Paul McCartney Miami 09/16/05

[Matt Cameron]

My two sisters, a brother-in-law and I went to the first show of Paul McCartney's 2005 tour in Miami on Friday night. I can die now. We had a blast, hearing one smash hit after another, mixed with some tunes Paul had never done in America before, like "Helter Skelter". Highlights for me were "Jet" (my personal favorite), "Hey Jude", "Got to Get You Into My Life", and "Yesterday" with Paul on acoustic guitar. At 63, the man was absolutely tireless, and left the stage for a total of about 3 minutes. We counted at least 36 songs, including an abbreviated "Yellow Submarine", which Paul did after spotting someone holding a cut-out of the image from the LP cover. He stopped after one verse, saying "We'll save that one for Ringo's tour!"
He did solo multi-song spots on acoustic guitar and piano, and played electric guitar on some songs, most notably "The End", and electric piano on "Let it Be". Man, what a night. The drive home felt like it took all of 5 minutes.

[BrettVW]

The Beatles were the first band I ever liked as a kid. When I was as young as 4, I would make my parents play Beatles tapes in the car and at home all day long it seemed. If it wasn't The Beatles, I wouldn't listen. My parents got so sick them! I have every Beatles album on tape, as well as many of them on cassette and vinyl. Although my musical tastes have grown exponentially, The Beatles are without a doubt still my favorite band. I would give anything to see Paul in concert - and it sounds like you had the time of your life, which I know I would have.

In fact, tonight I plan on showcasing a few Beatles songs on my radio show, which starts in 50 minutes. Show prep time!!

[Matt Cameron]

Back in early April, on the Saturday when the tickets went on sale, I was glued to Ticketmaster waiting for the clock to strike noon. I've never typed so furiously in all my life. Seats weren't great, but I was in the building, which was my objective.
I didn't "Discover" the Beatles until after John died in 1980. I started buying tapes and LP's and listening, and be amazed at how many of their songs I knew, even though I didn't know it was the Beatles doing them. They are far and away my favorite band ever (U2 a distant second) and I didn't want to leave this earth without seeing one of them in concert. No offense to Ringo, I know people who've attended his "All-Starr" shows and had a blast, but I'd rather see Paul. And now I have. My favorite trivia tidbit about Paul is that the Side 2 medley on "Abbey Road" (possibly the greatest side of the greatest album ever) was his idea.