This was to be my fourth time to see Paul in person, having previously seen him in '76, '90 and '93. I bought my ticket on March 23rd (the day they went on sale) from Ticketmaster. I considered purchasing one of the best seats for $252 but since I recently joined the ranks of the umemployed, I opted for the "nosebleed" section for $52 plus 9 bucks for processing, etc. I sat in section 306, row P, seat 7. My main complaint wasn't the distance from the stage. To my immediate left was a wall. Although I had a clear view of the stage, I felt just a bit cramped and the audio was muddy at times.

When Wix spoke during his introduction from Paul, I could scarcely make out a single word and I didn't even realize until I read a review of the show later, that Paul mentioned that EmmyLou Harris was in the audience.

Since I had read many reviews of the tour beforehand, I knew about the opening act. I didn't think I would enjoy it, but I did. The instrumental music was quite dramatic and overall, the performers paved the way for a grand entrance for Paul.

I had also printed out the setlist off the internet and had it in my pocket for reference. If I had my time to go over, I would rather have not known the songs in advance. It's more fun to be surprised, I guess.

Paul looked and sounded great. There were so many highlights to the show. "Getting Better" was simply fabulous. He'd never performed it in concert before. His version of "Something" was even better than the original. "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are perennial faves of mine, as is "Live and Let Die", although I found the visuals to be somewhat more subdued than usual on this tune. The long acoustic set was a welcome newbie. "Every Night" was the best tune from it. When the audience joined in on "Hey Jude", lights and cameras and were turned on the audience and they could be seen on the many video screens onstage. Very cool effect!!

All in all, it was an incredible show, as all Paul's concerts are. He is truly the master. I've heard that the entire tour was filmed and will be released on DVD/VHS. ABC also has a show about it, scheduled for October.

A couple of days later, I read where Paul returned to his suite at the Four Seasons hotel and went down to the piano bar and played for everyone. If ONLY I had known!!! Oh, well, maybe next time.

Update (5/23/02) From April Parrish:

Went to the Driving USA tour on Monday May 13 and I was so overwhelmed that halfway through the show I was crying. I love the Beatles and especially Sir Paul McCartney, and I was so glad I got to see him in Atlanta, which is an hour and a half away from my house and it was on a work night-but I was not disappointed, I just found your site tonight and really like it! Keep up the great work!!! April

Update (5/18/02) From William Brandon Jr.:

Sunday, May 19th, 2002. Mother's Day, a day remembered. Starting early, counting my blessings to see Macca again, as he continues to spin his magic in Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia. Re-establishing himself again, nearing sixty, as the real king of rock and roll. The remaining doubters refusing to accept the difference between metal, pop, and rock & roll and/or those minions whom buy into industry dribblle that Paul is not relevant or ALL about pop and silly love songs, those deluded relics who believe he didn't rebel enough about the sixties social problems.

Muted rivals resurrecting their tired excuses added ticket prices to the list of copouts for refusing to pony up the currency to see for themselves why the Beatles collectively and now Paul individually, maintain the best ROCK & ROLL catalogue since the genre was created in the fifties. Lost in this rhetoric, the fact that he crossed, fused, and created new lines, introducing classical and Indian instrumentation into the genre, including the pioneering use of feedback and the synthesizer.

Driving from Brandon, a Jackson, Mississippi suburb, the necessary six hours to Atlanta, I had time to ponder these dynamics while wondering quietly why management had skipped such classic southern venues as Memphis or even New Orleans. This year, nine years later, my wife is my companion, replacing old college friends. A fitting and game companion, she can be placed in the before mentioned category. I was quietly delighting in the opportunity to place her in position to judge for herself and prove once and for all why my Beatle/Macca raves in general, and specifically my 1993 stadium reviews were correct and not a result of prolonged and imbalanced Beatlemania. To allow Paul the opportunity, to show her that he, solo, and with his talented band, could equal or even out perform such classy heavyweights, whom she had witnessed, including such highbrow acts as The Eagles, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull and Page/Plant. At the arena, more skeptics sitting down next to me, cheeky twenty something's chirping "well, I didn't have anything else to do tonight and we thought we would catch another Beatle before he died!" I confidently smiled back at them quietly. This surely was going to be delightful evening!

After a pre-show of multi deminsional avant garde theatre, designed to achieve a multitude of goals, primarily peaking pre-show intensity and involvement, but also exposing his mainstream audience to his "Fireman" work, therefore taking opportunity to again press his point to the student; that he was the first Beatle to explore the genre. Possibly losing advantage to rival/friend/bandmate Lennon due to his career decision not to publically release any material. But possibly gaining fans as well, when Lennon stood stark naked with Yoko on their album cover. Not lost on the observer was the symbolism of their work, symoblizing humanity wondering about, obviously lost, in their own world, before finding their way, at their own time, finally coming together in lockstep before again losing cohesion, and thereby completing the circle of the evolution of mankind, themes reminding one of his classical work, Standing Stone.

