Maybe, we’re amazed by McCartney
Sir Paul performs a remarkable show that would have exhausted artists half his age
Thankfully this time around it took much less than 48 years for Paul McCartney to make a return visit to Vancouver.
Less than four years after Macca’s mega concert at the tail end of his On the Run tour at B.C. Place, the legendary Beatle was offering fans not one but two shows at Rogers Arena during his One On One tour.
Let’s call this the “intimate” Macca experience, if you will.
Playing in front of 16,000 fans of all ages is much different than rocking 50,000, and the vibe at Rogers Arena on Tuesday night (he also performed Wednesday) was much more up close and personal than in 2012.
That’s not to say it wasn’t just as epic as the last time around.
Playing for close to three hours and performing a set comprising three dozen classic cuts culled from his days with the Fab Four, Wings and from his solo catalogue, McCartney, 73, was relentless.
Armed with his Hofner bass, Sir Paul came on the stage to the final string swells of A Day in the Life, launching into A Hard Day’s Night with the help of his longtime band consisting of guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, Paul “Wix” Wickens on keys and monster drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr.
“I’m getting the feeling we’re going to have a good time here tonight,” McCartney said after Save Us, from his 2013 album New.
There were very few breaks and pauses, save for Sir Paul to “take a minute and drink it all in,” as he did after Can’t Buy Me Love.
Garbed in signature blue jacket, white shirt and black pants, he seemed to pose for the crowd, as he often does, to let fans drink it all in as well and, perhaps, snap a few shots of their hero.
The ultra crisp LED screens made sure no one missed any of the action, and they were often used to revisit old memories, including rarely seen footage of the Fab Four goofing off.
McCartney didn’t waste any time turning into his cheeky self. Who would’ve thought he would pull out a Kraftwerk-esque Temporary Secretary, complete with electro images of typewriters and fax machines, just because he heard a DJ in the U.K. had been playing the song a lot.
It was a weird way to warm up the crowd before the real blockbuster stuff, but it worked.
Riffs don’t come much bigger than Let Me Roll It, a super-charged crunch monster backed by a staccato drum break that could belong in Led Zeppelin’s songbook. A little Foxey Lady outro to boot? By that point everyone on stage was loose and juiced, McCartney rocking a red splattered Gibson Les Paul.
While there were a few repeat moments from B.C. Place, especially in the scripted bit — the Jimi Hendrix playing Sgt. Pepper’s anecdote gets told almost every show — the Rogers Arena concert was, as advertised, quite different.
What a treat to see McCartney lose himself into I’ve Got a Feeling, where the whole band was singing along and feeling the groove.
My Valentine brought out local favourite Diana Krall on the piano, much to the delight of the crowd. Krall played on the studio version of the song, found on McCartney’s Kisses On the Bottom.
McCartney showed he was straining a bit on that one, seemingly more comfortable belting and wailing on Wings’ Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five or Maybe I’m Amazed, dedicated as usual to Linda.
The frail moments gave McCartney’s 73 years of age their weight, though, adding a certain humanity to a guy who’s been seen as forever young. With that in mind, Here There and Everywhere, on piano, and a jangly We Can Work It Out took on a new meaning.
“Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend,” McCartney sang, the accordion played by Wix giving Paul’s worn voice a slightly funerary edge.
Give Macca some credit, though. The guy just can’t stop. No costume changes (save for removing his jacket) and no backstage breaks.
An acoustic portion played inside an LED display looking like an abandoned cottage included The Quarrymen’s In Spite of All the Danger, The Beatles’ You Won’t See Me, Love Me Do (dedicated to George Martin — what a treat), And I Love Her, a stark Blackbird, of course, and Here Today, dedicated to John Lennon.
It was mostly heavy artillery material after that: Lady Madonna, a solid FourFiveSeconds (the song McCartney recorded with Rihanna and Kanye West), a weeping Eleanor Rigby, the circus psychedelia of Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (with lasers!), and Something (on ukulele, with a nod to George Harrison).
Let’s not forget Ob-La-Di, Ob-LaDa (cue the arena singalong), Band on the Run, Back in the U.S.S.R., Let It Be, Live and Let Die (with huge pyro blasts, lasers — the works), and Hey Jude (which put the fans in the spotlight and on screen).
In the end, it was vintage McCartney — getting older, as we all do — singing songs that will outlast us.