Sir Paul McCartney rocks Brooklyn

Bob Marino

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Jan 16, 2007
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 Well, some weeks back, my wife bought 4 tickets to see Paul McCartney at Brooklyn's new Barclay Center. Two seats together for my wife and myself and directly across the stadium from us, 2 tickets for my 15 year old daughter and a friend of hers. Turned out her friend already had tickets, so my sister sat with my daughter. As they are very close in spirit, if not in age, that worked well.
As much as a Beatles  fan as I was and am, I was sort of ho-hum about it. Maybe that's really showing my age. :(
Soooo, the Barclay Center is downtown Brooklyn on Flatbush and Pacific Ave and for those non familiar with Brooklyn, that area was always a very busy hub and until relatively recently, an area that was not the safest at night - putting it politely.
Figuring parking and traffic would be a mess at the stadium, after getting a friend's recommendation, we decided to eat in neighboring Park Slope, an area of Brooklyn long ago very gentrified (cool/hip/packed with restaurants/bars/young singles and couples/tattoos, etc. - you get the picture).

  We decided on this place   -Al De La: http://www.aldilatrattoria.com/. OK, tiny, a bit noisy, but incredible, true and honest Northern Italian Cuisine.  Parking was incredibly tough, but we figured we park at a restaurant and cab it to the stadium. No need - turns out the restaurant  was only a 20 minute walk.
If you are in the area, it been around for ages and deserves the incredible reviews it received.  Highly, highly recommended!

OK, our seats were pretty good and the crowd  was mixed - from babies to boomers, and thank the Lord that the  smell of pot was almost non existant - until the last half hour of the show and those partaking at least were not terribly open and in your face about it. [mad] I wonder if anyone on the ground floor front rows - where Mayor Bloomberg was sitting, would have been so bold?

Here's a review from the New York Daily News, that another FOG member posted in another thread.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/paul-mccartney-rocks-barclays-center-article-1.1367299

To say that the concert was incredible/fun/entertaining would be using words that have been overused to the point of irrelevance. It was so well done, without relying on half naked dancers thrusting at themselves or crotch grabbing, or throwing the F bomb or berating us with politics. It was simply a man with his band singing some of the most memorable songs of the last half century. And he played true to the original music, not adding endless guitar riffs to fill time. And to see him performing (first time) in my hometown - Brooklyn, was over the top.

If I have to say that one group of all the hundreds of groups and solo artists that have emerged since the 50's until today, that has been the most musically and socially (both good and bad, I suppose) earth changing/important, with the largest musical catalog, it's the Beatles. There have been groups with better musicians, or those with better voices, or better at vocally harmonizing, but again, none who put so much, so well together as the Beatles. Their catalog still rocks those young and old, and most probably will continue doing so forever; and I don't think this is a overly nostalgic look back/opinion from an aging boomer; I really believe their music is timeless. Perhaps, the best part of the show for me was watching my daughter stand , sing along and dance with every song he played.

  Bob
 
I am so jealous!! About 3 years ago Paul played in New Orleans but I missed it. A buddy went and said Paul kept playing even after they turned off the power to the stage and killed the lights. Said he played by himself for another 1/2 hour. Truly an artist that enjoys his craft. I had to settle for a Blu-Ray of one of his concerts and really enjoyed that.
 
Sounds like a great time. It takes a bit of effort to see a show and Sir Paul is one who is worth it. Amazing how well his voice still sounds.  He is at the top of the list of the all time greats.
 
That had to be a great concert! 
I came of age in the 60's when first the Beatles, then the British invasion took over our Rock & Roll -- listening to Dick Biondi at WLS in Chicago (9:00 to midnight) the Beatles had the number one requested song each night for a couple of years.
 
 Agree and agree. And he's truly a gentleman. It's a long story, but a few years back, I saw him at an elevator, after  he had paid a visit to a friend. He was with his girlfriend (soon to be his wife) and I asked for his autograph (made out to my daughter) and we all got in the elevator  - and while in the elevator,  I made some of the dumbest conversation imaginable -  probably on par with  with how a 15 year old girls would have acted/spoken at the height of Beatlemania). I sure when the elevator door opened he must of rolled his and and his girlfriend laughing. [embarassed] [embarassed] [embarassed] [embarassed] [embarassed]

Looking back, I wished I would have been a tad bit more um....reserved/adult, even if the autograph was worth the the self- humiliation. Hey, how often does one meet a Beatle?

Bob
 
I'll remember 2010 Paul's concert in SFO for ever ... Flew over from Paris France just for the show on Saturday evening ... That was my Father's Day gift from my older daughter who was living in Palo Alto at this time !! She knew this was one of my dream. A dream which came true for real, sound check, fantastic seats, etc ... Amazing also to see so many top level people from Silicon Valley companies singing and clapping their hands just like the other more ordinary folks ...

One of the best days in my life (of a fool on the hill).

 
Twenty years ago my wife and I went to a Paul McCartney concert in Sydney. I remember thinking at the time Paul was about 50 years old and it's likely to be one of his last tours [eek]

... who could have thought he'd still be enjoying live performances well into a new century?

 
Kev said:
Twenty years ago my wife and I went to a Paul McCartney concert in Sydney. I remember thinking at the time Paul was about 50 years old and it's likely to be one of his last tours [eek]

... who could have thought he'd still be enjoying live performances well into a new century?

Yep, he'll be 71 this month and he played for almost 3 hours, was on key and in tune; energy to spare  also. Unlike some bands and singers from  the 60's and 70's; he's not just going through the motions and equally important has become neither a shell, nor a parody of the performer he was in the early days.

Bob
 
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