FAREWELL TO CANDLESTICK PARK AUGUST 14, 2014


September 7, 2014 -- Macca Report EXCLUSIVE!!!
by Jorie B. Gracen and Sandy Lopez,
Macca Reporters

Farewell to Candlestick Park - Macca Report Review


PHOTO:
© 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

August 14, 2014 - Candlestick Park - San Francisco, CA

SOUND CHECK SETLIST

1. Matchbox
2. Blue Suede Shoes
3. Honey Don't
4. Junior's Farm
5. Drive My Car
6. Let 'Em In
7. C Moon
8. It's So Easy
9. San Francisco Bay Blues
10. Every Night
11. Leaning On A Lamp Post
12. Midnight Special
13. Bluebird
14. Lady Madonna


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

THE SOUND CHECK

Prior to the sound check around 2:50 pm, the 150 VIP ticket holders were ushered into a large private dinning area inside Candlestick where hot veggie hors d'oeuvres were served by waiters with food trays. There were cheeses, crackers and fresh veggies for dipping on buffet tables and a well stocked open bar. Inside the room was an "Out There" backdrop to take photos in front of.

We were told that Paul was expected early, around 4:00 pm because Candlestick opened their gates to the public at 5:30 pm. He had to finish the sound check before that time.

At 3:10 pm there was an announcement that Paul was coming earlier than expected and we were quickly escorted outside to wait for him. We got set up about 60 rows back from the stage. Paul showed up around 15 minutes later.

Paul arrived on stage at 3:32 pm, greeted the band and waved to us. Things got started quickly.

MATCHBOX ­ After singing the line, "I'm a lone poor boy, a long way from home," Paul shouted, "THAT'S TRUE!!!"

Paul addressed the enthusiastic cheering crowd with, "Thank you, small but vociferous group!"

BLUE SUEDE SHOES ­ Paul ripped into this classic Carl Perkins' song.
 
HONEY DON'T ­ Another Carl Perkins' song done Macca-style!

After "Honey Don't," John Hammel (Paul's assistant) brought out the Hofner. Paul took the Hofner and the audience responded with loud cheers.

Paul eyes a Sounchecker's sign that says, "When is the Hofner Bass meet & greet?" He jokes, "Welcome to the Hofner bass meet and greet! The Hofner bass will be meeting other Hofner basses in approximately a year's time. We're fixing it up. It's going on tour!" (Congrats to
Macca Reporter, Ron Lavallee!)
 
JUNIOR'S FARM ­ A high energy rocker had everyone dancing and singing along. Hope this song makes it back into the setlist.
 
Next is a brief jam with Abe banging a Latin beat on a cowbell to test out the sound.
 
DRIVE MY CAR ­ Nice to hear this one though no Macca 'rockstar pose' during the song. Afterwards the audience cheered.

Paul responded with, "Thank you kindly, on this crazy afternoon."

Abe says, "Gonna try a different snare to see what it sounds like."

A group of Soundcheckers yell loudly, "WE LOVE YOU ABE!"

Abe waves to them.

Paul notices and says, "Thank you, girls and BOYS, oh, yeah."

Paul goes to the grand piano and noodles the "Let 'Em In" chords, and says to the Soundcheckers, "Alright! It's like a little holiday camp. Very nice. Let me take you to the rockin' Calypso Ballroom. HAH! DON'T EVEN GO THERE!" (people giggle)

Paul begins to whistle... though hard to hear what song it might be.

LET 'EM IN ­ A nice rendition of the song complete with graphics on the screen.
 
C MOON
­ Paul begins the song, but stops abruptly. "One minute, one minute! That's what sound checks are for!"

The guitars are out of tune and need to be tuned, which takes some time. Macca takes that time to noodle on dissonant piano keys to make the piano sound out of tune. He tells keyboard tech Phil at the sound board to "fix them". Then he plays an arpeggio, exclaiming "PERFECT!" The piano is tuned and lovingly taken care of by Phil!" Paul continues noodling and restarts the song. He gives Wix a shout out with "Mr. Paul Wickens!" during Wix's keyboard solo.

