Two friends and I who are Beatles/McCartney fanatics made the trek to the Pepsi Center in Denver on May 7 from Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada after performing our own Beatles tribute in Alberta, Canada with our band "Liverpool". Embarking on a non-stop journey of 26 hours straight (almost 1200 miles) to see The Man in person, we found ourselves caught in a blinding snow storm in Montana ( we got lost...) We finally arrived the morning of the show. I had gotten a ticket for George.H. and myself the minute they went on sale, whereas our third companion dished out a cool $450 last minuite right before the show placing him in the 22nd row center (We were in section 114 center just above the floor). Three words describes the concert and that is "Heaven on Earth". we were all driven to tears with the first opening line of Hello,Goodbye and were hoarse from screaming and chearing by the time the show was over. on a scale of 1 to 10, paul's performance was a resowding 11. I had caught his last show in Detroit in '93, and even though that was up till that time the greatest event of my life, this topped that.... What more can i say? Paul is the Master Wizard, the Dream Weaver for all of us fans and God bless him for sharing it all with us again. summing up: 50 hours in a cold van with poor road maps, little money and no sleep? Well Worth it luv, see you next time.... :)

Update (5/10/02) From tonyc63:

Can't add much to what has already been said about the Denver show, except: Being from the Mid-South area, I have a question: After seeing the show I can only wonder, did Paul come down here to the Crossroads and make a deal?? He was amazing!! I saw him in '89 and '93, and it strikes me odd that the older he gets, the better his voice sounds live! He hit 98% of the high notes, as opposed to maybe 50 or 60% the other times I'd seen him...and this is AFTER going full blast on the songs where he uses his 'scream' voice, like Maybe I'm Amazed! The scream before the guitar solo in Can't Buy Me Love was better than the record from almost 40 years ago! AND he sings for a solid 2 1/2 hours!! I can't overstate the condition of his voice...the "and I held her hand, in my innnnnnne" falsetto was picture perfect! And, the "better better better better...aaahhhhhhh!!!!" line before the big sing along to Hey Jude....this was the only time I'd seen him do it and his voice did not break at that part...same with the "ahh ahhhhh" part at the finish of The End. This man is scary!! As for John Gore's comment that the crowd was mostly 40+ - maybe down in the 18th row where the $250 seats are it was, but up in the $125 area there was an amazingly diverse crowd. I was sitting behind 3 teenage girls, and the crowd around me ranged from 2 (!) to 60. All in all...the best Macca I've seen live or taped!

From Deanna Roach:

"I've Just Seen A Face." I've wanted to see my favorite of the Fab Four ever since they stepped off the plane in Feb. of '64. For various reasons, I had to wait 38 years to do just that. Was it worth it?? YES! Paul is still Fab. Although I grew impatient during the preshow, it did seem "magical" and somehow appropriate for what was ahead! Seeing the "cute Beatle" live and in person was just what this 50+ Kansas farmer needed! My poor husband is getting tired of hearing me say (over and over), "It was absolutely awesome!" I will never forget May 7, 2002 in the Mile High City!!!

(5/9/02)

From John Gore:

Still basking in the glow of the best show (of any kind) I've ever seen. This was my fifth McCartney show ('76 Chicago, '89 Chicago, '90 Miami and '93 Boulder) and was easily the best. Hopefully, it won't be my last.

The setlist and banter was the same as described by earlier reviewers, yet no matter how eloquent the review, none (this one included) can capture the magic of the event. I knew what to expect from reading other reviews, and was still overwhelmed by it. It was great to see how relaxed and down-to-earth Paul was, transforming a 20,000 seat arena into a gathering of old friends. The accousic set was even better than advertised!

I've never considered Denver a "Beatles town".. the Fab Four didn't even sell out Red Rocks in '65 and the Boulder crowd in '93 was one of the lamest concert crowd I've ever experienced. Maybe they thought that Boulder's noise ordinance, which limited the volume of the band on that night, applied to the crowd as well. Not the case on Tuesday night. Denver was definitely in the palm of McCartney's hand.

I don't know how it sounded from on stage, but from what I could hear from row 18 on the floor, the enthusiasm was joyously high. The mostly 40+ crowd was electric from 8:00 until The End, and Paul repeatedly thanked us for the "great welcome". Although the reviewer from the Rocky Mountain News was little more than lukewarm with his praise (gave it a B+ for the "somewhat uneven" show), the folks in attendance knew different... this was, simply put, a warm and fuzzy night of fun, memories and great songs.

