The best concert ever - Paul rocks - good tunes good memories - sure wish I could just see him up close and shake his hand, I would become a vegetiarn just for that, my wife and I and one other friend will be going to Ft Lauderdale this coming weekend to see Paul Macartney again CANT WAIT!!!!! God, he's awesome.

Update (5/4/02) From Alice Ascolillo:

I am to be 47 years old in May. From the minute I crept out ouf bed and sat at the top of the stairs overlooking the living room and watched the Beatles on Ed Sullivan I have been a devout disciple.

Having grown up in Boston, I have seen them all at the old Garden. The Stones, Who, Zeppelin, Bowie, Grand Funk,Clapton to name a few, and most every time there. I was even lucky enough during my travels in the service to see the Dead in Egypt.

NOTHING, I REPEAT NOTHING WAS CLOSE TO APRIL 19th. Having missed James Paul McCartney during his tours after the break-up as I was in the service his Boston Show was a long time coming. Macca hasn't missed a step in all the years he has been at the forefront.

From the opening extravaganza of costumed performers floating through the crowd (who needs a warm up band) accompanied by a pulsating drumbeat that for some reason sounded like a hard "Driving Rain" to that Icon moment of the silhouette of the man himself yielding his trademark Hoffner Bass, as if to tell his disciples the "Sword of Damocles" is about to fall, he had the whole lot of us eating from the Palm of his hand without even setting foot on stage.

What followed was nothing short of rapture. While I did not keep count, he indulged his faithful with a steady diet of the magic he has given so many over somany years. For 2-1/2 hours he he belted out about thirty tunes, two thirds of those had to have been Beatles compositions.

In my mind that was a true act of selflessness, given the fact that he could have just plugged his new release Driving Rain, or lots of Wings stuff also, that would have been great too. But after all these years he had a sense of what his subjects wanted, and he was trully loyal to his faithful.

The highlights for me had to be his tribute to John and George. Especially that to George for which he played SOMETHING on a ukelele that "his baby brother" George had given him. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.

And his voice, not a crack, strain or rasp that I can recall. His vocal chords were right there. He was conversive, funny, contemplative, personable, high energy,sincere and I could go on and on and on.

All in all what I witnessed with my eyes only confirmed what my ears have heard since 1964. That not only did he bring back so many memories of my youth, of particular times and places , but pure unadulterated emotion from within.

I read another review from the Boston stop here by Abbey, (hi Abbey). I think she said it best that (I'm paraphrasing here) how can so much music, love, and creativity possibly come from one man.

Michael Jackson had to proclaim himself King of Pop, Elvis did not as he was the First monarch and earned his title. But it is James Paul Mccartney that is Lord and Master. April 19th just reaffirmed that for me.

Update (4/24/02) From Carol:

Have enjoyed the reviews, and agree wholeheartedly with all who say that Paul is at his absolute best on this tour! I've seen his last two Boston area shows, and his voice is so much better this time around...WORLDS better than his recent TV appearances.

The day after the show, I put on the "Tripping the Live, etc." CD, and marvelled at the difference. At the show, his pitch was dead on - how can that almost-60-year-old voice hit those notes??! He was truly amazing, and I'm so glad I went. I loved most of the song selections, and even after saying "I can do without Hey Jude, Let it Be, and Yesterday again" I was glad to hear them. And the John and George tunes, well...what else can we say?

I won't rehash more details, as that's been well done by others, but I will add one more accolade for Abe. My sister (a musician) pointed out to me that on "Driving Rain" he was playing triplets (3/4 time) on his highhat with his left hand, while drumming in 4/4 time with his right, AND singing harmony. To quote another review I read tonight, MVP all the way. (and a local boy too!)

This same sister (bless her heart) was responsible for me being able to upgrade my way-in-the-back seat to 14th row loge, right by the stage! She hadn't bought a ticket (partly due to price), but called me at work Friday to say she'd won some in a 'write a jingle for the morning show' contest at RI radio station B-101. So my brother-in-law sat with our friends in the back, in my original spot, and she and I sat in these incredible seats.

So if you're ever driving through Providence and hear a B-101 jingle to the tune of "Can't Buy Me Love", I can tell you that that tune made two Beatles fans very, very happy on 4/19/02. Oh, and Paul really helped too. :)

Enjoy the shows all!
Carol

Update (5/22/02) From jfk62957:

The show was awesome. I saw him in 1990 and he sounded so much better this time around. The band was right on every song and Paul hit all the high notes.He sounded great on Mybe I'm Amazed and My Love two songs he really strained to do on the last tours. I really enjoyed when he did Hello Goodby and Getting Better, two songs he's never done in concert before. Also the tributes to John and George were very moving and emotional. The show was well worth the price and if your lucky enough to get tickets don't hesitate.