Paul reads a sign held up by one of the Soundcheckers. "'Chicago nurses rock'? Oh, yeah, oh yeah, that is true." (Congrats to Toni Johnson!)

IT'S SO EASY ­ Back on acoustic guitar, Paul sings with a Buddy Holly style hiccup! He substitutes the lyric, "It's so squeezy" for "It's so easy" during the latter part of the song.

Macca announces, "The fine Ms. Shelley Lazar (VIP Ticket Maven) returns to her home place, San Francisco!" Shelley is there and waves to Paul.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY BLUES ­ During the song's instrumental, Paul leaps in the air and lands with a dance shuffle. Throughout song Shelley dances in the aisle in front of Soundcheckers.

Paul acknowledges Shelly in the final verse of the song with, "when I met Shell." After the song he laughs as he tells Shelley, "You're exhausted, now, Shelley!"

Then he tells us, "Shelley does more in that number than we (the band) do. Good workout, though, yeah! Okay!"

EVERY NIGHT ­ Paul strums the first chord of "Every Night" but stops cold. "Whoops, hang on, hang on! Alright, get the chord right!" he chides aloud to himself. He restarts the song and rejoices at playing the right chord with, "That's IT!"

LEANING ON A LAMP POST ­ Out comes the ukulele. No "Ram On" this time. After the song Paul shouts to his soundman Paul Boothroyd at the soundboard platform, "Enough ukulele, Pab?"

Pab nods and Macca agrees with, "More than enough!" 

Paul tells the Soundcheckers, "That's a song by George Formby." He asks, "Ever heard of George Formby?" (people yell, "Yeah!")

"Give it up for George!" (loud crowd cheers)

Paul whistles again this time with about six ascending notes that are not from any known song. Maybe a new song is brewing.
 
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL ­ Paul introduces the song with, "This is a song about a train that ran past a jailhouse and legend has it that if the light from the train shone on you, you would released.
(He sings) "from that jailhouse!"


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

BLUEBIRD ­ After the song, Paul takes a drink from a Fuji bottle with a concoction of water (?) mixed with what looks like orange juice and says, "Cheers!" Before taking another swig, he jokes, "It's only a Margarita!" Then, feigning drunkenness, he slurs, "Show me the way to go home," which evokes giggles from the audience.

Macca quickly heads to the 'Magic Piano' while The crowd attempts to finish singing "Bluebird," but they are drowned out by Paul's opening piano chords' to his "mass-sage music".

LADY MADONNA ­ Paul tells the crowd, "It's time for your mass-sage" and proceeds to sing drawn-out "whoo's" and "yeah, yeahs' over the dreamy piano chords. He ends the intro by emitting a hearty, suspiciously belch-like yawn, before stomping into "Lady Madonna".

He ends the song, and heads over the center microphone.

"Thank you Soundcheckers! I do believe we're finished with sound check.

"Pablo, have you got enough of everything?

"Soundcheckers, have YOU got enough of everything?"

He is answered by very loud "NO's!!!"

Paul retorts, "I'm afraid that's just TOO BAD!

"Very nice having you here. Thanks for coming along." (crowd cheers)

"We'll see you later. I believe there's a few more people gonna come and join us. See you later for the bit of fun in the sun!"

The sound check ended at 4:38 pm for the Soundcheckers who were escorted back to the dinning area. A veggie hot food buffet was waiting.

The concert was scheduled to start at 8 pm. The gates opened early for the public at 5:00 pm and long lines began to form at all the merchandise stands, of which there were few. A limited edition Candlestick bookmark was given away at the gates to people coming in. It said, "Last Pick At the Stick - Paul McCartney - Farewell To Candlestick Park - San Francisco - August 14, 2014". The backside said, "I WAS THERE!" Those were gone in less than an hour!!!

