Paul McCartney Rewind Madison Square Garden April 26, 2002

Hard to believe the first time I saw my musical idol was a decade ago.  I was a freshman in college, boy and I getting old!  I remember the tickets went on sale only about two months before the actual show.  This was at the beginning of my concert going career before I used to go to all the shows back to back.  Paul was playing back to back at Madison Square Garden on April 26^th and 27^th, a Friday and Saturday night.  I opted to go to the first show thinking his voice would be better the first night.  He was 59 at the time which seemed ancient to me.  He’s going to be 70 in a few weeks!! 

As the tickets went on sale, I tried to get tickets on Ticketmaster.  I was at college and had a fast internet connection so I scored a really nice seat on the first level off the floor.  Section 89.  I had to use my mother’s credit card because the price was so expensive and spent a month paying her back.  Face value was $250.00, a small fortune a decade ago. 

As the day drew closer it was decided that my father would drive our blue Chevy family car into the city with my mother and younger brother in tow.  I remember paying cash for the tolls, that’s how long ago it was.  What was EZ-Pass?  I was only 18 at the time but still have vivid memories about that evening.  It was a cool night in April in the greatest city on earth.  I left school early and was home around 1pm.  Stopped to get my paycheck and cash it for some money for incidentals (Programs, posters, etc.).  The blue car barreled down I-95 towards the Big Apple without encountering a lot of traffic.  We found our way to J&R Music World.  I enjoyed walking around and finding CD, VHS and DVDs, even LaserDiscs that you would not see in our local music stores.  I bought the “Concert for New York City” on DVD, which Paul played a few songs. 

We made our way over to Madison Square Garden, found a place to park and my family walked around while I was heading in.  This was right after 9/11 so security was tight.  This is the only time I have ever been “wanded” at Madison Square Garden.  It was also my first time visiting the world famous arena.  I remember taking the escalators up a few levels.  I wasn’t too impressed with the shape of the old place.  I remember the ugly purple plastic seats.  They were hard and uncomfortable.  I remember the ushers wearing heavy suits with the frilly things on the shoulders.  I even tipped my usher a buck for showing me to my seat.  I was a big spender back then.  I felt a little hungry so I went a got a pretzel and soda.  That cost me about 8 bucks I think.  In those days I was so naive.  I thought if the ticket said 8pm, the show would start at 8pm.  Little did I know that’s never the case for Paul McCartney shows.

Around 8:40 the pre-show started.  Paul had these clowns and a circus show playing this music that slowly, and I mean slowly, built to his grand appearance.  After about 20 minutes of the circus show, the music got louder and then Paul’s Hofner appeared on the big screen.  It was showtime!  I cheated and looked up the setlist so I knew he would open with Hello, Goodbye.  A great choice and I think his best opener, next to Venus & Mars/Rockshow from the 70’s.

He was in very good voice for most of the show.  He had 2 days off between gigs to rest his voice.  He played Washington DC before coming to NYC.  He nailed Hello Goodbye, except a few minor cracks.  The crowd was very receptive and cheered rather loudly after each song.  The legend had come back to the fold and after nine years on hiatus with touring, Macca was back!

The band seamlessly launched into a rocking up-tempo version of Jet.  His voice effortlessly hit those notes.  Wix (Paul “Wix” Wickens), the keyboardist played Linda’s solo in the middle of the song with one hand while playing the piano part.  Wix is a genus and I was glad that Paul got him back.  After this song, he said “Oh New York, we have come to rock you tonight!”  During All My Loving, they had video from “A Hard Day’s Night” playing on the big screens.  Brian screwed up the solo a little bit, but it was barely noticeable. 

Paul removed his Hofner and put on his lefty ’59 Les Paul (only like 3 were ever made) that was an anniversary gift from Linda one year.  He then told us “we’re going to have a good time tonight.”  He started the story about Getting Better not being done since the 60’s when he recorded it.  What I like about his new band (at the time) is that Rusty really tried hard to replicate the guitar sound on most of the Beatle songs.  His old guitarist Robbie McIntosh, did not.  Paul swapped guitars for the Hofner again and told us we’re going to “boogie woogie” and started Coming Up.  This does not sound like the recorded version, it sounds like a mix between a new arrangement and Wix’s old keyboard part when it was done on the 89-90 World Tour.  This version does make the cut on the official live album from this tour, Back in the US.  Four songs from my show made it on the CD. 

