Concert Review: PAUL McCARTNEY, Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN, Saturday, October 5, 2002
I had an interesting perspective on this concert: the VERY TOP ROW of Section 225 of Conseco Fieldhouse. NO seats in this arena were any higher. I had a great view of the spotlight workers, and the tops of the banners hanging from the rafters. Abe Laboriel Jr's drums looked like marshmallows being played with toothpicks, and Sir Paul himself looked about the same size as he did wrapped in the gum wrapper in "HELP!" It's too bad a second night wasn't booked here; I think a second night would have been well-attended also, even at these ticket prices. (Too bad the closest seats aren't awarded to those with the greatest knowledge of Paul McCartney's work, rather than the amount of money one can afford... but we fans can dream, can't we?)
All right, enough b*tching about my seats! The circus beforehand was very surreal, especially at its slow-motion pace. Unfortunately, the "slow-motion pace" also applied to much of Paul's show, especially the stripped-down acoustic solo section and the first few numbers after that. Fine for us adults, but our 8-year-old niece and the 7-year-old nephew were in danger of falling asleep until the pyrotechnics of "Live And Let Die"; after that, the kids were doing JUST fine, thank you!
While "Freedom" may seem overly simplistic and banal to fans who know Paul can write (and has written) much better songs, it really appealed to the kids... and to the rest of the crowd, too. After the song, Paul sounded really surprised to see all the US flag signs in the audience. The paper flags had been given out by radio station WFBQ (Q-95) before the show, with instructions to "hold up during 'Freedom'".
As Paul launched into "Let It Be", someone to our right fired up what Paul calls a "herbal jazz cigarette". When Paul got to the chorus, DJ (our 7-year-old nephew) sang along, but changed the lyric: "I-it stinks, i-it STI-INKS, i-it stinks, it really STINKS..." in a cartoonish voice an octave (or two?) above Paul's. I'll never hear "Let It Be" the same way again.
The sound of the concert hall wasn't too bad during the music itself, but speaking voices were difficult to understand due to the acoustics of the arena (which weren't helped, I'm sure, by our height). The show made very good use of video displays, even though the only ones we could see well were the 16 sliding rectangular panels above stage left, and the Jumbotron at stage right.
Three song changes had been made since Paul's springtime trek across the USA. "Vanilla Sky", "Mother Nature's Son", and "C Moon" were replaced with "She's Leaving Home", "Michelle", and "Let 'Em In". These were good choices, especially "She's Leaving Home" (which sounded MUCH like it did on Sgt. Pepper's... no mean feat to pull off live!), but it might have really helped pacing to include a rocker like "Junior's Farm", "Birthday", or "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" somewhere in the set.
Overall, Paul's concerts are very enjoyable. Value for money can certainly be questioned... in today's economy, it SHOULD be questioned... but it's unlikely the USA will see another tour like this once Paul moves on to Mexico, Japan, Australia, and (hopefully) the rest of the world.
From Gwen Craig:
I am a high school teacher and with all the posters of the Fabs that I have behind my desk, I always find out who the teen Beatle fans in the school are. One such 16 year old was very disappointed that all the good seats in Indy were gone before she got a ticket. She resigned herself to the seat she got in the top last row of Conseco Field House, seemingly miles from the stage, saying that at least she would be in the same building with Paul.
Well, guess what? She was one of those lucky few who were tapped by a member of Paul's entourage to take a front row center seat!!! She was about four seats down from Heather, who she said was up dancing most of the time. When I saw this student Monday morning, she was still glowing! How cool of Paul to reward and encourage one of the new generation of Beatle fans who weren't lucky enough to be alive during the "first wave"! Of course the concert was outstanding, better than before. Especially LOVED the addition of "Michelle", since I'm a French teacher! Paul botched the words near the end of "Eleanor Rigby" and said it was because he was distracted by a sign that said "the Nerk Twins". Fans are getting more creative! Someone also threw a white bra or panties (couldn't tell) onto the stage, and Paul playfully threw it to another band member.
(10/7/02) From Troy S. Hubbard:
Just back from the Macca show in Indianapolis. Wonderful! Here's the details of a wonderful lucky night. On October 5, 2002, Paul Rattarman and myself attended the Paul McCartney concert at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
When we arrived at the venue, we waited for Paul to arrive. He rolled down the window and waved to the fans. His limo then proceded down the ramp to the staging area. We then entered the Fieldhouse and went to the box office. We asked if we could upgrade our tickets. The ticket attendent said she had two tickets available, one in the 1st row, and another directly behind it in the 2nd row, stage center, section F1, seats 15. During the show, Paul, made eye contact and ‘mugged’ at us several times. I had brought along my Driving Rain vinyl L.P. which I kept holding up. At the end of the show, Paul came forward on the stage. Someone threw up a Hard Days Night L.P., which he signed. I then threw up the Driving Rain L.P. Paul started to leave the stage and I hollored, "Paul sign my Driving Rain!" Much to my amazement, he picked up the L.P., signed it and handed/tossed it back to me. I was dumbstruck with my luck! He also signed one additional L.P. and then he was gone!