hand for the guy over here playing bass,
guitar, piano. Our fearless leader PAUL McCARTNEY!!!"
The crowd cheered and Paul pointed
his finger at Brian in a scolding manner and said off mike, "you
naughty boy!" During the start of the next song Paul was
still waving his finger at Brian saying off mike "that was
YOUR moment." Then Paul started pointing his guitar at him
and teased him for the rest of the song.
Paul played "Yesterday" on the same acoustic he used
for the Ed Sullivan show. It had a "Red Wings (Detroit's
hockey team) sticker on it and when it was shown in close up on
the video monitors, there were some boos.
At the end of the show a fan threw a sign
onstage that read: "Can I have a hug?" Paul picked it
up and read it with Rusty and they both hugged EACH OTHER! Paul
did not sign anything.
Paul announced to the audience that Apple manager Neil Aspinall was in the audience. Sid Bernstein was also there for a second night with a Fanasylum ticket. His cell phone number was given to Paul and Sid was invited backstage.
Signs in the audience: "I
(heart) Abe" which Paul pointed out to Abe.
Signs acknowledged by Macca: "Follow Me" raised during
the song. "Thank you for that," said Paul. "YOU
are the backyard of MY life" also acknowledged. (Congrats
to Karen Gates for having both signs acknowledged by MACCA!)
"Free Massage" Paul looked over at the sign and said,
"Right NOW!" and pointed to himself.
A Rusty moment:
When the band was boarding the bus to leave Philly, a fan (Congrats to Eric Cheesic) asked Rusty if he could have a guitar pick. Rusty reached into his pocket and found a quarter. "I think this is all I have," he said apologetically. The fan jokingly said, "I'll take the money."
Rusty reached back into his pocket and discovered a pick! The fan held out his hand. Rusty gave him only the quarter. The expression on the fan's face bordered on shock. Rusty was joking of course, and gave him both the pick AND the quarter! What a guy! Eric also got his "Back in the US" CD signed by Rusty, Abe, Wix and Brian!
About 75 fans lined up to wait for Paul's Lexus. Fans were instructed by security to line up beside a barrier where they would be able to get photos of Paul driving by. Macca's Lexus arrived around 5:25pm and approached from the opposite direction than expected. This caused a mad dash by fans to the other side of the ramp. When Paul's car finally turned off the street onto the ramp, it stopped briefly with Paul sticking his head and hand out to wave and give 'thumbs up.' He was on the cellphone doing an radio station interview. People pushed towards him asking for autographs which he declined and withdrew back into the vehicle as it sped up the ramp.
Interesting T-shirts in the waiting crowd:
"Paul What is Peraventure?" and "Martha My Dear."
The sound check began at 5:45 and ended at 6:40. Some lucky fans from a radio station contest got to see the sound check and VIPs from Fidelity Investments.
Paul had on blue jeans, a turquoise T-shirt and a black jacket with maroon lapels . The jacket came off just as the sound check began. He told a story about the Carl Perkins song "Honey Don't" and explained what inspired Perkins to write the line "you got that sand all over your feet." Perkins was walking on a beach and got sand in his shoes! "It's true you know," said a grinning Paul.
Songs heard at the sound check:
"Matchbox," "Honey Don't," "Midnight Special," "All My Loving," "San Francisco Bay Blues," "C Moon," "Celebration," "Coming Up," "Friends To Go," "Time For Your Massage" intro to Lady Madonna" with improv jam.
After the sound check he thanked everyone for coming and joked that it was a "kiddie" show!
Around 7:45 there was a very loud explosion behind the stage with a cloud of smoke rising from behind the curtain. 20,000 people pooped in their pants as they were caught off guard. Security and the stage crew rushed over to see what happened. One of the fireworks from "Live and Let Die" misfired. Luckily no one was hurt.
As people filed in, ambient music played. Songs heard were "Celebration" from Standing Stone, and the Working Classical version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" which segued into the Twin Freaks version of the song spun by DJ Freelance Hellraiser. Hidden in the Twin Freaks mix was an unreleased song from the "Chaos" sessions. Hellraiser has been making minor changes to the preshow set list at every show. The Boston crowd gave Hellraiser a decent listen.
The curtain rose without taking any equipment and the sold-out crowd went wild when Macca hit the stage wearing his 'usual' stage outfit. Paul was relaxed, confident and had more interaction with his audience. His stage banter has been for the most part scripted, but he has been deviating from it to add more humor to his dialog. He kept bringing up his fall into the piano pit which is becoming more humorous and legendary. His speaking voice was a little hoarse at times.
"Hello Boston!" said
Paul after the first couple of songs.
"Let Me Roll It" did not have the "Foxy Lady"
ending.
