Beatleweek Part 2: You say it's your birthday? Paul McCartney visits Chicago for mine!

Seeing A Hard Day’s Night in a theater was a memorable experience, but the real highlight of this week and summer (and a major life event) was being lucky enough to see Paul McCartney live and in person.  Sir Paul gave Chicago an astounding show that exceeded my expectations.  If at any point in this post it seems I’m not quite making sense, it’s because I’m sleep deprived due to the fact that he played for nearly THREE HOURS.  Practically continuously.  If there’s any reason to forego sleep on a weeknight, it’s staying up late to see a Beatle with superhuman energy and stamina journey through over 50 years of era-defining hit songs.

I’m so glad I jumped at the chance to see Paul this time around.  Last time he was in Chicago I couldn’t afford tickets.  Admittedly, I probably couldn’t quite afford them this time, but I don’t regret it.  Besides, when I found out that Paul McCartney was playing a show in Chicago on my 24^th birthday, it felt like a sign that I had to go.  My friends Jenny and Lizzy, my steadiest concert buddies who are even bigger Beatles fans than I am, were just as willing to do whatever it took to see him.  I’m very grateful to Jenny for going through the stressful process of ticket-buying while in class at veterinary school.  She even recruited her friend to help her get the best possible seats.

Yesterday…

After weeks of subtly mentioning to almost everyone that I would see Macca on my birthday, finally, the day had arrived!  I overslept, quickly threw on my favorite dress, and headed out to work.  Nothing could ruin my mood: it was my birthday, I had secured a month extension on my lease the day before, the weather was beautiful, and most importantly, in a few hours I would be in the presence of one of the most influential musicians of the last century and writer of the songs I grew up listening to.  Beatles songs played in my head all through work, and after 5:00 I dashed off to meet my friends at The Billy Goat Tavern near the United Center.  The place was packed with fans, many wearing Beatles and Paul McCartney shirts and chatting excitedly.

Around 7:00 everyone migrated en masse to the United Center.  Our bags were checked, our tickets were scanned, and we were in!  We browsed the merch stand (I bought a set of postcards) and a fifty-something couple joked with us that we were the youngest people there, and did we know who The Beatles were?  At least, I hope they were joking.

He was totally wearing Beatle boots.

The concert was entertaining from start to finish, especially the second half which was especially Beatles-songs-laden.  He opened the show with the cheery vibes of “Eight Days a Week” and finished it off appropriately with “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End.”  In between those were 35 other excellent songs.  That is 39 songs in all, if you count the last as three.  THIRTY-NINE.  More than twice the average setlist for any other performer.  I guess you have to play that many songs when you have such a mammoth catalogue of work.  I can’t possibly go through each one here, so I will pick out the best bits.

Most Pleasantly Surprising:

When he finished off “Let Me Roll It” with a jam out to Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.”  Of course I had to record it for my dear friend and Ace Gang member Val; you see, it’s our song.  FOXY!  Then Paul told us a story he apparently tells at all his shows:  The Beatles had released Sgt. Pepper on a Friday, and two days later Jimi Hendrix had learned the song and opened the show with it.  By the end of the song his guitar was so out of tune that he called out to Eric Clapton, who was in the audience that night, to tune it.  My brain melts from just thinking about all of them in the same room together.

Most Poignant:

This was easily when Paul played “Here Today,” his tribute to his bandmate and friend, John Lennon: “a conversation we never got to have.”  It was beautiful and heartbreaking.  I wish so much that John were still here and could have played along with Paul.  He must have been there in spirit.  I hope so, anyway.  I think everyone can agree that we are glad that Paul met John all those years ago.

A close second was when Paul played “Something” on the ukulele and dedicated it to George.  It was bittersweet, but it’s impossible to be completely sad when you hear a George song, especially when played on the ukulele.  I think this version was a great tribute, given George’s fondness for the ukulele.  I plan to learn to play this version on my own. *UPDATE: I have done this.

Most Spectacular:

“Live and Let Die” was SO COOL live.  How else would you perform a James Bond theme song but with loads of pyrotechnics?  It was fireworks and fireballs from beginning to end, punctuating each riff, filling the United Center with smoke and the smell of gunpowder.  The musicians were running about the stage looking like they were having more fun than anybody.

Most dancey:

Lizzy made us realize we absolutely needed to stand up and dance to “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da.”  It was an odd situation since most people actually did sit during the show, given that it was a huge arena and the vast majority of the audience was on the older side.  There were some songs that many people did stand for, and many that were at the very least given a standing ovation.  I hope we didn’t block the view of the people behind us though, because we did rise for several particularly fun and/or important songs.

Most rocked out:

“HELTER SKELTER!”  Paul and his band gave all they had for that song.  It was loud and gritty and screamy and badass.  If you had come into the show right then (which would have been really unfortunate as it was at the end) you would never have guessed that these guys had already been on stage playing for over two hours almost nonstop.

Most spiritual:

“Let It Be.” Obviously.  What hopeful, reassuring words he wrote.  Always an absolute stunner of a song, but especially when you’re singing along with the man who penned it and 15,000 other people.

Most “Oh my god that is Paul McCartney that is SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY IN THE FLESH IN THE SAME ROOM AS ME”:

I cannot tell you how fortunate I feel to have witnessed “Hey Jude” live.  What an anthem.  The room was filled with pure joy as everyone sang “Naaaa na na nanana na” at the top of their lungs.  Paul let us do a few ourselves as he beamed on stage.  He must still feel a huge rush from that.  Why else would he keep touring when he could have retired long ago?