CONCERT SETLIST

1. Eight Days A Week
2. Save Us
3. All My Loving
4. Listen To What The Man Said
5. Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady Coda
6. Paperback Writer
7. My Valentine
8. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
9. The Long And Winding Road
10. Maybe I'm Amazed
11. I've Just Seen A Face
12. San Francisco Bay Blues
13. We Can Work It Out
14. Another Day
15. And I Love Her
16. Blackbird
17. Here Today
18. New
19. Queenie Eye
20. Lady Madonna
21. All Together Now
22. Lovely Rita (Video2)
23. Everybody Out There
24. Eleanor Rigby
25. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
26. Something
27. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
28. Band On The Run
29. Back In The U.S.S.R.
30. Let It Be
31. Live And Let Die (Video2)
32. Hey Jude

ENCORE ONE
33. Day Tripper
34. Hi, Hi, Hi
35. I Saw Her Standing There

ENCORE TWO
36. Yesterday
37. Long Tall Sally (Video2)
38. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End


PHOTO:
© 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

THE CONCERT

The pre-show DJ played mixes that included songs from The Beatles 1966 concert tour. When he finished, video screens on both sides of the stage, rolled photos and video footage from Paul's life accompanied by music that included studio outtakes, mash-ups and Paul's favorite covers by other artists.

The concert started almost an hour late, due to growing the traffic jam in parking lots. The lots had filled up quickly with people who did not have tickets wanting to tailgate the concert. There was such a demand for tickets, Candlestick was selling standing room only tickets days before the show. Unfortunately, several thousand concertgoers, who did not heed the warning to arrive early, never got in.

For those wondering how the empty seats in the first two rows get filled, it is by upgrade. Macca's people comb the nosebleed sections and find enthusiastic fans to fill those seats. I'm happy to say that some of these people were first generation fans who had grandchildren in tow.

At 8:53 pm Paul McCartney walked out grinning and was greeted by the deafening roar of 50,000. He looked dapper in a long maroon topcoat decorated with floral kimono-print cuffs, buttons and inside jacket liner. Macca's ensemble included: black Acne jeans; a white designer shirt accented with a black collar and cuffs, neatly trimmed with a black panel that ran the length of the shirt; navy blue suspenders (braces) with Union Jack (British) flags and black non-leather Beatles boots.

Paul slowly walked from one side of the stage to the other, as the thunderous applause escalated. That prompted a "YOU are so HOT" gesture from Paul.

It felt and sounded like August 29, 1966. Many who saw The Beatles at Candlestick that year, were present, with their children and grandchildren. Magic was in the air as a youthful 72-year old McCartney sang like he was 24. The 'WOW!!! and AWESOME!!! factor' was off the richter scale as many got their first glimpse of a BEATLE!

Paul launched into "Eight Days A Week" as the standing audience unleased their frenetic energy. There were clench-fist salutes, Beatlemanical screaming and disruptive cell phone selfies, with people turning their backs to the stage. Macca didn't know where to look first, but was visibly amused. The audience was putting on a show for him.

Keeping the energy level sizzling, he unleashed the first song from his "NEW" album, "Save Us". The audience responded with enthusiasm rocking to the beat.

After "Save Us" he addressed the crowd with, "Hey, San Francisco! Welcome to Candlestick Park!" (loud cheers) Then began, "All My Loving."


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

When the song finished Paul said, "Hey, listen, this is such a cool event. I'm just gonna take a minute to drink it all in, OK?"

To the delight of people in front of the stage, Paul strolled, nonchalantly, pausing to peer out into the audience, making eye contact with people who went crazy!

Following "Listen To What The Man Said," Paul removed his jacket to female screams of "MORE!" He retorted, "Am I really taking my clothes off? OK, that's the one and only wardrobe change of the whole evening."

"Let Me Roll It" ended as usual with the "Foxy Lady" coda -- Paul's nod to Jimi Hendrix. Paul and band try unsuccessfully to encourage feedback from the backline of amps by putting their guitars up against the amp speakers much like Hendrix did in the day.

Next comes a guitar change and Paul shows off his vintage 1964 Epiphone Casino guitar featuring the "vibrator bar".

