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http://www.omaha.com/go/review-paul-mccartney-plays-old-and-new-music-at-omaha/a..." Review: Paul McCartney plays old and new music at Omaha show "
" Sir Paul did it all.
He played guitar, bass, keyboards and piano. He commanded the stage with his band and on his own.
He did his first-ever recording from his first band and his most recent, which was made with pop and hip-hop stars.
Sunday at CenturyLink Center, Paul McCartney did old, new and everything in between, and his fans loved him for it.
They walked into the arena sporting Beatles T-shirts, Union Jack flags and brightly colored Sgt. Pepper-style military uniforms. They talked about favorite songs and favorite Beatles. They snapped selfies with old Beatles photos flashing on the screens behind them.
Anticipation built as people found their seats and waited in beer lines.
More than 19,000 people showed up to the sold-out CenturyLink Center to see the former Beatle work through 39 songs for more than three hours like the master that he is.Kate Varady, 64, saw him in concert last week in Oklahoma City, where she lives, and was so delighted that she brought her kids, Christina and Matthew Aiello, to Omaha.
They prepped for the show by snapping pictures of one another with the stage as a backdrop.
“We all listened to the Beatles,” Varady said. “They grew up with them on all the time.”
Varady picked them up in Kansas City and hit the road. All were sporting McCartney and Beatles gear, Christina Aiello in an “Abbey Road” shirt and Varady in a tour T-shirt she picked up at the Oklahoma City show.
When McCartney finally took the stage, the massive crowd went wild.
“Good evening, Omaha. It's great to be back here. I'm getting the feeling we're gonna have some fun in this place tonight,” he said after stepping onstage with his signature Hofner violin-style bass. “We’re gonna play some old songs, some new songs and some in between ones. So let's get started.”
And that's exactly what he did.
McCartney and his four-man band worked through his extensive catalog of Beatles hits and obscurities, Wings material and newer solo songs. He even took us all the way back in time to the days of the proto-Beatles band The Quarrymen to play “In Spite of All the Danger.”
Later in the set, McCartney performed his most recent tune, “FourFiveSeconds,” which he wrote with Kanye West and Rihanna.
McCartney paid tribute to the deceased members of the Beatles at various points, first by performing “Here Today” and explaining that it was all the things he wanted to say to John Lennon but never did.
Later, McCartney pulled out a ukulele that was given to him by George Harrison. And then he performed “Something” while photos of Harrison flashed up on the screen behind him.
He dedicated “My Valentine” to his wife, Nancy, who was in attendance. And then he dedicated the next song, “Maybe I’m Amazed,” to his late wife Linda.
McCartney did it all, and he did it well.
He sat behind the keys for “Queenie Eye” and lit up a baby grand during “Maybe I’m Amazed.” He played bass on various songs, especially early Beatles stuff, but switched to guitar and cranked out guitar solos for “Let Me Roll It.”
The only thing that has suffered is McCartney’s voice. At 75, his voice isn't quite what it used to be. Though he's sometimes criticized for playing old songs without changing the key to fit his current voice, I found that his voice simply isn't as full as it once was and he sometimes couldn't carry the song.
That said, he gave it his all during every song, especially during the boisterous parts of “Hey Jude” and “Live and Let Die.”
McCartney's best vocal performances came when he performed solo with only an acoustic guitar, especially on “Blackbird” and “Here Today,” a two-song stand in which he let his voice and guitar skills shine.
McCartney made every big moment as big as he could make it, and he made the intimate moments feel like he was playing just for you.
“Live and Let Die” came with explosions, massive spurts of flame and fireworks blasting all over the stage as if it were an actual James Bond production. A few songs later, he stood on the edge of the stage, strummed his guitar and sang “Yesterday.”
Always affable, McCartney peppered the show with plenty of stories like the time the Beatles went to see Jimi Hendrix play in London and how he ended up taking the lead singing the chorus on “Love Me Do” when the Beatles recorded it at Abbey Road. He talked about he and Lennon running into their pals Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and how the two Beatles gave the Rolling Stones “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
McCartney made fans feel welcome, inviting a pair onstage for a marriage proposal and a hug, reading his favorite homemade signs out loud and goading them into singing along wherever and whenever possible.
And they did, especially in the final run of songs, which was entirely popular Beatles and Wings material such as “Band on the Run,” “Back in the USSR,” “Let it Be,” “Live and Let Die,” “Hey Jude,” “Yesterday” and “Hi, Hi, Hi,” among others.
“You sound so good,” McCartney said. “Omaha rules.”
The show closed with a three-song run from side two of “Abbey Road” in which he strung together “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End,” just like on the record.
It was incredible, and the show ended with the classic line, “The love you take is equal to the love you make.”
As this fans shouted and cheered, McCartney looked around, read their homemade signs, flashed smiles and enjoyed the adoration.
“This is so cool,” McCartney said. “I'm just gonna take a minute just for myself to drink it all in.”
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https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/paul-mccartney/2017/centurylink-center-omaha-ne-6...