Paul McCartney – Driving USA

Everyone knows that I’m a HUGE Beatles’ fan. In fact, that doesn’t really begin to cut it when describing how I feel about these guys. I own all of their albums (on CD and a few on vinyl–I even bought the American version of Rubber Soul on cassette because it has a false start on one of the songs–geek), I know their music so well that I don’t have to play it to hear it, I read books, I have posters…I’m a freak. I missed my chance to see John and George. I saw Ringo back in the early 90s with his first All-Star Band. I saw his son, Zach, there and at The Who concert I went to about a year ago. (I went for The Who, not their ringer drummer…didn’t even know he was going to be there.) Hell, I even saw Julian back in ’89 or ’90. So when I heard that Paul McCartney was touring again AND coming to Dallas I knew I had to go.

So, as you can see, it’s very hard for me to be unbiased when it comes to seeing Paul in the flesh. Of course I loved it. But I think that even someone who thinks Paul is ok would have thought that last night rocked ass.

The evening started with one of the strangest opening acts I’ve ever seen. No band. Just a bunch of Cirque de Soliel type folks walking around the audience in (mostly) 17th century garb acting as if they were very surprised by their surroundings. And very strange synth music playing.

I immediately started trying to figure out which one was Paul. I had him pegged for the guy in the suit with the umbrella.

But then it all kept going on.

And on.

And on.

I was getting worried. But, hey. He’s Paul McCartney. He doesn’t need a normal opening act.

But finally it started to get kind of cool. They all made it onto the stage and did their little dances (including a very small woman who was putting herself into positions that were at once disgusting and exciting all at the same time). Then they all just kind of disappeared.

And the first strains of real music showed up. And there was Paul’s silhouette on the screen behind a big shadow of his Hofner bass.

And we all knew that the God was finally here.

He kicked things off with a rockin’ version of “Hello Goodbye.” Maybe not one of The Beatles’ best songs, but certainly one of their catchiest and it was a great opener. Then he burned through “Jet” like it was brand new.

The entire night lasted nearly three hours and he never took a break. (Not bad for an old geezer.) And he only played four songs off of the new album. (I don’t count the infernal “Freedom” as being on the album. It’s a bonus track that I, personally, could have done without. More on that later.) And I believe he only played one from the ’80s! The rest were all from his days with his two bands. But he did it with such abandon that it never seemed like a trip down amnesia lane. It was all fresh, as if it had just been recorded yesterday.

He, of course, did tributes to all of his fallen friends when the band left him alone with us for a while. For John he played “Here Today” from his overlooked 1982 album Tug Of War. It’s a beautiful song about someone who never got to say what he really wanted to say to an old friend. For George he told us about how much George loved the ukulele. Every time people went to his house for dinner the ukuleles would come out after the meal. He would go to conventions for a British comedian who played it and was even in his fan club. (Imagine having a Beatle in YOUR fan club!) And then he played a touching version of “Something” on a ukulele that George gave him while showing pictures of him on the jumbotrons. Later in the evening, after the rest of the band joined him again, he played “My Love” for “the lovely Linda.” Probably one of Wings schmaltziest songs (along with “Silly Love Songs,” thankfully ignored for this show), but it worked this time. Even it couldn’t dampen the spirit of the night. And, since it was for Linda…

And speaking of the band, they are the reason that the night stayed so vibrant and fresh. There are some oldsters out there (ahem, Ringo) who take on a bunch of their contemporaries and drive them around the world on tours that are basically nostalgia fests. And, while those are fun, they seem a little outdated. It makes the music seem as if it’s from a completely different era, which, of course, it is.

Paul (and Neil Young and a few others) take a different route, though. They go out and find some awesome, YOUNG musicians to play with them. Granted, these guys are sometimes still pushing 40, but they’re a hell of a lot younger than Paul. (I actually have no clue as to how old the guys in Paul’s band are. All I can do is guess from their looks, but they all look fairly young compared to the old man.)

Two of the guys (Rusty Anderson (guitar) and Abe Laboriel, Jr. (drums)) played with Paul on Driving Rain and one of them (Paul “Wix” Wickens (keyboards)) has been with him since 1989′s Flowers In The Dirt. And the other guitarist/bassist (Brian Ray) has been around the jazz circuit for a while.

And together they sound awesome! And what’s more, they can all harmonize. Including the drummer! I hope they stay with Paul for a while, because this could be his best band in a long, long time.

But back to the music that they made.

Paul chose a good mix of Beatles and Wings classics to throw at us. Nothing too sappy (except “My Love,” which, as I said, worked pretty well this time out) or cheesy. And a few surprises. I never thought I would hear “C Moon” live! And “Fixing A Hole,” which he has never performed live until this tour.

But, of course, there were the old standbys, which still rock the house. “Maybe I’m Amazed” is still one of my favorite rockin’ ballads and I think is played at every single Paul McCartney concert. And “Band On The Run” sounded great.

Probably the best moment was “Back In The USSR.” That song just about brought down Reunion Arena! Things were almost slowing down, but everyone was right back with him when he dug that one out. It was amazing. And I really had no idea that Stalin looked so much like Reagan!

Paul certainly knows how to connect with his audience. There were thousands of us there (maybe slightly exaggerated), but when he told us about when he was getting a massage (“I went to Tokyo once…” [huge applause] “No, not that time.” [bigger applause]–Never thought he would reference THAT again.) it was as if he was talking to a couple of old friends. Yeah, he was occasionally cheesy (I could have done without him saying “Howdy” when he finally greeted all of us, and holding his heart after “Live And Let Die” with the pyrotechnics was a bit much–yeah. We know. You’re getting old. But I’m glad he’s still doing the explosions on the side of the stage), but he knew what we were there for and he gave it to us in a pretty personal way. Gotta love the guy.

The only time I wasn’t connected was when he played “Freedom.” Yeah, I know. It’s a song for us, but I don’t really want it. I totally appreciate the sentiment, but it’s just a bad song. Even with a few thousand people around me I couldn’t bring myself to sing along or stand up with everyone else. I thought that maybe hearing it live would do something for it, but it really doesn’t. It still sounds like it was written in about 10 minutes by a 12 year old. It still sucks.

But besides that, I had a LOT of fun last night. It was a historic event in my mind and something I’ll never forget. He’s a showman and he knows how to put on an AMAZING show. As my friend that I saw it with said, “I’ll be telling my kids about that one.” And, who knows? Maybe they’ll be able to experience it for themselves. Paul says he’ll keep doing it even if they have to wheel him out on stage.

Go Paul!