"Thank you! That little bit we stuck on the end there of 'Foxy Lady,' was a tribute to the late, great Jimi Hendrix, and I tell the story..." Paul talks about seeing Jimi Hendrix play the entire Sgt. Pepper album days after its release and jokes about Hendrix asking Clapton to tune his guitar after it goes out of tune from pressing the 'vibrator arm' (Bigsby).

He continues his introduction, "The reason that I got this guitar out is that, this is the one that I played on the original record in the '60's." He begins "Paperback Writer."

When the song is over, Paul heads over to the grand piano and says, "I wrote this next song for my wife, Nancy. (audience cheers)

"She's with us tonight. This one's for you, Nance!"

He sings the love song, as the video for "My Valentine" is projected behind him.

The crowd applauds with enthusiasm and Paul responds with, "Thank you! And thank you to Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp who signed the words in the background!"

Paul makes the 'Wings' sign with his hands and says, "OK! This one is for the Wings fans!" He launches into a blistering version of "Nineteen Hundred And Eight Five."

After "The Long And Winding Road" he addresses the crowd.

"Yeah Alright! OK, thank you. This next one I wrote for Linda." (loud cheers from audience)

Paul's attention during this song is concentrated on Wix who tries his best to get Paul to smile by making silly gestures. It is apparent that this emotional homage to Linda, is difficult for Paul to sing and Wix's antics help him get through it. Wix was successful. Paul cracked a few smiles during the song.

Crowd applauds as Macca returns to center stage and dons his Martin acoustic guitar.

"Thank you! How ya doing? Alright? OK, so I'm sure you know this is gonna be the last gig at Candlestick Park, so we're gonna party it up!"

He begins The Beatles' toe tapper, "I've Just Seen A Face."

The next song is one that is normally played at sound checks, so it was a treat to hear it performed by Paul for 50,000 in the city the song was named after. The audience went wild every time Paul sang "San Francisco Bay." Candlestick is on the Bay. Paul dedicated the song to a 'special lady.'

"Thank you! This is a song that we always do. One of the ladies on our tour here - she's the one who handles all the tickets - she's brilliant! And Shelley, she's from this town and we always do this one for her, and for you!"

Paul does a 'special' version of the song for Shelley and sings at its end, "Walking with my baby down by the San Francisco Bay, without my Shell..." Shelley Lazar is shown on the video screen dancing to the song and throwing kisses to Paul.

Paul shields his eyes from the spotlight so he can look out into the audience and read the signs.


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

"We've got all these signs people hold up. All these signs. And you know, you're doing the song, and you're trying to remember your chords, and the words, and the melody and everything, trying to concentrate. And your mind says, 'Do NOT read those signs!' And there's another half of your mind that says, 'Yeah, go on read it! It doesn't matter.' So, you do. (looks at signs in the audience) Here's one, 'Have you hugged a disabled vet today?'" 

"No. I must say I haven't ..."

He reads another sign, "'SIGN MY BUTT!!!'"

Paul looks at the sign holder and says, "Come on, let's have a look at it!" (audience laughter)

"Anyway, we love the signs. Thank you for doing them, but if anything goes wrong, I'm blaming YOU!"

After "We Can Work It Out," Paul takes a look around and and acknowledges the audience by sections.

First he points to the right side and asks, "How you doing over on the sides there? You OK?" (loud cheers)

Then he looks at the nosebleed sections at the back of the stadium. "And the people right at the back? You good?" (more loud cheers)

"How about this side? (points to the left side and gets loud cheers)

"And you guys? (points to the center section in front of the stage to loud screams and cheers) OKAY!!!"

Following "Another Day" he says, "Alright, thank you! Yeah! So I suppose you know that the very last gig we ever did with The Beatles was at THIS place. (loud cheering) Yeah!"

"We got so pissed off, we never did it again." (audience laughter)

"Well, anyway, so here we are back again, you know and it's a bit of déjà vu. And great memories. And you know it's sad to see the place closing down, but we're gonna close it down in style!" (more loud cheering)

The next song is "And I Love Her." This one was greeted by screams from the audience. More screaming during Rusty's guitar solo when Paul turns his back to the audience and does a butt wiggle for the ladies.


