Paul McCartney Live in Atlanta

[beatlefreak]

This post is a little behind the times. My family and I went and saw Paul at Piedmont Park in Atlanta on August 15th. I've seen him every tour that he's come around (1976, 1989, 1993, etc.), and I have to say this was the best show I've ever seen him put on. His band was top-notch and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Paul looked great also - even lost some the the jowls he's had for the past several years. This was the first time I'd seen Paul where he had an opening band. The were called The Script out of Dublin, Ireland, and were quite good.

Highlights of the show for me were his tributes to George and John. He brought out a ukelele that George had given him, talked a bit about how much George loved the uke, then started playing a jaunty solo version of Something. When he got to the middle 8 ("You're asking me will my love grow..."), the whole band joined in, switching tempo to a perfect Abbey Road version. All during this, a montage of pctures of George were shown on the screen behind the band.

For John's tribute, the band played A Day In The Life. Again, a perfect Sgt. Pepper's rendition. Keyboard player Wix handled the orchestra buildup masterfully, while drummer Abe Laboriel did the counting that Mal originally did on Pepper's. They even had the alarm clock ring! At the end of the song, the band broke into Give Peace a Chance. Another highlight was the return of the Wings song Mrs. Vanderbilt, which I hasn't heard him do since 1976. Truly amazing stuff.

Here's the set list:

01. Drive My Car
02. Jet
03. Only Mama Knows
04. Flaming Pie
05.Got To Get You Into My Life
06. Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady ending
07. Highway
08. The Long And Winding Road
09. My Love
10. Blackbird
11. Here Today
12. Dance Tonight
13. Calico Skies
14. Mrs. Vanderbilt
15. Eleanor Rigby
16. Sing The Changes
17. Band On The Run
18. Back In The USSR
19. I'm Down
20. Something
21. I've Got A Feeling
22. Paperback Writer
23. A Day In The Life/Give Peace A Chance
24. Let It Be
25. Live And Let Die
26. Hey Jude

1st Encore
27. Day Tripper
28. Lady Madonna
29. I Saw Her Standing There

2nd Encore
30. Yesterday
31. Helter Skelter
32. Get Back
33. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) / The End

And. last but not least, the reason it's taken me so long to report on this concert. I took pictures, and have just gotten around to sorting through the ones that came out decently. So, here are some pictures of Paul and the band in Piedmont Park:

[beatlefreak]

And some more:

Rusty Anderson

Paul "Wix" Wickens

[beatlefreak]

And a few more:

Brian Ray

Abe Laboriel

[winston]

Wow. That's a cool story Kris. Thanks for sharing it and also posting the great pics.

[scotty]

The Script are are top band Kris.Great post cheers.

[Scastles]

It was a great show, Kris. I caught him two days later in Arlington. Exact same set list other than one exception. He talked about Lubbock and Buddy Holly and did 'It's So Easy'. Otherwise, the set list was exactly the same. Same opening act. Downside for the Script were the acoustics in Cowboy Stadium. They hadn't worked out the kinks to compensate for the all 'glass' stadium. McCartney worked on sound checks all the way up to an hour before the show started to insure a better sound for himself.

[kiramdear]

So cool, Kris, thanks for those pics and the review. I'm still waiting for him to announce the West Coast leg of the tour.

[doombuggy]

damn I wanted to go

[FretlessOnly]

He brought out a ukelele that George had given him, talked a bit about how much George loved the uke, then started playing a jaunty solo version of Something. When he got to the middle 8 ("You're asking me will my love grow..."), the whole band joined in, switching tempo to a perfect Abbey Road version.

Funny, as Something isn't a song I usually think of when I think of the Beatles, but when I saw Paul at Fenway Park in early August, the power coming from the band when they kicked in at the middle 8 was absolutely killer. Might have been the highlight of the whole show for me.