" August 10, 2011 -- Macca Report EXCLUSIVE!!!
By John Cherry, Macca Reporter
PAUL McCARTNEY IN CONCERT-WRIGLEY FIELD-7-31-11
The last time I was in Chicago to see Paul McCartney in concert was for his return to touring in 1989. I was at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago to see Paul for two shows. It was very emotional, as it had seemed for many years that Paul might not ever tour again, especially after the tragic assassination of John Lennon in 1980.
While not as emotional, being in Wrigley Field was a unique experience.
Arriving by train, I get to Wrigley some 90 minutes before the scheduled start of the show. I picked up my tickets for both shows and proceeded to my seat that was 18 rows from the stage and about 10 seats from the center of the outfield seating. The stage is set in center field, with the city of Chicago providing a beautiful back drop. Even more exciting is the rooftop seating behind the stage, which is filled up by the start of the show, just as are all of the seats inside the stadium.
At just a tick past 8:30, Paul and the band walk on the stage. For about 30 minutes prior to that, the crowd had been entertained by both music and a scrolling screen of pictures, drawings, and videos. This treasure of history and memorabilia contains material from Paul's career, as a Beatle and solo artist, along with displays of many others that were influences on him or a direct part of his life.
Soon after the scroll is making a repeat run, Paul opens the show, wearing a fashionable blue jacket. "Hello Goodbye" is the opening number and the sound is excellent and the crowd is thrilled. Although I think Paul may have flubbed some lyrics at the end, the opening number is overwhelmingly well-received.
The second song, "Junior's Farm" is a bit of a surprise for most of the crowd, but it is nice to see it resurrected from the 1976 tour collection. Following the song, Paul speaks to the crowd for the first time saying "Good Evening Chicago-Welcome to Wrigley Field." After telling the crowd they may remember the next tune, Paul begins "All My Loving," which was the song that introduced The Beatles to the world on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.
Prior to the next song, Paul acknowledges being at a historical place and expresses pride about becoming part of the current history. He also takes a few moments to "soak it all in," a practice he started the last several years.
A staple from all of Paul's shows, "Jet" is next and the crowd is happy to join Paul and raise their hands when the title word is sung. The blue jacket comes off after "Jet," revealing Paul in a blue-gray shirt that is already soaked in sweat, along with suspenders. He looks just as trim as he did last year when I saw him in concert in Miami and Charlotte. He tells the crowd that the first time he played in Chicago (with The Beatles) that he only heard the screams, not his music. As expected, there is now screaming from the crowd, bringing a smile to Paul's face.
A well-received "Drive My Car" is the next song, followed by the lesser known and much more recent "Sing the Changes" from the Fireman album "Electric Arguments." As noted in my book "Paul McCartney's Solo Music Career 1970-2010"(available at betterthanlennon.com), this is one of my favorite songs. Tonight, Paul adds additional lyrics and instrumental pieces.
Announcing that the next song is a first for this "On the Run" tour, Paul launches into "The Night Before," which made its appearance in The Beatles movie "Help!. After the song, Paul hoists his famous Hofner bass, which is then almost dropped after the toss of it to his assistant John Hammel.
Now on guitar, Paul leads into another song from the "Band On The Run" album in "Let Me Roll It." Paul changes guitars again and tells the crowd he is now playing the guitar originally used for the Beatle song "Paperback Writer," which is received with strong applause. He adds a long extra instrumental lead guitar portion to the song, a nice addition and another clear indication of his amazing overall musical abilities.
Moving to the piano, Paul slows the pace a bit with "The Long And Winding Road," another staple from his tours.
The next song is one of my favorites, having used it in my wedding, and is announced by Paul as "for the Wings Fans." Also from "Band On The Run," "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" was added to his set last year, and I hope it will remain there. Great song, perfectly done, and well-received. From this high point, the enthusiasm is dampened a bit by "Let 'Em In." Although Paul and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. have a fun time doing the song, it was not a high point for the show.
That was followed by a song that was dropped for awhile from his shows, possibly because of the near screaming portions of it, but "Maybe I'm Amazed" was very popular with the crowd, and Paul had no problem pulling off a strong performance of it.
The acoustic portion of the show, mostly with Paul on his own, started with the 1965 Beatle song "I'm Looking Through You," followed by Paul proudly talking about the recent royal wedding in England with Prince William saying "I Will," in his wedding vows, which preceded a lovely performance of a song with those same words as the title.
A huge hit of the night followed in "Blackbird," one of the several "singalongs" from the crowd. This high was sobered a bit by "Here Today," Paul's touching song written for John Lennon. Paul called it what he wished he had said to John before he passed away, and implored the crowd to "say what you feel."
The sobering feeling was quickly changed by Paul performing "Dance Tonight" on the mandolin, along with Abe doing a hilarious dance (the sprinkler) in the background, when not performing his drumming duties.
