This show, in my opinion was better than the last one. (My thoughts on that can be seen at http://www.geocities.com/twodollarloafofbread/4-11-02macca.html.)
Maybe it was the better seats (off to the side, similar to last time, but without people's heads in the way), maybe it was not peeking at the setlist beforehand (a true test of my self-control, as it was posted right there on your site!), maybe it was having seen a McCartney show before. The pre-show was rather tense, which struck me as rather strange. "Why am I the nervous one here?" I asked myself. "I'm just the audience. I'm not going to be standing up there, singing to thousands of people!" Of course, Paul's done hundreds of shows before, so he obviously has a bit of a handicap, but I was still quite alert and jumpy in the hour before the show. It felt much longer, but I passed the time by observing several things. The Statue Of Liberty banner (unfurled during Freedom) could be seen in the ceiling, as it was last time. The background music being played included Singalong Junk from Unplugged and some Raymond Scott-sounding music. I heard some drums being tested backstage. Just when it was getting it's most intense, the Cirque de Soleil actors came from the crowd and the lights went down. Now, I've said it before and I'll say it again, it would be extremely easy to get on stage by dressing in 17th century Elizabethan outfits. Or as Ganesh, or Magritte's bowler hatted man. And if you get questioned by the security outside, just say you're part of the Meet-And-Magritte party. Har har. Anyroad, it looked a bit different from last time (I didn't notice the contortionist being stuffed into a clear box the size of a computer tower before) and served to make the wait more unbearable than it already was (although the whole bit lasted about 15 minutes). Having seen some bootleg videos from the shows, I knew when it would start, but the moment kept creeping closer and closer and never actually showing up. And then it did. The black and white image of the Hofner got everyone on their feet, and the silhouette of Paul got everyone screaming. And there he was. Clad in a white coat (as opposed to the black coats of most of the shows), a long-sleeved red shirt and blue jeans, he waved to the audience for a bit, and went into Hello Goodbye. The rest of the band were looking much the same as last time, except for Abe's goatee being much longer this time around. All were clad in white shirts and black pants, which created a neat sense of contrast with Paul's colours. The show continued with a lively version of Jet, and Paul welcomed us all. "When I said we would see you next time, I didn't think it would be so soon, but here we are!" Into All My Loving, which featured Wix on acoustic guitar in the background, and then the story about songs that you record and not getting played live and going up on a shelf and went into Getting Better. I noticed that much of the links between songs were much the same, which was not a surprise. Paul generally plays it safe when undergoing tours, and scripts the between show chatter thusly. However, everybody seemed to be much more relaxed this time around, which gave all the songs a wonderful vibe. Abe's mannerisms were more over the top, Rusty still tears it up, and Brian seems a bit more relaxed then last time. This relaxation led to a goofup in Getting Better, when Paul sang "I finally heard" twice instead of "You gave me the word". With a laugh, he continued on with determination on the line "I'm doing the best that I can." Coming Up was next, which benefits a lot from this band's chops, as does Let Me Roll It, which seems tailor made for a big venue such as this. Paul added a brief little solo in the latter. He then went into the new tracks, which is when the crowd started to sit down. Lonely Road was first, and I noticed his voice was a smidgen better than last time. He still held back on the screaming, but towards the end, added some new improvised lyrics about being on the edge of the lonely road. He then introduced Driving Rain with an amusing comment about the spontanaity of the show. "I know that the people who were here last time heard this story before, but I'm gonna tell it just for the people who weren't!" Brian's acoustic on this one added good textures to it. Paul introduced Abe, who doesn't seem very comfortable with addressing the audience one on one. Paul moved to piano and dedicated Your Loving Flame specifically to Heather, as opposed to simply "someone very special in the audience" as per last time. The audience is still divided between those who like the new songs and Heather and those who seemingly came to hear the Beatle hits. A few people were heard disparaging Heather a few rows back of me, but I applauded nevertheless. The visuals from the video weren't on the screen last time, as it was released to TV a couple weeks after the show. However, they were here this time, although the lip-synching obviously got off a bit. The acoustic section started with Paul telling us "this is the section of the show where I'm left alone with you." He again introduced Blackbird with the story of the Liverpudilan slang for woman to be bird and a blackbird to be an African-American woman. The crowd still doesn't recognize Every Night, even though it was on his first album and Wingspan. (Paul seems to like this one a lot to keep bringing it out after the relative quietness of the audience...he performed it on his 1979 European tour and 1991 Unplugged tour. No complaints from me...I love the track.) Paul did a brief fakeout that went something like "Walking down the street one lovely day" and sounded like an old skiffle tune. The crowd was back on its feet and singing during We Can Work It Out. He also made a comment about the people holding up signs for him. "Now I know that it's Katie's birthday today! