" August 3, 2014 -- Macca Report News
August 2 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Field
PHOTO: Brian Ray - Instagram
SOUND CHECK SETLIST
1. Minneapolis Jam
2. Matchbox
3. Drive My Car
4. Celebration
5. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five, (play some of Band On The Run - brief)
6. I've Just Seen a Face
7. On My Way To Work
8. Ram On
9. San Francisco Bay Blues
10. Bluebird
11. Queenie Eye
12. Lady Madonna
CONCERT SETLIST
1. Eight Days A Week
2. Save Us
3. All My Loving
4. Listen To What The Man Said
5. Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady Coda
6. Paperback Writer
7. My Valentine
8. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
9. The Long And Winding Road
10. Maybe I'm Amazed
11. I've Just Seen A Face
12. We Can Work It Out
13. Another Day
14. And I Love Her
15. Blackbird
16. Here Today
17. New
18. Queenie Eye
19. Lady Madonna
20. All Together Now
21. Lovely Rita
22. Everybody Out There
23. Eleanor Rigby
24. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
25. Something
26. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
27. Band On The Run
28. Back In The U.S.S.R
29. Let It Be
30. Live And Let Die
31. Hey Jude
ENCORE ONE
32. Day Tripper
33. Hi, Hi, Hi
34. Get Back
ENCORE TWO
35. Yesterday
36. Helter Skelter
37. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End
August 3, 2014 -- Paul McCartney Twitter
Macca's shout out to Minneapolis
@PaulMcCartney - Minneapolis! Unbelievable!
August 3, 2014 -- Star Tribune
Paul McCartney: A fun day's night
An ever-youthful Paul McCartney packed nearly 40 songs nearly three hours.
When we met the Beatles, he was the cute one. Now when we are probably saying goodbye (or hello, from the young 'uns), he is the joyful one, the generous one, the ageless one.
In a marathon performance on Saturday at Target Field, Paul McCartney, 72, celebrated one of the richest legacies in the history of popular music. He may not have been as jittery as Jagger or as sweaty as Springsteen. But do they deliver 39 songs over nearly three hours? No, the Stones give you the satisfaction of 19 songs and the Boss might work in 27 or so selections.
Unlike Springsteen or Bob Dylan, Sir Paul doesn't really reimagine his songs. He simply recreated them to service his masses and their collective nostalgia. So what if his voice sounded strained from time to time on Saturday? He could work it out with an unstoppable spirit, a crackerjack band and a repertoire that was pretty unimpeachable (thankfully, no "Silly Love Songs" or "Ebony and Ivory").
Paul's personality has always been able to save him, whether a quick quip, a mugging pose with that face or a raising of his guitar, thumb or arms at the end of many a song. He wouldn't have exactly won awards for best patter at a concert. "This is great. This is cool," he said before "And I Love Her." "What good vibrations."
But, with his bangs blowin' in the wind and those skinny jeans that could have been plucked from his Carnaby Street-filled closet, McCartney reminded fans both young and old why his skill set has set him apart: His gift for melody, harmony and hooks, his flair for writing simple but sincere little love songs and his joy of performing.
While Springsteen may have a sense of purpose and Dylan just carries on like a cranky old minstrel, perpetually boyish Sir Paul plays for the sheer love of performing. It was even apparent on "Here Today," his 1982 tribute to John Lennon. His throat sounded hoarse when he introduced it Saturday, explaining it was the conversation he never got to have with his ex-mate. But then, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, his solo vocal performance was so heartfelt, so pure, so true - even the falsetto ending.
Without missing a beat, McCartney sashayed to the upright piano for the hopelessly buoyant "New," the title track of his 2013 album. Without any sense of hard-sell for the new disc, he offered a four-song sampler of "New."
The taste of Wings, McCartney's second band, came early, with "Listen to What the Man Said," 1974's "Nineteen Hundred and Eight-Five" and "Let Me Roll It," which was followed by an instrumental version of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" and a story about Hendrix playing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in concert two days after it was released - with John, Paul and Eric Clapton in the audience. It didn't matter McCartney had told that story in concert here before.
That Hendrix journey was about it for instrumental fireworks from Sir Paul, who is not big on guitar flash for either himself (he also played bass and piano) or his two sidemen. There was plenty of fireworks, literally, for Wings' "Live and Let Die," whose flame throwers, lasers and explosions were a cut below your average Kiss concert. As for other visual ads, there were shots of pulp book covers on giant video screens during "Paperback Writer" and, oddly, a photo of Anne Frank during "Lady Madonna." And of, course, there were plenty of video closeups of Sir Paul, who belies his age whether because of diet, makeup or show-biz tricks.
In McCartney's sixth Twin Cities performance in six decades, it was still the Beatles numbers that generated the biggest cheers from the crowd. There were some rarities, including "Lovely Rita" and the Lennon-identified "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," which were never in the live repertoire. Even the opening "Eight Days a Week" hadn't been on a McCartney concert set list since the 1964.
