I was not fortunate enough to get tickets to see what will, arguably, go down as the biggest concert EVER in the Quad Cities....Paul McCartney. Thankfully, I've got friends like Gary and Danielle who were happy to fill me in on what I missed. The photos and video below were shot by Gary from Davenport...smoke from the pyro during "Live And Let Die" is probably STILL lingering inside the TaxSlayer Center. Paul shared some great stories from his days with the Beatles through his days with Wings and completely on his own...and he did not disappoint. He even joked that he plays the "old stuff" because he knows we love it...when he's playing a big hit from the Beatles or WIngs, the cell phones come out and everyone is recording it and it lights up the room. When he plays something "off the new album," the room goes dark as the cell phones get put away. But he's gonna play some of the new stuff, anyway...
He told a great story about the recording of "Love Me Do." It was ORIGINALLY supposed to be John Lennon on vocals, but he could do the vocal AND the harmonica and make it sound right. So, they had Paul record the vocal. Paul said he was so nervous going in to Abbey Road because it was the first song they were recording as The Beatles. THEN, we found out he had to do the lead vocal...he became EXTREMELY nervous. He says that when he listens back to that song now, he can hear his voice shaking because of the nerves. I'd say the song came out just fine.
When Danielle told me about the video screens showing old photos of Paul with John, Ringo, and George...she started to tear up a little. I've seen a LOT of great concerts...but when an artist is able to get you to "choke up" when describing the performance the next day, you know they've done their job.
Danielle told me the two songs that Paul DIDN'T perform that she really wanted to hear were "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There." But, out of a 60-year career, you've gotta make SOME cuts...or the show would still be going on today...