I hope I am writing the right person-I just saw a report about Paul's show in St. Louis. I was the owner of the Yesterday and Today album. I had bummed my way to the front and had the album with me with a sharpie connected to it. I waved the album with a "How 'bout it" look every time Paul looked my way.
After the show, he asked security to toss it up to him along with a banner and the Elvis impersonater jacket. There was SO MUCH commotion going on. Paul kept asking after he signed it,"Whose album is this?" I was answering, but he couldn't hear me. My friends from high school that were witnesses to this cried out to him. "IT'S JANET'S!!!" He gave it to security and they gave it to me.
Ok, This is my question: DID ANYONE OUT THERE TAKE A PIC OF PAUL SIGNING MY ALBUM??????? Lemme know PLEASE. Thanx-Janster
(10/11/02) From Gary Craden:
The area for St. Louis hold about 19,000. The show was not a sell out. About 15,000 were in attendance. The arena ended up cordoning off about 2/3 of the area and relocating several seats to accommodate the smaller space. In '93, McCartney sold 40,000+ tickets for his show at Busch Stadium when the highest priced ticket was only $32.50.
My wife and I arrived at the arena a little before 6:30. The show was an 8:00 start. We had to wait in line until the doors opened, which was about 6:50. I have never seen security as tight as it was last night. Each person was given a 20 second scan with metal detector. They also did a very thorough search of bags and purses. I couldn't believe that everyone would get in on time based on this lengthy searching procedure. I had won two $250 (Row 2) tickets from a local radio station. From your website, I knew that Paul was signing a few things at the end of the show. I took my Driving Rain vinyl, hoping for the best. As I walked through the door, I was scanned and had to open my bag for a search. The guard asked me what I had inside. I explained to him that it was an album cover and a sharpie. He motioned to a table off to the side and told me that all "gifts" were to be placed on the table and that nothing- absolutely nothing- could be brought into the arena. I explained to him that it was not a "gift" and that I was hoping to get it signed after the show. He told me that there was no chance that he would sign anything. I explained that I had reliable sources that he was indeed doing just that at other shows. He called over another guard and we went through the whole story again. She told me that I could not bring the cover into the arena. I argued a few more minutes. She then went to get yet another guard who snickered at my notion that Paul would take the time to sign anything after the show. He told me that I would either have to take the album back to my car and get back in line (!!!!!) or go with him to a security lock-up and have the album locked away until the show was over. (All this over a cardboard album cover!). I agreed to do that. As my wife and I went through the ticket scanner, neither tickets would scan properly. We were told there was a problem with our tickets and that we would have to leave and go to the boxoffice to get it straightened out. Naturally, this whole scenerio took about 5 minutes, holding up everyone in line behind me. We reluctantly went there, only to find that hundreds of people had tickets that weren't scanning properly. Needless to say, these people were not happy. Each of us had to stand in line and have our tickets re-printed so that they would work with the scanners. This took us about 20 minutes. We were then told that we had to go back outside and get back in line (!!!!!). The lines were now about 3 blocks long. I stuffed my album cover under my jacket and got back in line. We literally got to our seats 2 minutes before the pre-show began. I still can't believe that everyone got in on time. Security was even tighter once inside. People who managed to bring in camers were almost tackled and had them taken away. One girl ran up to the right of the stage and flung some type of t-shirt on to the stage. She was immediately grabbed and ushered out of the arena. The show itself was typical of the others. As the show in St. Louis was on John's 62nd birthday, Paul made mention of it and asked that we all sing happy birthday to John. With Paul's accompaniment, we did. It was touching. At the end of the show, one person threw up a Yesterday and Today album cover, another threw up a drawing and yet another a jacket. You should have seen the look on the guard's faces! Paul quickly -- and I mean quickly -- scrawled his name on them and threw them back into the crowd. Who knows if they got back to their rightful owners? All in all a great show. One thing I noticed was that Paul doesn't move around stage much, unlike Ringo who really plays to the audience. Ahh, Ringo... always the showman!
From Patrick McDonald:
I missed Paul's second go around in Chicago (the site was especially helpful in pointing out the similarities with the 1st leg), but a fellow fanatic sent me this report about the St. Louis show that you might want to post.
Savvis Center, St. Louis, MS, 10-09-02 >From Heather Sandison: You know, I was really looking forward to last night, but I felt the need to kind of rein in my excitement because I was sure that it couldn't be as good as it was 10 years ago. Oh, how wrong I can be. It was absolutely awesome. We had the least expensive seats in the place, but they were dead center so I really couldn't complain. His voice was incredible and the song selection was more than I could have hoped. In viewing the playlist from the first leg of the tour, I looked at it longingly, but didn't pay much attention (I must admit) because I thought there was no chance of him adding additional dates (much less coming to St. Louis). Point being, the songs were pretty much a complete surprise to me, just the way I like it. I don't have the complete list, but I will say two of the highlights were "Blackbird" and "She's Leaving Home," ("Home" was apparently just added on this leg of the tour). Suffice to say that I don't need to go on and on because before you know it I will have written a complete dissertation on my love for Paul (who, by the way, dedicated a song to me personally..."for my lovely lady, Heather." Such a considerate lad!)
From Anthony Glover:
Just got back from the McCartney show in St. Louis. This show fell on the birthday of John Lennon and in tribute to his dear friend, Paul sang "Happy Birthday" to him with a little help from the audience. This was a very touching moment to go along with here today. This show was better than the show I saw in Dallas back in May. The band was tighter and what a thrill to hear "She's Leaving Home" on this leg of the tour. "Michelle" and Let 'Em In' were the other new songs on the songlist. The rest of the songlist and stage banter was the same as the show in Dallas. The only thing missing was a jam between Paul and Chuck Berry.
Great show from ole Saint Looey.
From Starshyne:
Hello! I got the wonderful opportunity to see Paul McCartney on what would have been John's 62nd birthday. The show was at the Saavis Center (formally known as the St. Louis Keil Arena) in St. Louis, Missouri.
I imagine the show was very similar to the others he has been doing. Paul's voice sounded very good...much better than the other concerts I had heard recently. He wished John Lennon a happy birthday several times, and even had the whole audience sing Happy Birthday to him at one point. There was a guy dressed up as Elvis in the crowd, and Paul mentioned the "Elvis sightings" a few times. He was happy to be in St. Louis (which he called St. Louie the whole time) because he had seen the movie "meet me in St. Louie" when he was a child, and never thought he would be performing there. His newer songs were not received by the crowd very well, and I could have sworn that I heard booing when he dedicated "Loving Flame" to Heather. The audience seemed to like the early Beatles material the best, with a lot of people on the floor dancing in the asiles. I personally loved the show! Thanks! Starshyne