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

When the song finishes, Paul moves to the very front of the stage to get on the platform and pauses to look at the people in the front row. Women closest to him scream. Paul smiles and refrains from laughing.

He begins the intro to "Blackbird". "Yeah, you know, I always say that way back in the Sixties there were a lot of troubles as you know over civil rights, particularly in the southern States in America. And we used to get the news back in England. I wanted to write a song, that if it ever got back to Arkansas, Little Rock, and the people who were going through those troubles, that it might just give them a little bit of hope." He starts the song.

During the song, the platform slowly rises and the audience waves and tries to get Paul's attention. He sees, but doesn't acknowledge until the song is over.

"Thank you, thank you. Alright, thank you. One of the things that I'm proud of you know, having written that song is, I go around the world and a lot of people come up to me and say, 'Hey, man, you know, I tried to learn 'Blackbird' on guitar when I was a kid.'"

"How many people, here, tried to learn 'Blackbird'? (people raise hands and cheer)

"Paul smiles and says a bit choked up, "How proud does that make me feel? (more cheers)

"And YOU GOT IT ALL WRONG!!!"

Paul gives the audience a mock stern look and noodles on the guitar neck demonstrating someone playing it wrong.

"So I wrote this next song after my dear friend, John, passed away. Let's hear it for JOHN!!! (loud roar and applause from the audience) Paul pauses to let the audience finish and continues.

"I wrote this song, like I say, after he passed away. This is kind of in the form of a conversation that we never got to have."

Paul sings "Here Today," choked up and fighting back tears. About halfway through the song, he regains his composure

The platform lowers and Paul embraces the audience, smiling and looking at the packed stadium cheering for him. He is clearly touched by the outpouring of love.


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

Out comes the 'Magic (psychedelic) Piano'. Paul sits down and says, "Alright gonna lift the mood now. This next one's from our NEW album."

"NEW" went over very well. People in the audience were singing along and dancing.

After the song ended Paul bent over the top of the piano, resting on one elbow and stared intently at audience fluttering his fingers around his mouth like he was thinking. Then he rested his chin on his hand and waited for the reaction. The crowd went wild.

"Okay, thanks. This next song started off when I was a kid. We used to play a street game and the game was... It's too long to explain, but anyway, the chorus of the game goes "Queenie eye, queenie eye, who's got the ball? I haven't got it. It isn't in my pocket. O-U-T spells out!" (people laugh)

"Well, it was the way we used to entertain ourselves, in the street. We didn't have normal written things..." (more laughter from crowd)

"Queenie Eye" went over big with the audience raising their arms and shouting "OUT!" at the appropriate time.

"All Together Got" some giggles from people when they saw the animated graphics on screen behind the band.

Paul noted and said, "OK, that one was for the kids. One of my more serious compositions."(audience laughter)

This next one is off the Sgt. Pepper album." (people cheer)

Paul launches into "Lovely Rita." Fans singalong and 'pant' with Paul.

"Thank you! This next one is called 'Everybody Out There.'"

"Everybody Out There" was unfamiliar to the part-time "wanna see a Beatle" crowd at Candlestick, but they caught on quickly vocalizing the "Who-oh-oh-ohs" in the song.

After the song, Paul led the "Who-oh-oh-oh" a cappella singalong and the audience was more than happy to participate.

Paul was pleased.


PHOTO:
© 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

"Thank you, good people of San Francisco!" he said to resounding cheers.

Now it was time to take a census. "Hey, how many people here are FROM San Francisco?" (loud cheers)

"And how many people are NOT from San Francisco?" (louder cheers)

"Welcome, all of you people who are not from San Francisco." (raucous cheers)

After "Eleanor Rigby," Paul referred to the last Beatles' concert at Candlestick "... and so when we finished touring on that fateful night in, uh, whenever it was. Sometime in the (slurs the decade on purpose) nineteen-sixties, we went off and we started making an album, which is the Sgt. Pepper album. This next song is from it."