Paul slung the Les Paul on to play Let Me Roll It.  He even has a little guitar solo in the middle.  After this song, he took his jacket off and the crowd went crazy.  He said “it’s getting hot in here.”  He informed us that the next few songs were new songs.  Lonely Road, Driving Rain and Your Loving Flame are all from the new (at the time) album Driving Rain.  This is not a particularly good album, but it did what all his fans wanted, it got Macca back out on the road.  There were some bum notes during Lonely Road.  He should have saved his voice for better songs.  I liked Driving Rain and enjoyed the live version.  There is a nice 12-string on that song played by Brian Ray.  Paul introduced Abe, the drummer.  Abe did his bit and introduced the next song while Paul took his place at the Steinway.  Paul did not mention her by name, but said this song was written for a very special person in the audience (Heather).  This song also made it to the live CD. 

Now came the acoustic part of the show.  Paul tells the story of writing Blackbird about a Black woman in the 1960’s American south.  Next up is one of my all time favorites, Every Night from the McCartney album in 1970.  His voice effortlessly hit the high part.  We Can Work it Out was next and I must admit that I called our answering machine at home during this song just so I could have some of the concert recorded.  This was back in the days before YouTube and Twitter.  Now a days, everything is up on YouTube ten minutes after it happens.  The next couple songs are worthless and the banter doesn’t change much from show to show.  Mother Nature’s Son is a weird choice since he couldn’t sing it most nights.  Vanilla Sky is another miss.  You Never Me Your Money is a weird choice, but actually works nicely slowly and solo on the piano.  The bit about forgetting the words is cute, but pointless since he started using a TelePrompter during this tour.  Fool on the Hill is a missed song, wish it would come back to the set.  It sounds nice with just Wix on fake keyboard flute.  I would have liked the tambourine.  But hand claps from the audience filled in nicely.  Paul told us we were a “wonderful audience.” 

Paul then introduced Here Today for John.  He played it solo and there were no photos of John, just a stream of colored water.  Then came Something which Paul played on the ukulele and there were funny photos of George playing in the background. 

The band came back on stage and took their places for Eleanor Rigby.  Up next is one my favorite songs, Here, There and Everywhere.  The arrangement sounds like the record.  After this, Paul traded in his Martin acoustic for the Hofter again and started a rocking second set.

First up was Band on the Run.  I was so happy to see that Brian played a 12-string on the last part, just like the recording.  In previous tours, it was played on electric guitar.  This little detail added another faithful reproduction of the original sound.  Red lights washed the stage and the airplane noise filled the world famous arena.  Paul sang an up-tempo version of Back in the USSR.  Paul then introduced Rusty who did his little banter bit then threw it back over to Paul.  Paul sang the opening line of Maybe I’m Amazed.  This song was challenging for him even ten years ago.  He almost screams during some parts just to hit the notes.  Up next is another great forgotten song, C Moon.  It’s just so silly and fun to listen to.  Abe added a cool hi-hat part to this song.  I never really liked the recorded version, but thoroughly enjoy the live version from this tour.  C Moon was quickly dropped for the second leg and replaced with Let Em In, another great song from the Wings days.  After he finished the song, Paul explained how he got the C Moon from the old song Wooly Bully and L-7 meaning square, how hip!  Up next was My Love, and I think this is the first time he actually dedicated it to Linda on this tour.  He also dedicated it to all the lovers in the house.  Paul actually introduced Wix with his real first name “Paul Wix Wickens.”  Wix said that the people in creative accounting told him this show was his 200^th show playing with Paul.  Wix pulled on his guitar and toasted himself with a glass of Champaign.  He said he would try to play the right chords tonight and they launched into Can’t Buy Me Love.  Paul switched guitars and sang that intolerable song Freedom.  Looking back on this tour, songs like this make it sound so dated.  Paul finally introduced Brian Ray before they Paul started Live and Let Die.  The bangs were quite impressive but so incredibly loud.  I covered my ears just to be safe, and I’m glad I did.  After the smoke cleared, Paul started a serene Let It Be.  Rusty played a great guitar solo, it sounded just like George’s on the album. 