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Katie, happy birthday to you! Are you happy now?" Two tracks from last time, Mother Nature's Son and Vanilla Sky were cut here. The psychedelically painted magic piano was again carried out by members of the Cirque de Soleil preshow, and Paul again warned the foam-muscled bodybuilder about his overindulgent useage of steroids. You Never Give Me Your Money/Carry That Weight is still here, and Paul still does the line about not remembering the words and not bothering to learn them by the end of the tour. (You'd think he would've at least thought of them once by now, but it's obviously now a scripted part of the show and isn't going away.) He again told stories about massages, which didn't seem as off the cuff as last time, but was a bit longer. Highlights: "I should write a book called 'Massages I Have Known'....he asked me to burn a hole in his eyes with my eyes, and I thought, I want a massage, not a relationship!...the reason I keep telling this story is that I hope this guy hears it and stops doing this to people!" The Fool On The Hill sounded fuller this time around and still has the flashing scene right there on the big screen. I wonder how many people notice it having not read about it. I wonder how many of those people come to that particular conclusion as well... Here Today was a little less vocally strained, and the crowd gave John a standing ovation. He told some more stories about George's ukelele fetish, including his being a member of the George Formby fan club ("A bunch of guys would sit around with these little ukeleles and just go (uptempo music hall impersonation)"), going to parties and giving everyone a uke, and the fact that George gave him the left-handed Gibson model he was playing. The screens played several images of George not seen last time, including some of him with Eric Clapton and Dave Edmunds from the Carl Perkins special. It finished with a wonderful shot of the back of his head looking forward. Eleanor Rigby was next, with Wix's synth strings and Rusty and Abe providing background vocals. He then started talking about John being 2 and a half years older than him (which continued throughout their relationship, says Paul; shades of George's quote in the Anthology!) and looking at John and Cynthia as very sophisticated and mature when he was a teenager. (At this point, I thought we would be getting We Got Married, a song which dealt with the same memories.) He went on with saying that he went to some parties with them, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, playing a guitar in a corner and pretending to be French, trying to pick up girls (which, of course, never succeeded). Then, years later, when hard pressed for new material, John said to him "Remember that daft French song you used to do? That would be quite good!" They then performed a great version of Michelle. Paul and Rusty were both playing acoustic guitars (Rusty on the solos), Abe was behind the set with brushes, Brian was playing bass and Wix was walking the stage with an accordion. The screens were filled with night-time images of the Eiffel Towel and Moulin Rouge, which, coupled with the instrumentation, gave a wonderful mood of being in France on a summer night. Here There and Everywhere brought the whole band to the front of the stage, with Abe playing a snare with brushes and harmonizing. It remains one of my favourite McCartney songs of all time, and was a delight, as it was last time. Band On The Run, again, really took off with Brian's acoustic guitar, the drumming and the breezy melody. Next was Back In The USSR, which is perhaps the Driving band's best tune. Abe's wonderful falsetto (quite unexpected from such a maniacal drummer) and Rusty and Brian's bom-bom-boms worked perfectly, and Rusty's solo is absolutely killer. Paul acknowledged this by introducing 'the guy doing these blistering solos, Rusty Anderson!' Rusty seemed to really enjoy the crowd, and mentioned in an interview that Chicago was his favourite audience to play to. He didn't seem to know quite what to say, though, and just thanked us all for coming. Paul, on piano now, said "Thanks, Rust!" He then did a version of Maybe I'm Amazed with amazing vocals. He then stumbled over his words while attempting to say that the next song was all about people that we all know, and told Wix "start whenever I get flustered!" Wix then started the first doorbell notes of Let Em In. The track was done quite well, although it's not one of my favourite tunes. Abe did the marshall drum parts on his snare and added some interesting beats on his kick. Wix's synth horn solo was doubled by Rusty on slide. He then said "this next song was one I wrote for Linda, and today would be her birthday. It's dedicated tonight to all the lovers out there in the audience, you know who you are." A tearjerking moment, and Paul really gave a stunningly soulful performance throughout the song. He introduced Wix, who said that on the break between tours, they rehearsed some new songs, and there was no shortage of material to choose from. He then said this number was one that we were the 3rd audience to have ever seen. He then played the harp part of She's Leaving Home. It took a while for me to place it, as I would have never thought of them to do it. However, once the vocals came in, it was instanty recognizable and a wonderful addition. Brian and Abe were at the front of the stage doing the falsetto harmonies, Abe not playing anything. Paul was on bass, and Rusty was playing acoustic guitar and doing the John parts ('we gave her most of our lives,' etc.). The screens showed old newspaper images of girls who were possibly runaways. A typically rocking version of Can't Buy Me Love was next. Paul introduced Freedom as a track he wrote for the Concert for New York, and the audience stomped and clapped. The version sounded much more fresh than usual, and it was sure refreshing to one who tires of the tune. Abe and Paul in particular