With these preliminaries completed, Paul and the band were primed to bring the house down and broke into the phycadelic power hit Hello-Goodbye (Magical Mystery Tour), followed by Jet (Band on the Run) and All My Loving (With the Beates) before the initial engagment with the crowd. While participating with and observing grown men and women cry, one was amused at how easily he pulled the audience in with his incredible presence, using his reliable Beatle charm including those wonderfully entertaining quips and cracks. Leaving no one out, he charmed the arena crowd near and far. Intamacy was being slowly developed as the audience marveled at the quality of his voice, the quality of his band's including thier impressive backing harmonies as they worked quickly and efficiently through powerful versions of Let Me Roll It (Band on the Run), Lonely Road and Driving Rain (Driving Rain).

The arena video equipment followed but did not recreate in total his new VH1 hits and movie videos, including the extremely high tech offering Your Loving Flame (Driving Rain). By this point, and partially due to our fine seats purchased through ETS, I chose to focus entirely on Paul and his band and the large monitor which made the up close and personal moments even more special.I could watch the videos any time I reasoned! I may never lay my eyes on McCartney ever again. The equipment used for the stadium tour was magnificant and so visually incredible, this would have been virtually impossible.

After another mini set of hits, Paul then unplugged, sent his band to the break room and began to serenade the crowd with White Album classics Blackbird, Mother Nature's Son, Every Night and to my surprise, Abbey Road classic You Never Give Me Your Money, which from all reports,must have been added to the set list recently. Movie hit Vanilla Sky, Carry That Weight (Abbey Road), and tributes Something (more White Album) and Here Today (finally! live Tug of War) for George and John followed. Telling intimate stories between songs and the changing of instruments, Macca took total command of his audience. During this segment, Wix had eased back into position to provide essential strings and other touch's as he and Paul worked the crowd into yet another frenzy with renditions of the Macca classics finishing this "semi-unplugged" portion of the show with a stunningly personal Eleanor Rigby.

Now, totally at ease, and sensing our desire for more rock and on queue, Paul and his mates delivered the goods with precision as they broke out the twelve string for Band On the Run, before changing yet again for Here,There and Everywhere (Revolver), movie hit Live and Let Die, Getting Better (Sgt. Pepper) mixing speeds with C Moon (Macca II) and Linda tribute My Love (Red Rose Speedway).

The band reached its zenith with rockers Back In The U.S.S.R. (White Album) and Maybe I'm Amazed (McCartney). These songs were without a doubt, the best covers of Beatle and Macca classics ever performed! Each stanza of U.S.S.R. built upon the other in pyramid fashion until the band reached an incredible peak, ending as Wix's keyboard work recreated the White Album classic jet sequence. Anderson's lead work on 'Amazed brought this jewel of a song into the twenty-first century yet it was clear that Anderson intentions were to stay safely within the song's structure thereby insuring that it didn't become a heavy metal cover. This was indeed McCartney, 2002!! Renaissance man! Paul then moved into his "piano man" mode with beautiful renditions of The Long and Winding Road, Lady Madonna but Macca peaked yet again with his rendition and vocals of Hey Jude, proving again that age has not stolen his billion-dollar voice. This brilliant sixties anthem was carried to another level on record and video by Paul's doe-like eyes, and ability to carry the group by shredding his vocal chords and pouring every ounce of energy into the song. The fact that he is willing to deliver this type of vocal re-creation is further evidence of his consumate professionalism and commitment to deliver the product fans bought in 1968.

Paul seemed drained and slightly disappointed as he announced, after nearly three uninterupted hours with his trademark reminder...it was close to our bedtime. The initial encore was highlighted by Yesterday and was followed by a second encore beginning with the reprise of Sgt Pepper followed by a three guitar lineup for the orgasmic finale "The End" with Paul taking the middle riffs.

My wife? Oh yes. When asked if she enjoyed the show, she amused me with babbling incomplete sentences as she tried in vain to explain the experience. On our drive home, I asked JUST what had impressed her enough to give Paul such a glowing review. She thought for a while and explained that she had underestimated McCartney's presence, voice and his ability to transend vinyl or plastic. And my young neighbors....totally embarrassed and ashamed as I looked to them for comment near the end of the concert. They sheepishly indicated that Paul was "going nowhere" as we rocked in the aisles!

Some entertainer's talents are enhanced by studio work and radio play. And then there are those special few, whose work cannot successfully be captured. How do you put a button or channel for talent and charisma!? Paul and few others fall into this catagory. The fact that rock stations routinely ignore McCartney's current work despite the overwhelming positive reviews by critics and fans alike, it is also no surprise that many people have forgotten just how incredibly talented Paul McCartney is and how powerful his presence remains. By the time fellow Macca fans have had a chance to read this review, his concert tour will be a beautiful memory. If you have the opportunity to see him on his upcoming ABC special, don't miss it. Set your VCR's and get ready for the DVD that will surely follow this tour. At least we can hang on to the tangibles.