Hey Jude from NYC made it onto the live album too.  This is always a great participation song.  He played it on his psychedelic piano in the front of the stage.  After wrapping up Hey Jude, the band did their bows and left the stage.  The audience clapped for what seemed like minutes, while Paul changed his shirt into a red “No More Landmines” shirt in support of his girlfriend’s charity.  I used to think that if I clapped loud, the band would come back.  But I know that Paul’s encores are planned and he will play them no matter what, so now I save my hands. 

Next up was the ever lovely Long & Winding Road.  Next, to keep rocking, Paul started Lady Madonna, which was also on the live CD.  The sax solo was very realistic.  Wix really is good at emulating those instruments from the records.  Paul effortless sang the first track off the first Beatles album, I Saw Her Standing There. 

There was another fake encore pause break.  Paul came back and sang Yesterday with his Epiphone acoustic with the Detroit Wings sticker on it.  This is the same guitar he used to sing that song on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1965.  You could hear the audience singing along, in key I might add.  Paul thanked his crew and the audience and after an extended Sgt. Peppers jam that flowed right into The End from Abbey Road the show was over and the audience was showered with confetti shot from two huge confetti guns from each side of the stage.  Thanks Paul for a great show!  You’re right, I’ll see you next time!

Hello, Goodbye

Jet

All My Loving

Getting Better

Coming Up

Let Me Roll It

Lonely Road

Driving Rain

Your Loving Flame

Blackbird

Every Night

We Can Work it Out

Mother Nature’s Son

Vanilla Sky

You Never Give Me Your Money

Fool on the Hill

Here Today

Something

Eleanor Rigby

Here, There & Everywhere

Band on the Run

Back in the USSR

Maybe I’m Amazed

C Moon

My Love

Can’t Buy Me Love

Freedom

Live & Let Die

Let It Be

Hey Jude

The Long & Winding Road

Lady Madonna

I Saw Her Standing There

Yesterday

Sgt. Peppers/The End

Greg Ham RIP

There goes any hopes of a Men at Work reunion, even thought I don't think Colin Hay would have gone for that anyway.  Greg Ham the eccentric flute and sax player from the band from down under had died.  Most recently, a publishing company has sued the band saying that the famous flute riff from Down Under was stolen from an old Australian folk song.  Colin mentioned this at his last concert, but then played the song sans the riff.  News reports say he was very upset and felt personally to blame about the plagiarism of the riff.  I have listened to both and don't think they sound the same, it's sort of like George Harrison's My Sweet Lord debacle.  I'm going to see Colin Hay in a two weeks, he has written some nice things about his former band mate.  Men at Work unfortunately didn't have the staying power, but 35 years on, their songs are still great to listen to. 

The Shape I'm In...Levon Helm RIP

This is ridiculous, 2 death blog posts in one day?!?!?!  Levon Helm, we loved you and your raged voice and unique style of drumming. You were in the first All-Starr band with Ringo, now Clarence has someone to keep the beat up there with him.  Clarence was also in the first band.  It's hard to believe that there are only 2 members of The Band still around and both of them really don't do anything anymore.  I would check out Levon's latest release, Ramble at the Ryman, a live CD and DVD featuring many Band classics and special guests like Sheryl Crow and John Hyatt.  I saw you in 2008 when you came out for the encore at the Radio City Music Hall show with Ringo and played With A Little Help From My Friends on his drum kit.  He was excited, so was I.  You will be sorely missed Levon, have fun up on cripple creek.

Jimmy Buffett played "The Weight" at his Texas concert last night to honor Levon.  It sounded pretty good if anyone else was listening in on Radio Margaritaville, the band took turns singing the verses.  Good job Peter and Mac.

The Reluctant Vampire!

Jonathan Frid who played Barnabas Collins in the original Dark Shadows series is dead.  There would be hopes from fans that he would rise again to stalk the townspeople of his little hometown in Ontario at night, but we’ll have to wait and see. 

He was also the star of the feature film version of Dark Shadows called House of Dark Shadows, made in 1970 by MGM.  That film, in my mind will always be the only Dark Shadows movie made.  As far as I’m concerned, that ‘thing’ coming out next month called Dark Shadows is not a movie that I will see. 