(5/21/02)

From Patti Murawski:

Okay, so why do Bostonians have this rep of being cold New Englanders? Out of the three shows I saw so far, (Philly, NJ, and Boston) Boston's crowd was hands down the most lively, and the loudest (especially during "Hey Jude"). And don't think Paul wasn't noticing...he mentioned it quite a few times over the usual "you've been a great crowd" patter. And of course, he was feeding off all the energy in the room and gave a really high energy level performance.

Some notes since the general details of the show are already documented...

Some floor seats were released on the day of the show. Most of them were in front of the soundboard. However, there were seats in all price ranges available at the box office before the show.

Paul arrived around 5:15-5:30. He had a police escort, and it looked like he may have been coming directly from the airport. They didn't drive the car into the gate where everyone else arrived, though as he went by all the usual crowd waiting for him to arrive, he did lower the window of the car to wave as they motored on by; they got caught at the next traffic signal, then took a right up a long ramp that went halfway up the side of the building an into a garage.

For some reason the Fleet Center wouldn't let you carry in a plastic bag, how weird! It had thunder stormed a couple hours before show time, and when we went in they wanted the plastic grocery bag we had put the field glasses in to keep them dry...

Show started about 8:30 and ended about 11:15. He wore the pinstripes and the red t-shirt with the white stripes today.

Paul busted a string on "Getting Better"... When the song ended he kept pulling on it, held it out and kissed it (the string) and then handed the guitar off.

The video for Vanilla Sky apparently is now the flying through the whitish (vanilla) clouds, and no longer the movie clips (which in my opinion were too distracting in the first place). The video for "Lonely Road" is the same as in NJ, that is, now it's all driving and road scenes with none of those models draped all over.

John Lennon got an standing ovation as elsewhere before "Here Today," but it seemed to be louder and more enthusiastic than the last two shows. Paul was visibly moved near the end of the song and his voice cracked on the "And if I said, I really loved you and was glad you came along..." line.

When Paul introduced "Something", the tribute to George, he again said George had been a very enthusiastic ukelele fan/player, and that George had given him the uke he was playing. He then added that George had been a great fan of George Formby, the British Dance Hall artist of years past, and was a member of the George Formby fanclub. "It's TRUE!" he exclaimed (and indeed, it IS true, as he was...). At the end of the song, the place absolutely exploded into a very loud, very LONG standing ovation for George, so much so that Paul was trying to quiet the crowd to tell the story about George's version of the song... It was very heartwarming for this George fan. George had quite a few ties to the Boston area (including his son attending Brown in Providence, not far to the south of Beantown).

"My Love" got a good standing ovation too, and Paul made a heart over his head with his arms.

The videos for Live and Let Die didn't really work at all except for a minor blip on the screens at the beginning, and at the end. It was really strange looking to see these big black squares in front of the lights flashing.

Some of the confetti bombs, over the center part of the arena didn't work either.

Sound was better for the most part, but it's still a mystery to me that the show's I've been to, why Paul's guitar solos can't be heard so well in the finale jam; it was only slightly better in Boston. Rusty's and Brian's sound levels seem okay; and I know I'm not the only one to make a comment on this, several of my friends mentioned it too.

Paul's voice sounded a bit rough in places on certain songs; perhaps it's just the crazy temperature changes we've been having...

Best of the shows out of the three northeast shows so far in my opinion.

Heard from a friend who had a loge ticket on the side; she told me how well hidden the teleprompters are...:

Paul has a teleprompter at near his right foot just behind the amp. When he plays the multi-colored piano there is a small teleprompter built into the keyboard flat part. On the other piano he had the two songs lyrics pasted just above keys there too.

Oh, and Abe plays the drums barefoot!

Our comment: Abe came out barefoot in San Jose and I honestly didn't think he played that way. All the reviews seem to praise him and for good reason. He's excellent.

From Stephen Moss:

Steve,

Paul's show last night at the Fleet Center was brilliant. A great performace with a really accomplished band. I also caught Paul at the Worcester Centrum back on the tour supporting Flowers in the Dirt, and I think this was the superior show - the leaner, younger band this time 'round really made the rockers raw and powerful, but their skill with the more polished Wings tracks and some the slower Beatles songs was also just excellent. Very glad I got to attend.

Yes, Macca did repeat the deliberate flub in "You Never Give Me Your Money," but the audience loved it. He pulled out what may or may not be a new anecdote or two, however:

Just after playing "C Moon," he explained the title's meaning, saying that in "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, there's a lyric about being a square, where the slang 'L7' is used. Paul at this point makes hand shapes of L and 7, to form a square. He then adds that he tried to think of what would be the most opposite of being L7 -of being square - and came up with a circle, formed by the letter C and a crescent moon... hence, "C Moon." (I don't know if it's new to you, but it was to me).

Another story he shared involved his enjoyment of massages as a perk of touring, and some of the weird experiences he's had while receiving them. One story involved a punchline about feeling like a giraffe with a hollow bronze leg (makes sense when you hear it), and the other about a little Japanese masseuse who softly began singing 'Yesterday' while delivering the massage. The crowd ate it up.

