An Evening with Sir Paul - Concert Review
Love, love me do in a yellow submarine after a date in an octopus’ garden with a band on the run. If not, we could be back in the U.S.S.R so we may live and let die. If you didn’t have your brain handy, you may have missed a handful of references of songs written by the legendary duo Lennon and McCartney. Although Lennon was shot dead 35 years ago, Sir Paul still plays on and those who were fortunate enough to catch his show in Toronto less than three weeks ago were definitely not disappointed.
It’s amazing to think that at the age of 73, McCartney can still play for close to three hours and 42 songs (you’re not reading that wrong, 42 songs!!!). With the grace of his vocals and skills on the bass guitar, electric guitar and piano, McCartney can still bring joy to a crowd of all ages. Considering it was a long concert, here are many highlights and some lowlights:
Love, love me do in a yellow submarine after a date in an octopus’ garden with a band on the run. If not, we could be back in the U.S.S.R so we may live and let die. If you didn’t have your brain handy, you may have missed a handful of references of songs written by the legendary duo Lennon and McCartney. Although Lennon was shot dead 35 years ago, Sir Paul still plays on and those who were fortunate enough to catch his show in Toronto less than three weeks ago were definitely not disappointed.
It’s amazing to think that at the age of 73, McCartney can still play for close to three hours and 42 songs (you’re not reading that wrong, 42 songs!). With the grace of his vocals and skills on the bass guitar, electric guitar and piano, McCartney can still bring joy to a crowd of all ages. Considering it was a long concert, here are many highlights and some lowlights:
Highs:
“Got to Get You into My Life”; a rocking start
“One After 909”; directly off the Let it Be album and one of the first songs Lennon and McCartney wrote together; rarely has been played live
“Paperback Writer”; wow, another early example of head-banging punk music (yes, you could say the Beatles started the punk music movement)
"Maybe I’m Amazed”; a touching love letter to his late wife Linda
“FourFive Seconds”; holy smokes! No one believed he would perform this recent tune and it sounds better when he performs it solo instead of just him playing bass and Kanye and Ri-Ri singing on it
“Blackbird”; not only a great classic solo guitar tune, but Sir Paul rose up on a smaller stage 20 feet in the air like he was an old bird!
“New”; fresh from the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, it sure does sound happy
“Lady Madonna”; a tribute to women, this song had images on the video screen of great female trailblazers, such as Rosa Parks, Sally Ride, and Billie Jean King
“All Together Now”; never heard this one before; direct from the Yellow Submarine album, I was dancing the can-can with all the people in my row so it must have been special!
“Eleanor Rigby”; the first ever Beatles song I listened to as a child; so memorable to finally be able to hear it performed live
“Something”; from a ukulele start to an electric finish, the song acted as a nice tribute to the Beatles’ most underrated key member George Harrison
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”; tra, le, la, le, life goes on!
“Let it Be”; the unofficial theme song of Muskoka Woods 2015
“Live and Let Die”; go on YouTube and prepare to be pyrotechnically amazed!
"Yesterday”; so great that the BBC voted it the greatest song of the 20th century
“Mull of Kintyre”; a Scottish-themed song that sounded so much more Scottish with the backing of the Paris Port Dover Pipe Band, and Paul even autographed the bass drum!
“Golden Slumbers/The Weight/The End”; and so it ends with probably the greatest medley ever created in the history of music
Lows (note that there was only one!):
“Temporary Secretary”; don’t listen to it. Just don’t.
In the end, Sir Paul and his band made almost 19 000 hearts soar with their virtuoso talents and if you missed out on hearing Sir Paul live, let’s hope he lives to 80 and can play for thousands of more people of all ages!
Rating: 9.6/10
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