Try to imagine what it would have been like for John to be on stage with Paul opening doors to the other side of the Beatle catalogue...left untouched for us to wonder why? And how fine life would be driving to see Lennon and McCartney again on stage taking turns to see who could outwork the other on any given night. I can only begin to understand what Liverpool and Hamburg youth tasted in those early years 1958-1962. Yet, the upside is clear. This is easily the best band Paul has taken out on the road since his solo career began in 1970. I look forward to them working together again in the studio. Driving Rain is a fine beginning with beautiful moments, but this band is on the threshold of even finer work. After jamming together on stage there must be a second disk from this talented group. Judging from Paul's comments concerning the band, I would be surprised if he and David Kahne didn't pull this group back together for an encore studio performance and I can't wait.

Update (5/16/02) From Claudio Dirani:

Alive in Hotlanta

Okay, all right, back to the South America from Atlanta...but, well, am I really alive?

Excuse me, but...how on earth you can go back to your old and good self after having the chance of STARING at the good ol' hazel eyes of our master Paul? Well, pretty girlie thing, you'd say? Nah, not my gig..:-) Just kinda Paul spell that gets on every mortal...

But you know, thanks to my friends (and I mean friends with huge F) who got my ticket upgraded (had a 50, got a 250 floor, wow!) and all Macca vibration thing that went down in Hotlanta, I can tell: THAT was the time of my life...now, after having seen Paul face to face (two times before starting the sound check), too close!!!!, and having seen him playing and re-inventing rock and roll (and I mean it), it takes me only a little autograph anda handshake. I'm done, I'll be done after that.

Eh, up, what can I say about James Paul McCartney and his RAW-B* band?

They play loud. They don't pretend they are Beatles. They don't want to be the Wings. And don't think about being like the lumpy trousers!!! It's rock and more rockier than Macca had been before. They do Beatles songs like they were brand new songs. They do Wings sons, as they had been taped yesterday night at Hanson, Hollywood. And they play loud.

I know that many purists are found of the old Beatles way of doing things and treasure the old way of doing them. Okay. But, the times they're a changin'. McCartney is McCartney. He likes to take us back but, at the same time, forward. And that's what's going on on this tour. Forget about the traditional Mother Nature's Son. The first rendition of Back In The USSR. Well, after that one, you are never the same person and gets amazed how Paul, without swating, can sing behind a true wall of sound. Thanks to the demolishing-man, Abe, and the raw raw rusty and his trusty guitar. They rock(ed) and the last one in the room turn out the lights...

And, most of all, a Paul McCartney gig is a happening. So what, what on earth the pre-show has anything to do with the gig? What, who asked that thing? Anyway, I'll put it down in the words if possible. You feel like you are in the Avant-Gardé London. The lights, the Fireman sound, the voice singin' I wanna feel love, I wanna feel love (right, cb?)..

And the folks come out of nowhere, roming everywhere across the arena, interacting. The interative form and the coloured screens have just got married and it's a happy marriage indeed. I could stay there forever listening to the new mix of Rushes, recorded along the Stawberry Ships Ocean Forest first Fireman effort. It's amazing how talented and professional those dancers and performers are. And taking the advantage of the Atlanta newspaper review, which sums up the whole thing, I'd say that the combination of the Pantheon and the Hofner Violin-shaped bass as history and legendary icons couldn't be so perfect to introduce the man to the stage.

And what a stage, you know. Pretty simple, but so magic. I mean, the images our eyes could witness on the tech screens were never made to distract our attention to the band. Yes, but they're sort of surreal, psychedelic, pure magic. Mother Nature's Son - and you could get inside Paul's mind while he was writing the White Album track, because the footage is sooo faithful to the lyrics. Vanilla Sky (I tried to make sure to Paul that I was really digging that one by screaming like a mad seagull searching for a tuna:-) - the background video depicting the movie crazy scenary is astonishing. Congrats for the editing room staff. I could spot the Put It There single cover as the first image towards the end of the song.

Lady Madonna - What a editing, what a bunch of cool ladies! And the show being on Mother's day, I got so emotional. I couldn't help thiking about my mom so far away in Brazil. Well, you can't have anything after all. And Macca did the job, and this version also was really rockier..wow!

Talking about Freedom - and house went mad, even the Mister men who come to the arena to watch the show like a chess game. Were they in coma anyway???? When the cameras focused the audience during Hey Jude, I saw a big guy with a mustache with the more grumpy face I'd ever seen! And it wasn't a solo Macca track!

Yeah, that's another subject I'd like to go over... People seem that there's a kind of law they have to follow strictly. If Paul says: that's the new song of...

Er,, the regular Beatles 1 fan don't care about listening to the end of Paul's announcement. It's kinda dumbness, you know. Well, listen first and try to enjoy. ENJOY. The secret that Macca has learnt very well through the years, my dear....

Speaking on McCartney and fun, I did love when he acknowledged all the Driving Rain tour staff and his beautiful band. Well, that's bossy Macca, you know

I could watch him having so much fun seeing Abe playing. He digs the big boy so much. But, needless to say, Paul did the right thing calling him out to joining the RAW-B band. The man plays like and good heartened atomic bomb! And Paul realises that by grining all the time. When Abe is only singing backing on Eleanor Rigby, is sooo much fun you have!!!! He seems to be enjoying himself dancing and moving back and forth!!!