The audience cooled a little
on the new songs and came alive on the Beatles songs. "She
Came In through The Bathroom Window" and "Helter Skelter
"seem to get the biggest audience reaction. Many people who
were standing in the beginning sat down when Paul did "Fine
Line" and wanted those in front to sit down.
He launched into "Fine Line" without any warning at
all. After it was over, he used that scratchy New Orleans "Wolfman"
voice to plug the song saying, "That song is Fine Line, Fine
Line, Fine Line."
Paul wasn't able to nail the Bach piece on the first try. He tried it a few times and stepped back from the mike to figure it out on the guitar and said, "Ah, I've got it now," and played it flawlessly. He joked about how the audience likes when you make a mistake and when you finally get it right the crowd goes wilder than if you got it right the first time.
He had problems remembering
the lyrics at the end of "I Will." Instead of singing
"Your song will fill the air. Sing it loud so I can hear
you" he sang "For the things you do endear you to me."
And he stopped the song! He said that he messed up because he
was thinking about the 'hole' behind him, (piano pit) which the
crowd found quite funny. Someone held up a sign that read "Definitely
Not Dodgy" (Congrats to Ron Lavallee) which Paul acknowledged
by holding his finger and thumb as if to say "just a little
bit?"
After "Jenny Wren" he talked about how signs in the
audience distract him. He
said how his eyes travel to the signs and he has to struggle in
his mind between reading the signs and remembering the chords
and words. There was
a sign that said: "On this date, September 26th 'The Fool
on the Hill' was recorded." Paul read the sign, and said
sarcastically, "Did I REALLY have to have that piece of information
while I was playing this song?" The audience cracked up.
His voice strained a little on the song but recovered.
Before "English Tea" Paul said, "I thought this would be a good city to sing this song, as it's the home of the Boston Tea Party!" That drew many laughs.
Paul asked if there were any
Irish people in the audience. When about one quarter of the audience
applauded he said, "Yeah, that's right, EVERYONE'S IRISH!"
He had a minor flub with the guitar intro to "Blackbird"
which went unnoticed, but he noticed it from the expression on
his face.
"Hello
Bostonians, Americans and everybody out there!" he said checking
the crowd reaction.
Throughout the concert, Paul kept looking at his left hand after playing songs as if his fingers were hurting.
Wix said the band had a couple
of days off, and were enjoying the city and enjoying the shopping.
He wished Boston a Happy 375th Birthday!
On "I've Got A Feeling" Macca showed some reserve by
not singing the higher notes in an effort to conserve his voice.
He said, "Let's
have a cheer for John, George and Linda! Our departed loved ones." There was a huge crowd reaction.
Paul did an abbreviated, "Baby Face" right before "Hey Jude."
During the show he paused a few times to pull up his jeans doing so in a sexy manner knowing the women were watching.
Towards the
end of the show a fan threw a small Boston Red Sox beanie bear
to Paul. Macca held it like a puppet and did a ventriloquist act.
He asked the bear "Did you have a good time?" and it
(he) answered "Yes" in a very funny high pitched voice.
Paul commented, "It's
real to me!" as to why he kept talking to it. He sat the bear
down and said, "Be good!"
At the end
of the show he picked up the bear again and waved it's arm "bye-bye"
to the crowd. Then he spoke as the bear saying he was a Red Sox
bear which brought loud cheers from the Boston audience.
Brian Ray said in his talk that Boston was the home of the World Champion Boston Red Sox and of course the crowd went wild.
Someone threw a New England Patriots baseball hat to Paul at the end of the "Live and Let Die" but he didn't put it on.
At the encore Paul leaned over the stage to accept flowers from several people. When the band was taking their bows Paul held a bouquet of flowers between his thighs under his crotch while he held hands with the band to bow. The entire band did the silly "side-step shuffle" (described in the Miami report ) before they left the stage.
For the second encore, Paul emerged carrying an American flag, Abe had the Massachusetts State flag and Wix had the tiny Union Jack. Brian and Rusty carried small red "golf" towels. Brian held two fingers up to his head like a bull with his head down while Rusty waved the red towel in front of him. Paul wore the "no more land mines" red T-shirt with the writing in white script.
At the show's end, a fan threw the "Yesterday and Today" vinyl album jacket onstage and Paul motioned that he would sign it, but the fan didn't have a pen! Paul high-fived a woman in the lodge right near the stage.
Spotted in the audience:
Aerosmith bass player Tom Hamilton with his 3 kids. Tom also plays the Hofner. Greg Dickinson, a reporter from the New England Sports Network (NESN) who had a great time singing and head banging all night.
Signs in the audience:
There was a fan up in front
who had many signs and would change them in quick succession to
get Macca's attention. At the encore he held up a Ram album which
caught Paul's eye. Paul mouthed "I love that" and went
over to show Rusty pointing to the album and saying "RAM."