Oh but “Yesterday” hit me pretty hard too.  That’s one of those songs that I know so well, is so familiar to me, that I feel right at home when I hear it.  Despite its melancholy nature, it makes me happy.  I couldn’t resist singing “Scrambled eggs…. Oh my baby how I love your legs” during one of the verses.

Ok, actually there were a lot of “OH MY GOD IT’S REALLY PAUL” moments.  Of course.  But other big ones for me were “Get Back” and “Maybe I’m Amazed.”  I was really glad he did “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as that’s one of my favorite songs.

What a fantastic experience it was to see one of the musicians who most shaped my musical education live, and I am so glad I got to share it with friends who feel the same and understand going to great lengths to see a 72-year-old man play songs he wrote fifty years ago.  It struck me that we are very fortunate to be the ages we are now. (Here is where my thoughts might get hard to follow but bear with me.)  While we may not have been around in the sixties to experience The Beatles’ rise to fame and all the changes—both musical and cultural—that surrounded it, our parents were young enough latch onto the band’s music then.  They then introduced us to The Beatles as children.  Their songs became more familiar than nursery rhymes, and we grew up to understand and appreciate their legacy.  Had we been 20 years older, our parents likely would have been too old in the sixties to become fans in the first place.  Had we been younger, our parents would have been born later and likely wouldn’t have grown up loving their music; what’s more, if we were too young we might have missed our own chance to see Paul or Ringo live!  It’s bad enough that I’ll never see George Harrison or John Lennon or all The Beatles together… but as I’ve said, I feel extraordinarily fortunate to have had the chance to see Ringo (twice), and now Sir Paul McCartney, who has written so many classic songs that I still find ones I haven’t heard before.

I don’t know if I’ll get to see Paul McCartney live again.  I really hope so.  But I am grateful for the chance to have seen him this once.  The only downside to all of this is that I doubt any of my future birthdays can top my 24^th.

Beatleweek Part 1: A Hard Day's Night on the Big Screen, 50 Years Later

"Hey, pardon me for asking but who's that little old man?"

The Beatles were some of the first music I listened to; I think I knew all the words to their first few albums before I could actually talk.  A Hard Day’s Night was a frequent choice for movie night in my house and I loved it long before I understood most of the jokes, like John pretending to snort Coca-Cola and Paul quoting Hamlet while wearing a sheet.  Now that I think about it, it’s a great movie for kids; virtually no plot, lots of slapstick, plenty of opportunities to laugh along with everyone even though you don’t know why it’s funny.

Though I’d watched the movie just two days before on DVD, seeing A Hard Day’s Night in the tiny theater at The Music Box was a whole new experience.  The room was filled with people of all ages, from tweens to the 60-year-old hippie who had seen the movie when it first premiered in 1964.  Maybe I was trying to see it through the eyes of my friend Amy, who came with me and hadn’t seen it before, or perhaps the size of the screen allowed me to pick up on things that I had never previously noticed (I try to pick out new details and  lines every time I watch it).  I’m not even talking about the four minutes of unreleased footage they added to the film, which was exciting to see.  Some things I noticed were Shake drawing a face on the wig form in the dressing room, and that Norm’s tie is really cool—skinny, with a kind of black lizard skin print.

What really hit me hard for the first time was their age.  I’ve been watching this movie since I was a toddler.  The Beatles were always this grand thing, these famous musicians that have become a sort of modern folklore.  But last night, watching the movie on Ringo’s 74^th birthday and anticipating my own 24^th birthday in a couple days, it struck me that I am as old as the eldest Beatle when they made the movie.  I think about where I am in my life, and where they were in theirs.  They were simultaneously professional adults and silly schoolboys.  They were serious about the music but didn’t take themselves or their fame too seriously, at least not yet.  They were just kids with their whole lives ahead of them, just before the onset of the 60s Counterculture and their travels to India and hallucinogens and Apple Records and creating really cool, weird, experimental music and leading social movements.  In fact, the movie started production just before The Beatles’ legendary performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, that brought Beatlemania stateside.  It was intensely bittersweet watching John and Ringo singing “If I Fell” side by side, knowing that today Ringo is currently on tour and making music while John was wastefully taken from us more than 30 years ago.  Watching Paul and George harmonize with the knowledge that I would be seeing Paul live and in person in less than 48 hours while my favorite Beatle, George, left us when I was too young to understand what the world had lost.  They had no idea what the future held and were just enjoying the moment.

But that’s just another reason to love A Hard Day’s Night.  It’s a sort of time capsule of the Beatles in those early years of the band, just as everything was changing for them.  Though the movie is scripted (loosely but expertly), I think it’s an authentic portrayal of this band known for their wittiness and sense of humor, almost as much as their musical talent.  Personally, I don’t think John was acting at all.

In summary: I saw my favorite movie, one I’ve seen countless times at home, on the silver screen for the first time.  In many ways I wish I had been alive in 1964 for the onset of Beatlemania, definitely one of the screaming girls in the audience.  But I will gladly accept seeing it now, in a little theater with the people that keep coming back to the movie and the band that mean so much to them fifty years later.

 Up next: "You say it's your birthday? It's my birthday too, yeah!" I see Paul McCartney live.