Rusty Anderson is a rock and roll man. He improvises with careful playing and makes sure this guitar is loud, to the top. Quite good backing vocals, and marvellous solo on Maybe I'm Amazed and My Love. He gives another colour to both tunes, I'd say.

Speaking about Maybe I'm Amazed, that was the one that I stop singing and playing air guitar and put my hands on my waist. I shook my head and grinned. I talked to my self and said: what's up with Paul? He's out of his liverpoodlian mind! It's unbeliavable how he gets to ad-lib with his voice in the middle of such hard song to sing. And he realises he can do that. The camera was right on his face when he jazzed in the middle of the song.

Brian Ray, the B of the RAW-B band, is an acomplished musician. He's discreet on his playing but does it good, with such competence.

I liked very much when he changed the Gretch to a 12-string guitar to play the link on the second part of Band On The Run. The audience got mad on that bit. Actually, the most solo Macca cheered was BOTR and Every Night. I think those were the winners on that category.

Which pissed me off. Driving Rain, Lonely Road, Vanilla Sky, Freedom (Well, that kinda won the game but mainly because of the USA thing and the beautiful Liberty scenary) and Your Loving Flame were beautifully performed by the band and Paul sang all of them with sentiment and perfect cracking-proof vocals. My favourite was Lonely Road and the improvizing "Black Corvette" on Driving Rain bridge. Too much fun!!!

Paul Wix Wickens, using Paul words, is maybe the best keyboard player in the world. And it's good to hear that from Paul. He meant it, really. when Paul wants to say something serious, he pretends he's joking. Lovely accordeon playing on Mother Nature's son by wix. Lovely synth on Fool On The Hill. I loved that version, as much as I loved the cool fender rhodes version of You Never Give Me Your Money. Of course the lyric mistake had been scheduled since the start of the tour...

Speaking on organization and publicity, I can say that the Philips Arena folks were really cool people, trying to help the audience to find their seats, always kind and careful. The security, in my opinion, wasn't that tight. I should have brought my tape recorder...bah!

The meeting of my friends of the internet was amazing ( I won't name them all because I run the risk of forgetting one of them, and it'll not be fair). I could meet so wonderful and kind people and they looked exactly like the do online. I love you all! And thanks for being with me on this Macca ride. I will never forget that!!!!

From Chris C.:

I had never seen Macca and had stopped going to concerts many years ago. Three days before the concert, my daughter's junior high schoool choral concert featured a Beatles tune, and I thought I should go see him and bring my wife for Mother's day. I checked ticketmaster online, and amazingly, two 11th row center tickets popped up for Sunday - I swallowed hard seeing the price, decided to pass up the symphony series this year, and hit the buy button.

Just before the show started, I told my wife that Emmylou Harris was walking down the aisle towards us. Her seats were in the 6th row.

The show was fabulous. It's easily among the top three concerts I've seen (the Who's Next tour, 18th row, and Talking Heads Fear of Music tour in a nightclub are the others). The sound was great, and loud, and it was real fun for my wife, who's a hard core Beatles fan from way, way back.

Paul told one anecdote that I haven't seen reported in other reviews. For Blackbird, he commented that 'bird' is English slang for girl, and the song was written during the civil rights era with the struggles of black girls to be free in his mind. I sensed this comment was added just for Atlanta.

About the preshow, we figured the different characters all represented different artists, Harlequin (Picasso), Woman in white (Seurat), Strongman (Botero), 3 Muses, etc. We had fun trying to figure them all out. The slide of the Greek temple put this historical parade of art in perspective, and McCartney certainly belongs in that line-up. The Atlanta paper erroneosly reported the temple as being the Parthenon, but it is one of the two ruins from Paestum, Italy, which is probably more than you need to know.

Update (5/15/02) From Gustavo Machado:

Hi Steve,

What a show on Sunday night at Philips Arena! I kept saying to myself, "How the hell does he do it?" When he played the humongous Georgia Dome in 1993, he didn't sound as good as he did two nights ago. "How does he do it?"

Here's just a quick overview of what transpired:

In the hours leading to the show, and outside the arena, the local classic-rock FM station kept people entertained with mid-70s Wings songs. At least a merchandise table was set outside the venue -- I guess so fans who couldn't afford the show could at least get a t-shirt. Or a fridge magnet.

Once inside, the audience seemed amused by the dancers and actors, which started streaming in at about 8:20. Yes, I thought this intro act went about five minutes too long. But that was over when "Hello Goodbye" BLASTED along... this band is loud! Mr. McC was right on to begin this show with such a happy, up song. Perfect.