I saw Jon in the flesh one day at the Dark Shadows festival in 2009.  He was very spry for a man of 85.  I was one of the first people to pick him out as he made a surprise appearance the day before he was to appear.  I even have 2 autographs. 

Having just received the complete series in a little child sized coffin, it will be weird plowing through the 1,225 episodes knowing that he is no longer with us.  He died almost a week after it was announced.  I am saddened but happy that we have all 1,225 episodes of Barnabas bloopers to watch.  There are some doozies in those old video tapes from the 1960’s. 

Thanks Jon for the memories, rest in peace. 

The Boss is the still the King

I think my resistance to the Boss always stemmed from the fact that my aunt loved him so much.  When it was announced that he was going to tour his new album (his first tour without the Big Man), I told my aunt and she had me get tickets.  I had the momentous task of trying to get 4 tickets together for the on-sale day at Madison Square Garden for Bruce Springsteen!  My fellow bloggers know of my love/hate, mostly hate relationship with Ticketmaster™ (not quite the master of tickets they lead you into believing).  So I was patiently and pensively waiting online at 10 o’clock in the morning.  I was refreshing the page, trying to beat out the other 100,000 people trying to buy tickets; mostly to resell on the black market by the way.  I had another person at work also trying to get tickets, so I had a backup plan in place.  I was shocked that I found four really good tickets from Ticketmaster, so I snatched them up with hesitation. 

Fast forward a few months to April 6^th.  I took a half day from work and was kind of excited to see the show that evening.  It was going to be my usual concert accomplice, my aunt, and a lawyer from my Uncle’s office and her fiancé, we’ll call them Alison and Frank.  My uncle e-mailed us and said he would pick us up at my place at 1:43, he was 2 minutes late--very unlike him.  We still had plenty of time to catch the 2:11 train.  It was a little chilly that day, but in the sun it wasn’t bad.  The train was filling up fast and by the time we were in Fairfield, it was pretty packed, I didn’t know how we would fit the Stamford people on the train. 

After the train pulled in, we met Alison and Frank at the clock and we were on our way to meet one of my uncle’s friends Andrew who works on the Today Show.  Andrew found a really good burger joint called 5 Napkin Burger (although they only give you one napkin).  We could only get 4:30 reservations, so an early dinner it was.  We sat down and perused the menu and waited for Andrew at the appointed time.  Andrew showed up and we talked and ate, and had a milkshake and ate some more.  I got the bacon cheeseburger, sans bun.  It was so juicy and the beef was so flavorful.  This was no frozen cow!  It tasted like an mixture of cuts of beef and played a symphony with my taste buds.  I had steamed broccoli with way too much garlic as my side.  Our waitress was a little crazy, but harmless.  My aunt actually finished all the food on her plate (she rarely ever does this) so I know I wasn’t the only person enjoying my food.  After dinner, it was such a nice night in the greatest city on earth so we decided to hoof it over the many blocks to Madison Square Garden.  The ticket said the doors opened at 6:30 for a 7:30 show.  It was nice to have early dinner reservations and not have to rush to eat then rush to the show.

When we got to the Garden, they were doing construction so there were scaffolds all over the place.  The Borders had closed since the last time I was there to see Elton John last year in March, 2011.  After about twenty minutes of loitering, we parted ways with my uncle and Andrew and we went into The Garden.  They can blog about what kind of trouble they got into while we were at the show, but I’m guessing it involved some really sweet diet breaking desserts if I know my Uncle and his penchant for sweets. 

We made it through security which was a breeze, until I guess Frank looked suspicious and one of the guards decided to ‘randomly’ pat him down.  Frank made a joke about it after.  I can’t pass the merch table without stopping to take a look.  I like to collect posters and one day I will have to build a room to display all the posters I have collected over the past decade and a half of concert going.  I was going to get the guitar pick set, but I figured The Boss already had enough of my money from the poster and shot glass and ticket price. 