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

The audience loved the light show during "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!" And even though there was no ceiling, the projected laser beams did manage to work and create a dazzling light show above the audience.

Paul explained how the song came about. "That was one of those songs, that, I used to go 'round to John's house. We'd have some writing sessions and he had this poster up on his wall and it said, 'For the benefit of Mr. Kite, Henry the Horse, Pablo Fanques' fair...' It was all there on the poster. So we just kind of wrote this poster down!" (audience laughter)

"Okay, I don't' know if you know, I THINK you do, that George Harrison was a great ukulele player. Let's hear it for George! (cheering) Yeah, he really loved the ukulele, and I was 'round his house one day, and we were jamming around, playing songs, and I said, 'I've written,' NOT written... (corrects himself) 'I've LEARNED one of your songs on the ukulele'. So he said, 'You're kidding!'"

"So anyway we're sitting there, jamming. So we played it together and we'd like to play it for you now."

Paul, begins "Something" on the ukulele and it morphs into the wonderful electric guitar version.

"Thank you! Thank you, George, for writing such a beautiful song! (cheers)


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

Macca's intro to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" lets the audience know there's another a cappella singalong coming.

"OK now, we've got a song we want you to singalong with. There is a bit in the middle of this song where I'll go, 'Now, YOU!' and you will sing, most gloriously. OK, let's see."

The audience did sing gloriously.

Paul gets a surprise during the chorus of "Band On The Run" when 28 Macca fans in the third row simultaneously hold up signs that say, "LOVE (heart) YOU PAUL," Beatlefan's Rick Glover's brainchild. Rick held up his famous "FANS ON THE RUN" banner as well.

Paul acknowledged the third row fans by singing "fans on the run" at the end of the song and pointing to all the sign holders.

"Back In The U.S.S.R." was next and Paul talked about his Russian experience after the song. "At the shows I tell the story..."(He continues with familiar Red Square story talking with a Russian accent...)

During "Let It Be" thousands of people turned on their smart phone lights. It was quite spectacular. Paul was clearly impressed."Thank you for the lights! Let It Be!"

For "Live And Let Die," extra fireworks were used on stage during the song and even more at the very end of the show behind the stage! Paul mocked the audience's reaction by covering his ears, then sticking his fingers in his ears and pointing at people while shaking his head and pretending to have a heart-attack.


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

The cellphone lights came out again for "Hey Jude."

Paul did his usual singalong asking, "This time just the guys. Just the fellas!" Paul encouraged them with a fake spit and a knee slap.

"Hey guys, one more time. Just the boys!" They got a Paul muscleman pose.

"Now I want to hear the women! Just the girls!"

Paul gestured with a feminine pose, swaying his hips and complimented the women with, "I love that sound. One more time ladies!"

Paul made an outline of a woman's shape with his hands.

"Now EVERYBODY all together!" The entire audience sang along with thousands being shown on the screens behind Paul.

At the song's end, Paul and the band, gathered at center stage, joined hands, bowed and crossed their legs at the same time. Macca waved and blew kisses to people before he left the stage.


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

They came back out for the encore waving flags. Paul had the American flag. Brian had the California State Flag. Wix had the Union Jack flag and Abe had a tiny Pirate flag!

Paul strapped on the Hofner, looked at the audience and asked, "MORE?" (cheers of "YEAH!!!")

"Oh, yeah, It's a party at Candlestick!"

A tireless Macca bounced into "Day Tripper," with the audience feeding off his energy.

"Wanna keep goin'? (screams of "YEAH!") "Let's get high on life with WINGS!"

"Hi, Hi, Hi" another blast from the past that identified that funny pungent smell permeating the air throughout the night.

"You're a fantastic audience and beautiful. Thank you!" said Paul before he launched into a blistering version of "I Saw Her Standing There."

After the song, Paul raised up his iconic bass and did a little dance swaying his hips. He was joined by the band. They all clasped hands holding them in the air as they kicked out their left leg, bowed and jumped back at the same time. Paul waved and pointed to people as he walked across the stage before exiting.