Assorted highlights:

As stated by other reviewers in this page, Rusty A. and Brian R. were effusive in their praise of the city and the audience. "Now I know why they call it 'Hot-lanta!'" said Anderson.... McCartney remarked that Emmy Lou Harris was in the audience.... Paul was relaxed, having fun, immensely charming. A minor, minor quibble was seeing him lift whatever instrument he was holding at the end of about 90 percent of the songs... back in the day, he did that just once at the end of a show, if I'm not mistaken.

Then again, who cares. He's giving out 120 percent, he's fulfilling our dreams. Let him trot out the "Cirque du Avant-Garde-a-Clue" and sing "Driving Rain."

..All the little anecdotes and gags (the N.O. and Japanese massages, "Live and Let Die," "You Never Give..." etc.) went down very well with the audience. I shouldn't have read all those show spoilers in this site... but you've got to be there to hear'em, delivered with the grace and aplomb of a stand-up comedian... the other musicians were also funny in their bits ("we're getting such a great feeling from being up here on the stage... you should try it sometime," said Rusty).

..During "Maybe I'm Amazed," I couldn't take my eyes off Abe Laboriel. He was "in the zone," pounding those skins... this version ROCKED....

Harmonies were wonderful, especially during "Here, There & Everywhere".... Anderson played great solos, making his mark without straying too far from what Harrison, McCullough, et al. originally created. Now, Brian Ray played some Lennonesque bass notes on "The Long and Winding Road." I wonder if Paul noticed that?

.. "Back in the USSR" was brilliant. The jet noises made me think there was an actual 707 parked backstage! .... The Philips audience didn't clap along during the "Fool on the Hill" choruses; don't ask me why. However, everybody in the arena were all very much into the show....

The tributes were tone-perfect. I was brought back 20 years to the spring of 1982, when I had to read a review to realize "Here Today" was meant for John (back then, and after "All Those Years Ago," I couldn't believe Paul would do his own tribute)... "Something" was really heartfelt. I hope McCartney keeps it (or other Harrisongs) in his act for years to come The old workhorses toward the end were somewhat predictable to this hardened, over-informed fan (ever since '76) with the exception of the final encore. Chills went down my spine as we all sang "The End."

Could this be the end? Gosh, I really hope not.

From Brian Peterson:

Steve,

Here are my reviews of the Macca concerts for both Sunday and Monday. Macca did something truly unique last night, introducing John Hammel for the first time ever at a concert(see my report).

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend both Atlanta shows. I already had tickets for the May 12 show - section 301 - which is the back of the arena, third level. About as far as you could get from the stage, but with good sight lines. I was the fortunate winner of the Atlanta paper's Two for Two Tuesday Ticket Promotion which gave me two tickets (in section 114) and limo service to and from the concert on Monday. So on Sunday I went with my sister, mother, and 5 friends and on Monday I went with my wife. The song list was the same as previously reported so I will focus on other parts of the show..

Sunday May 12 Got to our seats about 7:45. Was a pretty strong smell in our section at times, though apparently it didn't make it to the stage this night. Pre-show started about 8:20 with Paul Taking the stage at 8:35. Paul was in his red shirt with black jacket. Paul was in good voice tonight, no hoarseness as has been reported in a few other cities, he strained to hit a few notes, but not many. The crowd was really into it this evening, clapping a number of times before the show even started. The band obviously picked up on the crows energy level. Rusty mentioned how incredible it was to be on stage every night and feel the energy from the crowd and suggested that "everyone should come up and try it sometime." Paul choked up during Here Today. He told both the New Orleans and Tokyo massage stories, adding "not that trip" when people started reacting to Tokyo. After either Eleanor Rigby or Here, There and Everywhere Macca mentioned that Emmylou Harris had covered the song and was in the crowd this evening. Abe was really thrashing on the drums during Maybe I'm Amazed and that seemed to inspire Macca to really belt out the vocal line. After Back in the USSR Macca mentioned the Georgia on my mind line as he would again during the encore. He dedicated My Love to "the lovely Linda and all the lovely mothers". After the song he asked if there were mothers in the house and got a pretty strong response. Wix mentioned that he was good friends with the keyboardist of Little Feat and after the crowd reaction this evening Wix understood why the keyboardist was always looking forward to returning to Atlanta as mentioned in the song by Little Feat. Freedom was well received on this night and he mentioned after the song that "we are all in this together". Brian Ray mentioned that he now understood why they call it Hotlanta. It may have been just due to my seats (back of the arena near the ceiling) but the sound mix was slightly muddy at times on the rockers with Wix's keyboards hard to hear except for his solos, and the guitar solos being hard to pick out during The End. For the encore Rusty came out waving the new Georgia state flag and Wix the small British Union Jack. After taking the bow after Hey Jude the band walked around the stage like gorillas before exiting. Show ended about 11:10. Overall a great show with a strong crowd.