Paul was in fine voice, the hoarseness I read about and feared really didn't come through in his singing, although it was apparent when he spoke to the crowd. He also appeared to be somewhat tired, (the altitude can do that to you) but his performance didn't suffer a bit from it! The band was incredibly tight and powerful, I can't say enough good things about all of them, and except for a little muddiness in the dueling guitars in "The End", the sound was first-rate. And yes, it was LOUD! The video presentations were appropriate, and the light show right on. Previous reviews have done a great job of describing the particulars.

I have to disagree with those who panned the opening bit.. I found it to be interesting, and really built the energy and anticipation for what was to follow. OK, maybe it ran a few minutes too long, but everyone on the floor was on their feet throughout the opening dancers bit, heads scanning the arena, fingers pointing out the appearance of each new performer coming down the steps of the arena. More fascinating than entertaining, but don't knock the performance art too bad, folks.. To paraphrase Sir Paul, "Hey, it's a bloody Macca concert, shut up!"

The tributes were sincere and warmly appreciated. "Here Today" is a beautiful song, and hearing just Paul and his guitar performing it brought the nature of their relationship straight to 20,000 hearts. I was curious as to how "Something" would sound played on a ukelele... after hearing Paul's rendition last night, I have to think that George would approve. We certainly did. They were truly intimate and emotional moments and I'm glad he shared them with us. Speaking of emotional moments, I had the pleasure of sitting next to a lady whose tears began to flow the minute "Hello Goodbye" began.. during "All My Loving", she pointed to the screen and the crying teens and said, "that was me during the sixties". Yes, dear, and that was you about 2 minutes before that, too! And she wasn't the only one who was feeling that way.

Some friends who were at the show didn't think it was appropriate that the videos featured George during "Something" and not showing pics of John or Linda during their respective tributes. I defended it.. Paul knows best how to honor the two people who were most important in his life. Others questioned his choice to include some songs and not others. The bottom line is that it was an extraordinary night of music performed by one of history's greatest artists. That's good enough for me.

My personal highlights? "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Getting Better", "Here Today", "Something" and "Hello Goodbye", and as always, "Hey Jude". Ask me again tomorrow and I'll have a dozen more. Thank you, Sir Paul for an unforgettable evening and an incredible career. We hope that we gave him half the happiness that he gave us on this night. It's a night I know I won't forget. Now hurry up and get that DVD out!

(I noticed that Cameron Crowe was in the crowd in L.A. and last night in Denver. Might he be doing the tour film?)

Great site, keep up the good work.

-John Gore
Denver, CO

From Sean Anglum:

Steve,

A religious experience? The Fabs would cringe at that analogy, but it was damn close!! The Denver Post has numerous Paul articles and a review at their web site, www.denverpost.com. He ROCKED Denver!!

From Steven Johnson:

From Steven Johnson: The concert in Denver was fantastic and seemed to closely follow the set list from previous concerts.

I really liked the pre-show, particularly the fact that it is such an unusual way to start a concert. I don't think it deserves all of the negative press it is currently getting. Paul did mention that Cameron Crowe was in the audience and the Vanilla Sky footage with Tom Cruise was shown during the Vanilla Sky theme.

Paul was clearly emotional at the end of Here Today which was the most poignant moment. Despite its extensive airplay, Freedom was still quite a highlight. As others have mentioned, the band is incredible and I think that the other Driving Rain songs (Lonely Road, Driving Rain, and Your Loving Flame) really rocked live. It would be hard to imagine a better concert than this.

Although it is irrelevant to most of us fans, both local newspapers (Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News) had very positive reviews.

From George Walkow:

I saw Paul in Denver. The opening - English Victorian powdered hairdos, etc - did not work. Paul has too much talent and should have just gotten into the music. Tributes to John and George: how about "She Said" for John and "Here Comes the Sun: for George - more interesting than what Paul chose.

The difference between Paul's new music and Beatles music: the Beatle songs told a story, not just a succession of lyrics that went nowhere. Also "Freedom": give me a break! It doesn't say anything that's not known and shows what a five minute writing session produces. Neil Young also tried a "9/11" boost to his career - "Let's Roll" - it didn't work.

Tragedy happens - let's move on.I enjoyed his Beatles songs, but would have enjoyed it more if he would have sung songs from John's list. Imagine?????? His solo/Wings stuff: average at best for a non-Beatle. His new stuff: writing doesn't hold up to his Beatle songs. Synergistic effect personified: Paul and John writing together. All in all, pretty fly for a 59-year old white guy!

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