With poster in hand, we made our way to the ticket scanners and up the escalators the many levels to our gate.  When I was inside the lobby I noticed a new tile floor and new walls.  When I got into the arena, I noticed they got rid of those awful looking hard plastic purple seats and went with nice dark blue upholstered seats.  I was kind of curious why they did this because I’m pretty sure they were going to tear down the Garden in a few years.  The renovation really gave it a much needed face lift, but left the charm of the greatest venue in the world!  We found our seats and sat down around 7 thinking we only had a half an hour till show time, boy were we mistaken.  The Garden was completely empty.  I thought maybe we read the tickets wrong, but sure enough it said 7:30.  So 7:30 came and went and so did 8:00.  The only artist I know that starts right on the dot is Ringo.  He will come out singing at 8 even if there isn’t a band.  Forty minutes isn’t an excessive amount of time to wait and that’s about how long it was.  You know the concert is about to start when the camera operators get into position at their cameras.  They had 2 impressive HD studio cameras positioned on the floor.  There were at least 2 roaming cameras and a few fixed cameras.  I noticed right before the show started they flashed a test pattern on the big screens, but only for 10 seconds. 

I cheated and looked at the set lists from the previous shows.  I saw that he always starts with We Take Care of Our Own from the new album.  So were we surprised when at 8:20 Frank Sinatra started singing New York, New York as the E Street Band shuffled out on stage one by one.  This was my cue to put my 20db lowering ear plugs in my ears.  The crowd was electric at the mere sight of the band.  Everyone was pensively holding their best applause for when The Boss came out and made his way to the mic.  He yelled “NEW YORK CITY!” and counted off and the band launched into Badlands.  After a very energetic Badlands, they went right into the usual show opener, We Take Care of Our Own.  Bruce played this song to open the Grammys® this year.  The song has a nice beat and the keyboard part is very reminiscent of his older songs.  ‘Stevie’ was called over to help the Boss at the end of song with the vocal.  Without missing a beat, Max started Wrecking Ball.  The references to the ‘swamps of Jersey’ got quite a response from the sold out crowd.  The last time I saw the Boss (at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert at MSG in 2009) his voice was harsh and rough.  I am glad I was there to see a show with the Big Man.  Tonight except for a few times, his voice was in excellent condition.  The horn section was well arranged and The Big Man’s nephew did an admiral job of stepping into his Uncle’s shoes.  At the end of Wrecking Ball, Bruce switched guitars and counted off the next song.  They launched into Out in the Street.  For about an hour there was no break, they went from one song to the next.

This setlist drew heavily from the new album.  Death to My Hometown is a Celtic infused ditty complete with a fake bagpipe part mimicked by a trumpet and flute.  The horns launched into the intro for My City of Ruins, which gave Bruce the chance to bring it down a bit and talk to the crowd with a “good evening New York.”  He casually mentioned members of the E Street Band that weren’t there tonight.  This was the first lull in the evening where there was a break between songs.

Max started his drum beat for MURDER INCORPORATED.  During this song, Bruce did one of his a-tonal guitar solos where he was pretty close to the correct key, but just off enough.  He is quite a shredder and can fake it quite well.  Bruce and Steve were trading licks while Max played like a metronome keeping a steady beat.  Although I didn’t know most of the songs, they have good melody lines and since you can tell all the members are having a ball it makes you fell good.  During Johnny 99 Roy (the Professor) played one hell of a piano solo which was followed by a weird violin solo. 

The lights were brought all the way down and he introduced the next song which was the first real political song.  Jack of All Trades was excruciatingly slow and a typical “beer break/bathroom” song.  The lyrics were forced and the message is too upfront hitting you over the head.  I could have done without this song.  About an hour into the show Bruce was getting a bit horse.  The energy was still there though, so I forgive him.  He did a new bright pop sounding song from the new album called Shackled & Drawn. 

Lions Den was next.  I was reading an article where Nils was defending their use of teleprompters when he said they have played over 150 different songs on this tour and there is no way to remember all the words.  I like when artists aren’t afraid to change things up, it seems like each show he will play different songs.  A couple times Bruce yelled out song titles and by doing this, I’m sure they weren’t on the setlist or at least not in that order.  He yelled out Easy Money which was vocally challenging for him, then he made the mistake of calling his wife over to sing him and she was so off key it was actually painful.  The little girl he called up for the next song sang better and she was extremely flat.  Sorry Patty. 