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

Just Paul on stage with Wix for this next song. All was silent as Paul began the opening chords to his most famous song "Yesterday." Slowly people began to singalong. No encouragement needed.

When it was over Paul bowed and carried the Epiphone Texan acoustic guitar (played on the Ed Sullivan Show) across his shoulder and was met by John Hammel who took the acoustic and handed Paul the Hofner. They had a mock conversation with Hammel giving Paul a 'thumbs up.'

Paul lets the audience in the conversation. "He (Hammel) tells me you wanna keep on rockin'!" (loud cheers of "YEAH!") 

"OK, I'll tell you what we do. We'll do the last song the Beatles ever did on Candlestick! With that announcement Candlestick erupted!

Paul belted out this rocker, taking no prisoners. He sang "Long Tall Sally" in its original key with Wix banging on the keyboards in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis. Behind Paul the giant screen flashed a montage of never before seen black & white photographs of The Beatles taken at Candlestick Park by famed photographer Jim Marshall. The song ended with a graphic that said "Farewell Candlestick 1966 - 2014" which brought the house down.


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

Paul raised the Hofner in a salute to his fans before he headed to the grand piano.

"Listen guys! Its been a great evening for us and you've been a fantastic audience. Thanks so much for being so cool!

"But there does come a time when we've got to go home. (audience boos)

"Yeah, it's just about the same time as, you've gotta go home. (louder boos)

"Well, listen, you know, to bring you a big show like this at a place called Candlestick, we've got some fantastic people here working along side of us. We've got Pablo on the sound there. We got Wally on the lights. We got Marcy and the team... We got all our the guys here. We got the guys who do the guitars, the keyboards, the drums. The riggers, the truckers. You name it.

"Let's hear it for the best crew on the planet! Yeah, they are the best. They're family. (loud cheers from the audience)

"And I want to thank this fantastic band of mine! (more cheers)

"As we always say, most of all, we want to thank YOU! (thunderous ovation)
 
"You guys, thank you so much for coming along and sharing the evening with us and saying goodbye to the Stick with us. We love ya!"

So, Paul began the last song of the night and the last song to be performed at Candlestick Park.

"Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End," was an appropriate and bittersweet ending with "The End" taking on new meaning for the 54-year-old park.

Paul screamed, "Oh YEAH! Alright! Are you going to be in my dreams tonight? WELL ARE YA?"

He scurried from the piano down to center stage to join the power-riffing guitar jam.

When the jam started Paul pointed to Rusty and Brian when it was their turn to play a riff.

At the song's end, Paul took off his Les Paul guitar, balanced it precariously on its bottom and casually let it go just as Hammel grabbed it.


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

Once again, the band gathered and took their final bow at center stage, wiggling their joined arms down to the floor.

As Paul slowly strolled across the stage, he surely was absorbing every last second of his Candlestick farewell concert. It was the same for the fans.

He looked out and waved, making contact with as many faces as possible. And what a sight he must have seen. Everyone at Candlestick was on their feet. The thunderous applause echoed around the stadium.

Paul stopped at center stage, stood at microphone on last time and said, "Hey San Francisco, thank you! And Candlestick, you were cool all along. You were cool tonight. You were cool back then. We love ya! Goodbye, Candlestick Park!" 


PHOTO: © 2014 Jorie B. Gracen

And added, "Hey listen folks. I'll tell you what though, we'll see ya next time!"

Fireworks exploded in the air behind the stage as red, white and blue confetti fell on the seats in front of the stage.

Paul continued to wave to the vociferating crowd, until he left the stage at 11:44 pm. As promised, Candlestick was closed down in style.

PHOTOS AND CONTENT FROM THIS ARTICLE IS COPYRIGHTED © 2014 copyright Jorie B. Gracen




If you think Wings deserves to be nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...


Should WINGS be nominated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? There's a debate amongst Beatles/Paul McCartney fans whether Wings is covered by Paul's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a "solo artist." Does Wings qualify as a band and are they worthy with a string of number one hits during the '70s? Should its band members be recognized for their contributions?

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Jorie Gracen

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