One of the lovely things was Abe Laboriel's explanation during his introduction that he's a Massachusetts boy, born in Boston and raised in Lexington. At the beginning of the first encore, Paul came out swinging a giant American flag. Abe came marching proudly behind him waving the Massachusetts state flag (and Wix behind them with a tiny Union Jack).

From NC from Rhode Island:

The Boston Globe's review of the Boston show and I think it nails it. I saw Paul in 1990 also. This show was as good or better. His voice sounded fantastic! His tribute to George was great! When George's image appeared on the screen, the crowd went nuts. If you're a Beatles fan, this is an absolute must-see show!! Long live Sir Paul!! NC from Rhode Island

And from Jack Langley:

Great Show in Boston last night (April 19, 2002). A bizarre opening. Dancers, balloons, acrobats, King Louis XIV dresses, a Kung-Fu guy, ect. came in to the tune of (I think) of "Waterfalls" from Paul's "the fireman 2" CD. Other music was played from the "fireman" style. Also a man with an umbrella and English bowl hat dressed in black danced with his back to the audience. He looked a lot like the MPL logo. (Maybe they'll fade him into the logo at the end of the DVD).

The opening did the job of building anticipation...Then Paul appears as a black shadow behind the white screen with his Beatle Bass waving. A very exciting moment. Then he and the band go into Hello Good-bye. A great opening song. I love the false ending. Hey-La Hey Hello-La with the entire Fleet Center dancing in the aisles. For me, that was the show's best moment. Then "Jet", and "All My Loving". For Getting Better Paul switches to the electric guitar. (I have a theory: The older he gets the more a guitar player he becomes, also can you imaging playing bass for Paul McCartney) Paul said many Beatles songs were never played live including this one.

After Let Me Roll it (again with guitar) Paul pointed upwards and said "lets here it for John". Then came the new songs with well done videos:Lonely Road, Driving Rain and Your Loving Flame. Most of the crowd banter was as describe in pre! vious show reports, he even flubbed You Never Give Me Your Money word-for-word. The acoustic tunes were wonderful. Blackbird. Every Night. Wix Wiggins played a nice accordion piece for We Can Work It Out. Great Video for Mother Natures Son (Woods, Fog & Sunshine). Here Today for John and a wonderful Something on Ukulele for George (What would he do for Ringo?).

During "Something" there flashed a lot of George Beatle pictures I haven't seen before. Back in the USSR rocked. Paul got to the keyboards for Maybe I'm Amazed, C Moon and My Love. I really liked C Moon. Paul then shot into Can't Buy Me Love and Freedom, which got everyone dancing. It's that 9/11 thing and it was a good feeling. Live and Let Die had the pyrotechnics and was fun. A string of Beatles hits ended the night: Let It Be, Hey Jude, Long and Winding Road, and I Saw Her Standing There. The encore was Yesterda! y, Sergeant Pepper Reprise and The End.

Overall, great show. He played guitar more than Bass. If people are traveling around the country to see this show again and again. I can understand why. And thanks Paul for coming! Jack Langley

From Bob from Boston:

Hi everyone, I just came from the Boston show. Listen I was 13 when the Beatles played that famous night on Ed Sullivan (2/9/64) and I was never the same after.

Well the same is true of Friday the 19th of April 2002. It was not a concert. It was an event. The set was the same as has been reported. I don't know how a guy almost 60 can do it for two and a half hours ,but he did and he never...and I mean never looked tired, and as far as straining his voice is spots I hit him on a night when he didn't need to.

He started out in silhouette behind a white screen holding up this violin bass and the show never looked back. I can add that the video productions were state of the art and the visuals perfect! Some great slide shows like Lady Madonna(notice who is in them)and some top notch videos were in themselves pieces of art (Like the Driving Rain shots) The George tribute was .....well you'll see.

His band was very good, but I must say I was most impressed with Abe Laboriel, Jr: That guy can drum. The 2 guitarists were good, but looked as though they had just escaped from the Betty Ford Clinic. Wix the keyboard/accordianist was also very good. I also got a kick out of some of Paul's annecdotes. He knows how to work an audience.(future reviewers let me know if he talks about the Japanese Lady who massaged him as she sang Yes-to---day) Well those who can relate to my age, love of the Beatles and have tickets for a future show be ready to wear your seat belts.

If I have any negatives they would be:

1.Why can't fans take a few pictures of a show? Security there went through everything thoroughly. I had to give them my camera battery to pick up the next day. Of course some people still snuck by with cameras which really pmo. And security didn't hedge they said it was Paul himself who made the demands NO CAMERAS. (Christ, Paul, I spent 500 dollars on you what would a few pictures have done to your career?)(btw I saw Ringo this summer and have tons of pictures of him!)

2. How can a guy write so many brilliant songs and then come up with things 1 2 3 4 5 lets go out for a drive? of I'll mate her...much later?

3. And I agree with another reviewer. What was the preshow thing all about?

But I must say In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.

Enjoy the show. Bob from Boston

This news item copyright Abbeyrd's Beatles Page