Buoyed by the muscular drumming and crucial vocals of Abe Laboriel Jr., McCartney rocked out on the crisp and punchy "Hi Hi Hi," the jagged "Helter Skelter" and the rip-roaring "Back in the U.S.S.R." (introduced by the singer's impersonation of two Russian government officials when they met the Beatles). When Paul "Wix" Wickens' synthesized strings arrived in the middle of a heretofore solo acoustic "Yesterday," they diluted the power of Paul's biggest song. But all was good with the closing medley of "Golden Slumbers," "Carry the Weight" and "In the End," and who will ever forget the giant sing-alongs on "Get Back" and "Hey Jude," when 39,000 fans waved their hands bellowing the "na, na, na's" in what ranks as one of rock's those cherished goose-bump moments in concert right up there with waving your arms to Prince's "Purple Rain" and pumping your fist to Springsteen's "Born To Run."
And, in the end, McCartney declared, "We'll see you next summer." (???!!!) Get back, indeed.
more...
McCartney fans' common refrain: All we need is Paul
Saturday night's concert at Target Field struck a chord with fans who described Sir Paul as a "constant thread" in their lives.
And in the end, the love Paul McCartney took from his nearly three-hour concert Saturday at Target Field was equal to the adulation at July's All-Star Game and any other event the Twins' four-year-old ballpark has seen.
"He's a sure home run," said Tom Degannaro of Lino Lakes, a lifelong fan who - along with his wife and teenage daughter - was among the first of the roughly 40,000 concert attendees to arrive to the stadium. "It's about time he played another outdoor show here again."
The last time McCartney performed outside in Minnesota was when his old group the Beatles - ever heard of them? - tried to play over screaming teenage fans at Met Stadium in Bloomington in 1965.
Hardly just a baby boomer act, Sir Paul is still drawing teen fans to his shows, but under remarkably different circumstances. Gavin Bunnell of New Prague, 14, discovered his music when he received the video game "Beatles: Rock Band" for his 12th birthday.
"By the end of the first day of playing it, I was just obsessed with every one of the songs," said Bunnell, attending his first-ever concert. Quipped his mom Amy Hovel, "Nothing like starting out big."
Last seen in town at Xcel Energy Center in 2005 - his local average is just over one show per decade, with six concerts total now - McCartney was the first, major rock act to play Target Field, after two sold-out shows by country star Kenny Chesney and the smaller Skyline Music Fest. He is also now the only rocker to perform at all three of the Twins' ballparks, counting a solo show at the Metrodome in 1993.
McCartney, 72, took the giant stage in center field wearing a bright blue suit that looked more Brewers than Twins team colors, but it didn't stay on long anyway.
"That's my only wardrobe change of the night," he cracked after removing the jacket a few songs into his set, which opened with "Eight Days a Week." Within the first half-hour, he covered three of the five decades of his career, also including "All My Loving," the "Wings"-era rocker "Let Me Roll It" and his topical new song "Save Us."
During his sound check around 5 p.m. - which drew an early crowd that listened from outside the gates to the likes of "Drive My Car" and "Matchbox" - he also alluded to the muggy weather. "Turn down the heat," was his only instruction to his crew.
While there were no complaints about McCartney from fans during the show, things did get heated over the long lines to get through Target Field's new metal detectors - and even longer lines to get to the field, where a special wristband had to be handed out one-by-one.
"I'm fuming, when I should be all Beatles-y peace and love," complained Nancy Frank of St. Paul, who said it took her group nearly an hour to finally make it to their seat.
At least she got in. Hundreds of fans stood outside the gates listening to the show there, many of whom struck out trying to score a cheap last-minute ticket. Originally priced $36.50 to $250, seats were averaging above $250 at the resale site Stubhub.com earlier in the day.
Now the Twins grounds crew is wondering what price the playing field paid. About 8,000 seats were spread out on rubber padding laid over the grass.
"It's been a much better process than the last couple," said Twins groundskeeper Larry DeVito, referring to the Chesney concerts. However, DeVito's crew will have pulled off a quicker turnaround, since the Twins have an interleague game Tuesday against the Padres. "It's about as tight as we can do it, but I think we'll do fine," DeVito said.
Hardly concerned about the condition of the grass, super-Macca fan Amanda Wirig, 34, of Mankato, said she's worried the concert could be the rock legend's last time in Minnesota, given the age and the infrequency of his prior appearances.
"He's just been a constant thread in my life," said Wirig, echoing another fan's sign that caught McCartney's eye near the stage read, "I've been growing with you for 50 years."
Said Angie McCluskey, 58, of St. Cloud, who has seen him perform five previous times, "It just doesn't get any bigger than this, and probably never will."
http://themaccareport.com/news/report.htm