Monday May 13 As I mentioned above I was the lucky winner of tickets and a limo for this concert. Definitely the way to go if you ever get the chance, my wife loved going to the show in the limo. Just like the night before I bypassed the long entrance line at the Techwood Drive entry point and went in through the CNN Center doors, where we waited less than 3 minutes. They waved the wand over you, made you empty pockets and open purses. My wife and my seats this evening were section 114, which was right in the middle of the arena to the left of the stage. Was surprised to see that the energy level this evening by both the band and the crowd was higher than I expected, only the slightest drop from last night. Macca was still in very good voice this evening, though he was straining just a touch more during a couple of the acoustic numbers. This evening the entire band including Macca came out wearing white jackets over their shirts. The sound mix was much better this evening (or maybe just sounded better due to where I sat) and the solos were stronger. Paul did something truly unique at this show, introducing John Hammel after handing John his acoustic guitar after Mother Nature's Son saying "I want to introduce John Hammel, who has been with me forever". After John left the stage Macca added "That is the first time I have ever done that, I think I embarrassed him tremendously." Told the same two massage stories (New Orleans and Tokyo) once again adding the "Not that time in Tokyo" after the crowd started responding. He also mentioned that he had received a massage this afternoon and said "Thank you Will". After playing Something the way George said it should be played Macca added "God Bless him." This evening Rusty said that it was surreal playing on stage with Paul, and told the joke "How do you get a musician to be like a doorstop? - Pay him for the pizza." Rusty also mentioned that is had been "A very good year". Brian Ray mentioned that "they were just a struggling band from Burbank until Paul joined, but that they were doing much better now". Once again Macca dedicated My Love to "the Lovely Linda and all the mothers in the audience". Macca once again repeated the Georgia on my mind phrase a number of times during the evening. This evening Wix came out with the new Georgia state flag and Brian Ray the small British Union Jack. The solos in the end were much easier to pick out this evening. Another great show and after the last encore Macca added "see you next time Atlanta."

This was my wife's first opportunity to see Macca in concert. She has seen well over 100 concerts in her life including The Dead while she lived in SanFran and U2, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and The Stones when she lived in NYC and she told me after the concert she thought it was by far the best concert event she had ever witnessed and that if he tours again that we are definitely getting tickets and bringing our 8-year old daughter next time. She also said she was sort of glad that we didn't bring our daughter this time as the shows ended about 11:10 and it was a school night and if we brought our daughter she would want to go to every concert that came through town because she would think they were all this good.

These were my 6th and 7th Macca concerts ( 2 Atlanta (Omni) shows in 1990, Raleigh (Carter-Finley Stadium) in 1990, The Georgia Dome in 1993 and Veteran's Stadium in Philly in 1993) and they were by far to me the two best shows I have seen by Macca. His voice was definitely stronger than in '93 and both my friend's twentysomething brother on Sunday and my wife on Monday asked, when is he going to take a break he is almost 60. Also my wife mentioned she was really surprised by his energy level and was really impressed with the stamina.

Some of my personal favorites this time:
Hello, Goodbye - great song to open with Getting Better
Coming Up - great version of this song, much more rock than past shows
Let Me Roll It - as my friend said, the definitive version of this song
Blackbird
Here Today
Something
Eleanor Rigby - much closer in style to the original (more urgency to it) than the 89/90 tour
Back In The USSR - Great guitar by Rusty
Maybe I'm Amazed - I'm amazed he could still sing it.
I Saw Her Standing There - my wife's favorite Beatles' song
Sgt Peppers(reprise)/The End

From Laura Leonard:

Just got back from the first Atlanta show, and I must say AWESOME!! I had to drive 5 hours from Bristol, VA to get there and it was every bit worth it. Considering that I’m only 18, I’m a fairly young McCartney fan, so I don’t compare to the ones who say they’ve waited 30 years for this, but I had just as much, if not more fun than they did. For the first 30 minutes of the show, I was in complete shock because I couldn’t believe I was actually like 50 feet away from such a legend, so I don’t remember much of the first few minutes. Needless to say, Macca rocked! I find it hard to believe that he is the same age as my grandparents, yet can rock for 2 ½ hours, hardly breaking a sweat. Not to mention, he looks REALLY GOOD for his age.

Interesting bit of info - as I was sitting in my seat, which was excellent by the way, I spotted Emmylou Harris being escorted to her seat. I told my friend who was with me, "there goes Emmylou Harris," and she said it didn’t look anything like her, that it wasn’t her. Well, after Paul finished the song ‘Here There and Everywhere," he said he wanted to dedicate that one to a special person in the crowd who had recorded it herself - Emmylou Harris. However, that was the only celebrity I spotted in the crowd.

I’m pretty sure the set list was unaltered, but like I said, I was in too much shock to pay close attention. This concert was definitely the best I’ve ever been to. I think he truly wanted people to go away with their money’s worth, as if just staring at him for 2 ½ hours isn’t enough. Seeing him on stage and interacting with people in the audience only makes one appreciate him more than they did before they came. He talked to the crowd quite a bit and told some funny stories about various massages he’s had, etc. My only disappointment from the whole experience is that I was that close to Paul McCartney and didn’t get to talk with him. Who knows, I’m only 18, maybe one day my dream will come true.

