" August 12, 2009 -- Hometown Weekly.net
Paul McCartney live at Fenway Park
It was over an hour and a half into a sweltering set of hits that Paul McCartney decided to exert even more energy into his concert. Right before manically banging his fingers against the keys of a grand piano, McCartney sang the words "Live and let die," prompting fireworks to shoot into the night sky behind him, golden sparks raining down majestically upon Fenway Park on August 5th.
A sea of Beatles t-shirts washed over Yawkey Way before the show as anxious ticket holders flooded Gate A, eager to join their brethren inside the park who were already singing along to McCartney tunes being played on the loudspeakers. Though no tickets were sold in the "Monster Seat" section, bleachers and infield area, patrons easily filled in the remaining seats in the park.
A large stage was erected in the deepest section of centerfield with a few thousand additional seats added to the outfield area. Though the distance from an area like the loge section on the third base line was a healthy one from the stage, this shortcoming was made up for by two towering projection screens that provided video images of Sir Paul's every move.
The show, conducted in support of the former Beatles' Fireman effort, 'Electric Arguments', was McCartney's first at the hallowed baseball grounds, a fact that he playfully made sport of when talking about the Red Sox in a Boston accent (at least a Liverpool lad attempting to do a Boston accent).
McCartney's joking aside (and there were many in between songs), the set got off to a expeditious start with "Drive My Car" and "Jet" prompting much audience participation.
A series of tunes retrospective of Macca's post-Beatles career followed (including "Only Mama Knows", "Flaming Pie", "Let Me Roll It" and "Highway") before the band slowed things down for "The Long and Winding Road", which caused quite a few audience members to grow teary-eyed.
Despite being 67-years-old, McCartney bounced around stage with a youthful energy for two and a half hours, playing five separate instruments and interacting with the crowd between nearly every song.
"Dance Tonight", "Mrs. Vanderbilt", "I'm Down" and "Hey Jude" provided fun sing-alongs, the latter of which expectedly drew the largest response with McCartney breaking down the ending by asking only the men to sing a stanza, followed by the women. Upon hearing the women sing, McCartney asked them to repeat the lines as he posed like a male model. When he asked for the singing to be split between the back section and the front, however, the nosebleed section turned decidedly Fenway, booing those up front who didn't sing as loudly as they did.
McCartney honored his fellow Fab Four brothers when he pulled out a ukulele for a version of George Harrison's "Something", while John Lennon was honored with renditions of "Daytripper and "A Day in the Life". As quickly as the band launched into "Give Peace a Chance" they stopped playing, allowing the crowd to fill the park with an a cappella version while the soothing lights of the Prudential building twinkled in the distance. "
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