Up next is one of my favorite songs which I thought was older than it actually is, I thought it was from his hey-day, but actually from 2002.  Waiting on the Sunny Day was very energetic.  You could tell he was a little out of breath from running around because he had a hard nailing the pitch for most of this song.  He pulled a six year old girl from the pit and let her sing during the breakdown.  I don’t know if he was tired and needed someone to cover or if this is something he always does. 

Bruce got a harmonica and belted out the easily recognizable opening to The Promised Land.  After this he did the Apollo medley of Motown hits with a lot of talking in between.  After the rousing medley, Bruce sang his highly controversial song American Skin about a police shooting.  I think the NYC police boycotted this song at one time.  Another wonderfully a-tonal guitar solo by the Boss.  The show’s set list was heavily drawn from his 2002 critically acclaimed album The Rising.  The next two songs Lonesome Day and the title track were enjoyable. 

We Are Alive was a strange song, it had a bit in there that sounded a lot like he borrowed the trumpet line from Ring of Fire.  I could have also done without this song.

It was worth the wait because the Boss had a few more hits up his sleeve.  He had a masterful way of building to the crescendo of hits.  Bruce played a really bad bum note on the harmonica right before he started to sing the next song.  After a thunderous rendition of Thunder Road, the band left the stage at which time it was the audience’s turn to clap for three minutes while they hosed down The Boss and got him ready for the encores.

The Boss went rouge and did a new song to open his encores.  He dedicated this song to the “kid” aka his mother.  This song is about his mother teaching him about hard work.  At this point Bruce mentioned that his family was in the show, including his mother.  There was a ‘rap’ breakdown during this gospel infused song sung by Michelle Moore. 

Up next was an old song that went on way to long and didn’t seem like an encore song.  Kitty’s Back was a ridiculous choice for an encore.  Sitting through that song was worth it for the last three songs The Boss sang.  They were the heavy hitters of the show.  Born to Run was its usual arrangement full of vim and vigor from the band leader and songwriter.  During Dancing in the Dark, there were these two guys in our section who were in their late twenties that came dressed like the Born in the USA album cover complete with the bandana in the back pocket.  During this song they were dancing and having a fun time.  Halfway through the song during the part where Courtney Cox would be dancing with Bruce, he pulled his mother who is pushing 90 up on stage to join him.  Now I know where the Boss got his moves, that granny can dance!  Bruce even said “shake the booty Grandma!”  The fact that stage hands had to bodily lift her over the barrier made me think it was not planned like it was the week before in Pennsylvania when they did it.  There was an extended sax solo by Jake while mother and son danced the night away. 

The Professor started the piano riff to Tenth Ave Freeze Out.  I was wondering where the big Clarence tribute was going to be and being a casual fan, I know there is mention of him in this song about the Big Man joining the bad.  Bruce climbed up on the piano and was getting the audience behind the stage on their feet.  He sang most of the song from the catwalk in the pit on the floor.  Right before the verse about Clarence, he announced that “this is the important part” and sang the verse without band accompaniment.  Then there was almost two minutes of deafening applause while the audience cheered for Clarence and wept while they had nice video of Clarence and Bruce from all stages of their career playing.  After the video tribute Max started the song again at the end, the band took their final bows.  The Boss said “Thank you New York City!” and said “see you Monday!”  For most of the encore, the crowd was on their feet and gave Bruce and the band quite an impressive and loud reception.  Almost three hours after it started it was over.  Even someone who was so anti-Boss as I was blown away, there I said it Alison!  Mind you he can’t hit some notes anymore and his voice is rougher than in the early days, but the energy and passion is there that more than makes up for his vocal shortcomings. 

After getting out of the arena and taking the “1” to Time Square then the shuttle to Grand Central and making the 12:15 train home only to have my train ticket stolen and, I was in my bed sleeping by 2am.  The late night trains makes every stop known to man; it even stopped at towns I’ve never heard of, like Willoughby.  What a great show and there will be Beach Boys show reviews coming next month.  So stay tuned for that. 

Badlands
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Out in the Street
Death to My Hometown
My City of Ruins
MURDER INC.
Johnny 99
Jack of All Trades
Shackled and Drawn
Lion’s Den
Easy Money
Waiting On A Sunny Day
Promised Land
Apollo Medley
American Skin (41 Shots)
Lonesome Day
The Rising
We Are Alive
Thunder Road

Encore

Rocky Ground
Kitty’s Back
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out