From Sky Blue:

Atlanta - Sunday, May 12 I purposely did not read any reviews prior to the concert so it would all be a surprise. My seat was third row center right in front of Paul and probably 15 feet away. I loved the dancers, except for one thing - really one person. To me, from start (with the incense filled arena, ever-building music, and sari-fabric backdrop) to finish (confetti dropping) the concert was a joyous time and transported everyone to a wonderful place. The crowd around me ranged from Paul's age down to teenagers. I think no one in the arena wanted the night to end.

Paul looked great, played great on multiple instruments, and sang superbly. I loved the supporting band as they were able to replicate the original parts so well, seemed to be having a wonderful time, and expressed their being so thankful for the opportunity to play with Paul. With older groups like the Stones, Moody Blues, etc. they tend to perform with large numbers of people on the stage when the original bands were four or five people. Paul and these guys pulled it all off beautifully and without all the extra people on stage. I think the experience from so close is a bit different - you have eye contact and can see EVERYTHING. I loved the song selection and it was interesting to think that on some of those recordings Paul had played all the instruments. I just can't say how much I loved the show whether it was when the whole band was playing, Paul solo, or Paul with one or two of the other musicians. Most of the details about the song selection has been written in other reviews. So amazing to think he could have easily played another two hours of his music!

Now, back to the dancers - I loved them, but one of the balloon carriers was chomping gum and looking utterly bored. Really destroyed the illusion for a moment. If anyone knows who this dance troupe is I would like to know as I would then email them about that. There is no excuse for that lack of professionalism!

From Brent Bourgeois:

I have seen the Messiah! The musical Messiah that is!

I just went to the concert of all concerts! This is it! There's no reason to go to another concert ever again! Nothing could ever top Paul McCartney's performance at the Philips Arena in Atlanta on Sunday night. I have been a Beatles fan since I was a baby (I'm fourteen, now) and I have always dreamed of seeing a Beatles reunion concert. I pretty much got my wish last night. I'm from California, but I live in Tennessee so it was still a long drive to the concert. When we walked in, the person at the door never tore off my ticket stub so I've still got the whole ticket intact. Maybe it'll be a collector's item someday. The concert started about fifteen minutes late. I didn't like the crowd very much. It was mainly a bunch of drunks in our section. People kept on getting up and down to get another drink throughout the show. Our seats (me and my dad) were in upper level, but we rented binoculars which helped a lot.

I have heard a lot of criticizm of the pre-show. I actually thought it was pretty cool. When Paul's sillouette appeared behind the hofner bass screen, the moment I'd been waiting for had arrived! The band kicked straight into "Hello Goodbye". What a great song to start the show off with. Then they raged into "Jet". I loved his back up band. Rusty and Brian brought a lot of young raw energy to the songs that were originally done by young raw musicians. Abe was fun to watch and Wix filled the band together. Paul said the standard "Atlanta we have come to rock you" and burst into "All my Loving". Before he played the next song he explained how "sometimes when you're recording and you're not touring, you write a song, record it, and then you never play it again. Here's one of those that we haven't played until this tour. Then they played a kick butt version of "Getting Better" which was one of the highlights of the show. After telling the crowd it was time to "boogie-woogie", the band played "Coming Up" I had listened to "Trippen the live Fantastic" on the way to the show and I was impressed by how much this song had improved. I was glad they took out the computerized voices. "Let me Roll it" was done to perfection.

Paul announced that he was going to play some songs off his new album. I hated how people left during that part. "Lonely Road" is as good a song as anything he's put out in the last thirty years. Before he did "Driving Rain", he explained that the song was written after a rainy day down the L.A. coast (my home state). I thought it was funny how in the concert booklet he said the line "Something's open-it's my heart" came from a faulty alarm system. I liked the video for "Your Loving Flame" and of course the music was good too.

The acoustic set was magical. "Blackbird" was very cool as was "Every Night". The entire crowd sang along with "We can work it Out" which sounds very cool with just him alone with the accoustic guitar. I liked the use of the accordian in "Mother Nature's Son", an underrated classic. "Vanilla Sky" was actually a pretty good song.

He had two of his pre-show montage bring out the "magic box" piano. Before he played the next song, he told a funny story about bad massages he's gotten. He got a huge laugh when he said "One time when I took a trip to Japan- no not that trip!" (referring to his infamous drug bust there). He then played a very interesting arrangement of "You never give me your Money" and "Carry that Weight". Then he played "Fool on the Hill" which is a song I've always related to. "Here today" was a very touching song. It was almost as if you could feel John's presence when he played it. Hearing him sing "Something" was very interesting. He played with sort of a shuffle beat. He got a huge applause when he told that the ukelali he played it on was given to him by George.

