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| From top, the sign at the Tacoma Dome, Paul and Heather arriving at the Dome 10/19/02, Heather at a "meet and greet" in Seattle. (Thanks to Dave Harper) |
Paul's performance at the Tacoma Dome was his first solo gig in the Seattle area since he played the Kingdome in 1990. I went up to Tacoma with two Beatle buddies, and we spent most of the afternoon tracking down tickets. I was able to get a third row seat (once again in front of the black piano) for $275. I was quite pleased with my seat, but there was one disadvantage. Sometimes when Paul performed at the psychedelic piano, I couldn't see his face--the video camera was in the way!
While Portland appeared to be a sell-out, Tacoma didn't look that way. There were areas of the arena that hadn't been sold at all. Once again, the audience seemed filled with people who had never seen him before. I chatted with several newbies all afternoon, some of whom were also visiting from Oregon. Canada, if the flags flying during the show were any indication, was also well-represented. By now, the intensity of the weekend kicked in, and I got rather weepy during "Here Today" and "Yesterday." Last summer, when I was in Liverpool, I thought how eerie it was to stand in the living room where John and Paul had rehearsed "I Saw Her Standing There". And now, nearly forty years later, I was watching Paul perform that song. Who would've guessed? In the ain't-it-peculiar department: the two men who sat next to me (and bought their tickets through a broker) left before the first encore. Go figure. Paul seemed a little more conversational this time around, mentioning Marie Callendar's by name. He sure loves telling that massage story. I had a fine view of him on the black baby grand, and all I could think was, here is the most attractive man on the planet. (Ed--you knew what you were doing.) It's not that Paul is just physically handsome. He's so at home on the stage, performing. He has joie de vivre. Not all people have that, even performers. The joy he feels in performing just radiates from him. How fortunate we are that he is still with us.
Update (10/23/02) From Quentin and Tina Brown:
Hi! My wife and I drove down from Vancouver to see the Tacoma concert. Our perspectives were interesting as it was my second show and Tina's first.
Highlights for her included the emotion of Here Today and Something, the story and presentation of Blackbird and the sheer length of the concert with hit after hit. Tina's a guitar player and she knows how difficult it is to play Blackbird and she had often wondered how the song came to be wriiten. For myself, a highlight was She's Leaving Home and the fact that Macca was in fine form and great voice throughout the concert. To add a couple comments to Eric Hartvigsen's wonderfully detailed review, I too noticed the change in videos for Lonely Days and the longer guitar break in The End. I also was surprised at the amount of empty space on the floor, especially as Seattle is such a large market. The souvenir stands were impossibly busy before the concert but I was able to get a tee shirt quite easily after the concert. Ironically it's red, white and blue which we never associated with U.S. colours - just liked the design!
From David DeNinno:
Steve,
My wife, myself, and brothers and sister attended Paul's concert at the Tacoma Dome. Great venue for a concert by the way!! The acoustics were very good. Everyone knows the set list, so I won't repeat. Paul was very up, and in a great mood. He told the massage story about the oriental lady, and another about a guy in New Orleans that seemed to want to do more than give Pauly a massage!! Highlights were She's Leaving Home and Let Em In. Of course the entire show was great though. He was very talkative and charming. We saw him in Vegas last April.He was hot that night, but was completely on fire in Tacoma. His voice was strong and he really drove the band. Abe was really hot on drums, especially on the rock stuff. He dedicated My Love to Linda and to all the lovers in the house. And Your Lo- ving Flame was dedicated to Heather ( who was there). Great, great show!!!
(10/22/02) From Dave Bryce:
A few thoughts on the Tacoma concert. First - Wow! To anyone reading: if you have any way of getting to one of the remaining concerts, do it! You won't be disappointed. Better than the '93 tour.
The setlist was the same as the other dates, with the highlights in my opinion being "Back In The USSR", "Blackbird", "She's Leaving Home", and the finale of "Sgt. Pepper / The End". The finale really was great. I also really loved to hear the songs from "Driving Rain". Paul switched to a "no more land mines" t-shirt for the finale... he signed a few autographs at the end. All in all, a fabulous concert. My only complaint is that they need more than 3 guys at the t-shirt booth when there are hundreds or thousands of people waiting!