let loose with improvisations. Brian then said it was great to be back in Chicago while Paul switched to piano. Live and Let Die was much more explosive than in April, with many explosions going off in the last verse and ending with twin balls of fire at either end of the stage. Paul again pantomimed his heart jumping out of his chest at the pyrotechnics. Speaking of pyrotechnics, many a Bic was flicked for Let It Be, which highlighted Rusty's solo. The bodybuilder got Paul's magic piano out again and Paul simply said "Steroids!" He invited us to all join in on Hey Jude, and during the na-na-na part, he again featured just the boys and just the girls. The band took their bows and went backstage, but came back within a minute. Paul had changed into a red short-sleeved "no more land mines" T-shirt. Brian was holding a large Illinois flag, and Paul was holding a big American flag, and they ran across the stage. Wix came out sheepishly waving a small Union Jack. The Long And Winding Road was another sea of lighters moment and Lady Madonna got the crowd dancing. He asked the crowd if it still had some energy left and if it wanted to rock any more. Of course, everyone knew the answer to that! A joyous version of I Saw Her Standing There again saw Paul fumbling a few lyrics, which only added to the more relaxed nature of the show. Paul threw his guitar tech the Hofner, which the fellow caught dead on (obviously getting some practice from the toss on the rest of the tour!). Another premature exit and encore, and Paul did Yesterday. He commented that the guitar he used was the same one he used on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1965 and how well it's held up. He then said that it's come to the time they should all go home and asked for applause for the band, the 100 people involved in the screens, the sound and the preshow and started into Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)/The End. The guitar battle was extended, with Rusty's playing George's part and Brian playing John's. The band was joined by the Cirque de Soleil cast of characters and Paul again told us he would see us next time. There was about a half minute of applause, and the lights went up (no confetti this time). All in all, although the two shows were both wonderful, but I would have to give this one the edge. It was just a bit tighter and had wonderful performances and banter. If you haven't seen it yet, do. You will not regret it. No matter how much it sets back your bank account.
(9/26/02) From Steve Brett:
Hi, Steve--
Here are a few comments about the 9/24 Chicago show: I saw the tour opener in Milwaukee on 9/21 as well as the Chicago show. (I also saw the first night in Chicago back in April.) From a song lineup, the Milwaukee and Chicago shows were identical. While both nights were fantastic, I actually think the edge goes to Milwaukee in terms of band performance. With the exception of a few flubbed lines (not including the intentional flub in "You Never Give Me Your Money"), I think the Milwaukee performance was nearly flawless and Paul was in great voice. In Chicago, Paul's voice took a little time to warm up--possibly because he was in Minneapolis the previous day--and he didn't quite hit the top range on the first couple of songs. Also, the Chicago performance of "Can't Buy Me Love" seemed a little ragged, like the band wasn't quite keeping time. These are really nits, though. Both shows were wonderful, and well worth every cent paid for admission. The band itself absolutely loved the Chicago audience. Paul remarked several times that the audience was great, and that Chicago always has a great audience. Brian Ray also raved when he had his moment to speak, saying that the audience made the band feel like they were performing at a small club instead of a huge arena. This may sound like canned patter that gets said at every show, like all of the rest of Macca's between-song comments; but the fact is, Paul didn't say anything like that to the Milwaukee audience. It also fits with Brian Ray's reported comments after the first leg of the tour that Chicago had the best audiences. I do think the Chicago show had a fantastic audience---except for the couple of idiots a few rows ahead of me that nearly got into a fistfight. (So much for Paul's message of peace and love, man!) Finally, it might sound like a cliche, but I really don't think that there is a bad seat to be had at this show. In Milwaukee I was lucky enough to be very close to the stage---so close that I had a great view of the performers with no help from the video screens. In Chicago, however, I was much further back. While it made it harder to see the band directly, I had a much better view of all of the video effects. It's virtually impossible to appreciate the creativity and intricacy of the video effects from close-up, but they are a fantastic part of the show in their own right. So people in the distant seats, don't despair--you get to see an aspect of the show that people near the stage don't!
From Bob Schuller:
Hi Steve, saw Paul and the guys last night at the United Center! What a show! Paul seemed to be more animated, and had his heart on his sleeve, due to September 24 being Linda's' birthday! The only changes to the set were the addition of Michelle, and She's Leaving Home, both performed flawlessly!
The band was tight in white, while Paul was in red.Hey, there were a lot of gray heads in the crowd ( including mine), and a good mix of age groups represented. Paul told a few more stories then last time, about using the same guitar that he had used on Ed Sullivan, and the ukulele he had as a gift from George! He played for almost 2 1/'2 hours! The guy doesn't drink or sweat! A lot of applause was given when John, George, and Linda were mentioned, kind of melancholy All in all A splendid time was had by all! It was good to see Paul again! May he stay "Forever Young" Bob Schuller