The harmonies were magnificant on "Eleanor Rigby" and I really liked the togetherness of "Here There and Everywhere". "Band on the Run" and "Back in the U.S.S.R." were probably the two best songs the whole night. The energy was there so much more than on previous tours. "Maybe I'm amazed" was amazing due to the fact that sixty year old Paul McCartney was singing it better than thirty year old Paul McCartney. "C-Moon" was kind of a weird choice but a good one. "My Love" sounded stronger than ever. "Can't Buy Me Love" was definately a highlight and had a very youthfull energy to it. For some reason, in all the reviews I read, nobody likes "Freedom". I thought it was one of the coolest parts of the show. "Live and Let Die" is always exciting, especially with all the fireworks. Everyone had their lighters out for "Let it Be" which was a very touching moment. I felt like I was in heaven singing along with the end of "Hey Jude".

The band left the stage after "Hey Jude". I was kind of frustrated that people actually thought that he wouldn't come back. Sure enough, two minutes later he and the band were back on stage. Paul, Rusty, and Wix were all carrying flags. Then they played "The Long and Winding Road". I was glad they played it without the orchestration, the way Paul originally intended it to sound. After asking us if we were still in the mood to rock, he went straight into "Lady Madonna". The next song, "I saw her standing there" was the song that made me feel most like I was at a Beatles concert.

The band left the stage again only to return a minute later. Paul put on his accoustic guitar and played "Yesterday". This was another song that really felt like you were at a Beatles concert. After all, that's exactly how audiences saw it in 1965, just Paul playing accoustic guitar. The finale of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)" and "The End" was spectacular. This concert changed my life forever. It created such a magical effect. After the show was over I told my dad, "That's why I want to be a musician. To be able to do that."

(5/14/02)

From BeatlesAt@aol.com:

Sunday's show was fantastic. McCartney really outdid himself. Sound quality and lighting excellent, and Paul sounded great. The sharp contrast of the theatrical performers followed by his silhouette opening provided the different edge (such as what he was striving for with his new album "Driving Rain"). A very effective blend of old and new with a few "weirdest massage" jokes from Paul, as well as references to a time he "remembered in Toyko...no, not THAT time!" His banter was fun and relaxed. "Loving Flame" was dedicated to Heather, who he said was in the crowd. The set list did not change from previous shows.

From mcgrath:

first of all, let me say that this is my first time to see a Beatle ever!!! although i didn't have front row tickets and i was a little to far off to the right side (my tickets were only in the hundred dollar range)...I did have an exciting up colose experience before the show...having driven up 5 and a half hours from panama city to atlanta, i arrived to park my car with somewhere abouts the CNN building...there i noticed news reporters and cameras....and suddenly a limo pulled in witha few guards waving a little crowd of about no more than 15 people off to some rails...a window rolls open and out pops paul's smiling face...as he looked over to me- i was aliitle out of the crowd having just come...i froze and then gave him a thumbs up, which he replied to with a "v" sign...that to me was worth more than a front row seat...later i sat next to middle aged gentleman who was screaming like a teenager; he said: "i'm sorry i've only been waiting my whole adult life for this"...and kindly handed me his binocukars every so often...i enjoyed being there with other fans and can't complain about the noise-that's what a concert is all about-letting loose and enjoying the show as long as you don't trample on anyone and there was none of that there that i saw...the show was extensilvely filmed....for a 'television" event as one of the crewman casually remarked.... the show is the best concert i have been to ever in my life; but then again i've not been to many....i noticed that the songs off the new album didn't really catch on except for "freedom"...despite all the critiques leveled at this song, i think it's rather catchy and is a great tune to experience "live"....all the beatle/ wings tunes made the audience wild....my favorite moments were 'back in the usssr" and "can't buy me love" which had me bouncing -i lost all sense of time/ and life....the songs transported me away...Paul's performance was breathtakingly tight for about 2 hours and 45 minutes....losing his voice mometarily in the emotional "here today" and another tune i cannot recall..."something" was played slowly on the ukelele and made my eyes water- (if i am a beatles fan- it is because of george harrison)after it was done, paul said that george had played the song for him in a faster tempo saying "no it goes like this"....it was a mixed moment of laughter and sadness...i've never been to a mccartney concert so i don't know what it was like for those tour, but i'm glad i was at this one if only for this performance of 'something"...paul also played 'getting better" which was an absolute treat....the drummer banged on the drums or rather appeared to be fighting the drums throughout al the songs...i thought he'd break the cymbals....the two guitarists at his side were young and somewhat shy....and very very good!!!! paul was humorous, telling little stories here and there that made the audience laugh....he is a first class entertainer...he pleases the audience and i think that's what it's all about....my wife who is not a beatles fan-she is a latina into salsa/ merengue and latin music absolutley adored paul and found herself dancing to many of the songs- we were both on "cloud nine" during the romantic numbers like "maybe i'm amazed" ....i loved this concert and i heard many people say that they were going to see it again....for me, i'm happy that i saw it this one time...and will let it sink like magic into my memories.....

From Brian Peterson:

It was a great show. I was at the back of the arena in section 301. Macca and the band were in good spirits and the crowd was very into it. At least 3 of the band members mentioned how good the crowd was last night. Macca dedicated My Love to the Lovely Linda and all the lovely mothers in the crowd. He also had all the mothers in the crowd cheer for themselves at one point in the concert. Great show, looking forward to seeing him again tonight.

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