With an extended "ho-hey-ho" portion, Mrs. Vandebilt (again from "Band On The Run") kept the crowd enthused. The gathering was then electrified by "Eleanor Rigby," and even more so when Paul talked about George and started off Harrison's "Something" with a ukulele given to him by his late band mate. The enthusiasm also stayed quite high for "Band On The Run," and huge applause greeted its completion, especially from the crowd in the upper deck.
Another song added last year, and a very popular singalong that Paul encouraged came with the performance of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, followed by a very energetic band offering of "Back In The USSR." After the song, Paul talked of his humbling meeting with Russian officials while in Russia doing a show in Red Square.
"I've Got A Feeling" came next, with Rusty and Abe singing what were John Lennon's portion of the vocals in the original song from the "Let It Be" album. Another speedy and extended instrumental portion was added to the song, as Paul again exhibited his lead guitar capabilities.
While I think some lyrics may have been flubbed, another tribute to John followed with the performing of the combination of The Beatles "A Day In The Life," and John's "Give Peace A Chance." Paul again implored the crowd to sing with him.
Back at the piano, long-time favorite "Let It Be" was next, and then the electrifying "Live And Let Die," complete with stage fireworks and explosions and a stunning fireworks display launched from behind the stage. After the smoke cleared, Paul went to the smaller, colorfully painted piano in front of the stage to launch another huge singalong in "Hey Jude."
This led into the first encore, starting with "Lady Madonna," followed by "Day Tripper," which led to a bit of dancing by the band. Paul tolding the crowd that they and the band were still going as he quickly jumped into "Get Back" to finish the first encore.
The second encore started slower as nearly everyone sang "Yesterday" along with Paul. This was followed by a raucous version of "Helter Skelter," accented by the roller coasters on the video screen.
The show ended with another outstanding staple of "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End." It was a night I will never forget. From the beautiful Wrigley Field setting, to the elderly lady in my row who thanked her 20-something male companions for taking her to the show. She gently weeped while watching the last few songs. Thankfully, I got to return the next night to hear more.
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August 10, 2010 -- ABC News radio
James McCartney's New EP
Paul McCartney's son, James, is continuing to follow in his famous dad's footsteps. The 33-year-old musician's second EP, Close at Hand, was made available via iTunes on Monday and will be released worldwide on August 30.
Like James' debut EP, 2010's Available Light, the new recording was co-produced by Paul and David Kahne, the latter of whom collaborated on the Beatles legend's Driving Rain and Memory Almost Full albums. James penned all the songs on the six-track effort, and played most of the instruments, including piano, guitar and bass. Among the tunes is the track "Wings of a Lightest Weight," which James wrote about his late mother, Linda McCartney.
"There is only one thing to do with high expectations, and that is meet them," said McCartney with regard to Close at Hand, which he considers a counterpart to his first release. "I wanted to follow Available Light with something that showed a progression...that had an even deeper meaning, both spiritually and musically."
Here's the Close at Hand track list:
1. "I Only Want to Be Alone"
2. "Wings of a Lightest Weight"
3. "The Sound of My Voice"
4. "Else and Else but Dead"
5. "Jesus Be My Friend"
6. "Fallen Angel"
Hear "I Only Want To Be Alone"
http://www.fabfourum.com/Hear EP sampler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u6PWpyx9_ek#at=13--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 10, 2011 -- CMU.com
Paul McCartney to speak to police over phone hacking
Paul McCartney has said that he will ask police at Scotland Yard to investigate the possibility that his voicemail was hacked by journalists at The Daily Mirror. The accusations stem from a column written by Piers Morgan for The Daily Mail in 2006 in which ther former Daily Mirror editor seems to admit that his paper hacked into the phone of Heather Mills while she was married to the former Beatle.
Morgan wrote: "At one stage I was played a tape of a message Paul had left for Heather on her mobile phone. It was heartbreaking. The couple had clearly had a tiff, Heather had fled to India, and Paul was pleading with her to come back. He sounded lonely, miserable and desperate, and even sang 'We Can Work It Out' into the answerphone".
McCartney told reporters last week: "I'll tell you that when I go back after this tour I'm going to talk to the police because I apparently have been hacked. I don't know much about it, but I do think it's a horrendous violation of privacy, and I think it's been going on for a long time and more people than we've heard about knew about it".
Scrutiny of Piers Morgan and his possible involvement in phone hacking has increased in recent weeks. Morgan, now a presenter for CNN in the US, has denied any involvement.
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August 10, 2011 -- Perez Hilton
Piers Morgan Accuses Heather Mills Of Hacking Into Paul McCartney's Phone!
During his appearance last night on Conan, Piers Morgan addressed the recent reports that Paul McCartney had his phone hacked by News of the World, and despite the Beatles' member's ex-wife Heather Mills accusing the former editor of being responsible, he in turn took the opportunity to claim that it was most likely, in fact, HER! "
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