"Chaos in Row Five" (got a Macca thumbs up Congrats
to Marilyn Blake), "Thanks for a Beautiful Night" (Congrats
to Patty Martucci who got two thumbs up with Macca blowing her
a kiss!)
Several "Follow Me" signs shown at the appropriate time. Paul thanked all sign holders.
"The Long And Winding Road led US to your Tour" held by a group of fans who Paul acknowledged.
"Named My Son Paul,"
a sign with the 4-year-old's photo on it holding a Paul Sgt. Pepper
doll shown on the screen.
Two guys held up the vinyl single of "Spies Like Us."
Paul looked at it and said with a smile, "No, I'm not doing
that one.
Paul's Lexus SUV arrived around
5:40 pm with a crowd of about 100 fans waiting. Macca's car moved
past the fans quickly as he waved. 
John Hammel was with Paul. Paul's video
crew was outside interviewing people for a possible DVD of the
tour.
The Macca Camera Nazis strike again:
Cameras were being taken from people caught shooting during this show. If you had a digital camera, security requested you hand over the digital card or you would be ejected from the show. Security walked around with headphones getting info from 'spotters' throughout the venue searching the crowd for cameras. There was less concern about camera phones.
On the first night, there were signs posted by the venue that point and shoot cameras were OK to use. As it turned out they weren't and Paul's security ejected people with cameras near the stage who refused to give them up because of the venue's camera policy.
Tour sponsor Lexus threw a pre-concert party in a tent in front of the venue where the McCartney Signature Lexus was on display. The invitation only event had an open bar, catered food and VIP tickets to the concert. Each person who attended received a 'goody bag' (with Paul's tour logo on it) containing a "Chaos" CD (one disc version), a card with info about the Paul McCartney signature RX400 (hybrid) SUV and an exclusive pack of 12 note cards which featured four different Macca paintings. There were several goody bags left behind on seats at the concert.
The show started around 8:15. Paul wore the same stage clothes as the night before except he wore black jeans and a jacket with black lapels. His voice was raspy through much of the first half of the show, and he seemed to have difficulty achieving the higher notes of "Jenny Wren."
By the second half of the show, his vocals were stronger though he opted not sing the higher notes on "I've Got A Feeling." There was less stage banter tonight with Paul sticking more to the scripted dialog.
The "Foxy Lady" ending was added on the end of "Let Me Roll It" and the "Baby Face" fake-out song was sung in brief before "Hey Jude."
As Paul removed his jacket, Rusty played "The Stripper!"
A
man yelled out, "I LOVE YOU, PAUL!" To which Paul replied
in a mocking voice, "I love you too!"
After Paul sang "Fine Line," he turned to the audience and said "That song was called 'Fine Line' and it's on my new album, 'Chaos and Creation in the Back YAHHD,'" doing his best to imitate a Boston accent!
Paul asked the audience for a big cheer for "departed love ones," John, George, and Linda. He looked almost tearful by the time he mentioned Linda's name.
Abe mentioned he was from Boston and pointed down saying, "Born here!" Then he pointed to the top of the bass drum and said, "Conceived here!" Paul looked at him and shook his hand in an "Oh, No." gesture.
Paul announced Wix after "Eleanor Rigby" and said that what Wix does during the show is very complicated. Wix said "I'm playing things with my feet and everything" and he played a few notes from "Eleanor Rigby." Then he picked up a guitar and joked that he still hasn't figured out which notes on the guitar are the black ones and which are the white ones.
Paul did not mess up on "I Willl" and after the song said, "I did it! I did it!"
A fan had a sign that said
"I Can Die Happy Now" which Paul saw. Macca shook his
finger in a "No, no" gesture at the sign holder and
then pointed at his watch as if to say, "Now is not the time."
Another fan had a sign listing all the dates he or she has seen
Paul. Macca started to read them and then stopped saying, "Too
much!"
There was a piano flub on "Let It Be" and Paul rolled his eyes as he looked at Abe who must have heard it.
When Paul was getting ready to start "Please Please Me" the wireless unit on the Hofner wasn't transmitting to the amp. So John Hammel ran out to try and fix the unit on Paul's strap. When that didn't work another tech brought out a cord to plug the bass into the amp and by-pass the wireless set-up. Paul joked about it and said, "All we had to do was plug it in!"
Near the end of the show Paul looked at his finger like it hurt and gave it a closer look.
Paul signed three items at the stage, one was a "McCartney" album (Congrats to David Cornelio), and two signs. He lingered on the stage longer than usual and walked off with many bouquets of flowers.
Signs in the audience: "You've Pleased Pleased Us," "We're Really Rockin' in Boston Again!" (Congrats to podgiethemonkey for getting it autographed) Podgie's story: "Paul came off the stage. Since I knew he would walk past me, I brought an original album cover (Something New). As I was handing it to him, he said, "No..No...The Sign!...Give me your Sign!!!"...and he signed it for me!"
Jorie Gracen