Paul McCartney has officially become an oldies act.
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Left hand man, I agree with you, there are tons of great songs in his collection. There isn't one I wouldn't want to hear live. You ask why doesn't Paul give them a chance. A better question would be would an audience give them a chance. Maybe Paul is a better expert on this. Which is my point.
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great review andy (JLB) i also loved singing along with penny lane, and hippy hippy shake was an awesome unexpected opener. and give peace a chance, watching that afterwards on bbc 2 with yoko singing and clapping was a special memory, for we must remember how much john loved her..............all in all a fantastic show..........i went back and had to teach my hubby in liverpool cuz i was certain he would play it, not surprisingly, all of the folks sitting by us had never heard it before, even the ones who had seen many mccartney shows.............that one was an extra special treat, even for me, from california
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left hand man:
The Liverpool setlist was appropriate because it was a very special occasion. Even though I think something like Juniors Farm or Only Mama Knows would of been a better opener! McCartneys regular tours have been predictable for the last twenty plus years! It's time for him to totally reinvent the setlist for the future! I don't care what anyone says, performing the same basic set of songs for twenty plus years is just far too long! It's always going to be someones first time seeing McCartney, does that mean the man has to play the same show over and over and over for the rest of his life! This man has #1 songs that he's never even performed live, how do you choose to play a song like C moon and never play a top ten hit like Juniors Farm? There's just no way that can be justified. If you're a true McCartney fan, you would want to hear as much of his music as was humanly possible! If he is regarded as an oldies act, it's his own fault because he hasn't presented the public with a live show that's representative of the variety within his amazing career! His setlist is old, tired, repetitive, predictable, and becoming redundant and boring! It doesn't have to be that way, McCartney needs to dig deep into his Wings and solo material and put together a totally different show that we have never ever seen before. He and we are very blessed that he has the fantastic songs to do it!
Exactly. There are other hit singles like "Take It Away" that he never performed live. I also think he selects the wrong songs from latest record to perform live. Fox example, "About You" would have been great for the "Driving Rain" tour. "Promise to You Girl" would have been excellent for the "CHAOS" tour. If he tours this year and does not do "Only Mama Knows" and "House of Wax", he is crazy. As for Wings stuff, why not do acoustic song like "Bluebird" from BOR. He could give his voice a break during the show and do something like "Rockesstra", bet the band would love it. Heck, I would even love to hear "Silly Love Songs" again. I love the Beatles as much as anybodybut some of these numbers have been played to death. (Hey Jude, Longand Winding Road, Let It Be, Yesterday etc). Why not perform things like "I Feel Fine", "You Are Gonna Lose That Girl", "Rocky Racoon", "Oh Darling", "And I Love Her" etc?
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Guys I invite you to go over to the Steve Hoffman forums where the same question is being discussed, they could use some of your very knowledgeble insights. Yankeefan7, I totally agree with you, the man has so many songs he should be performing! Denny C, how could McCartney be a expert on this when he has never ever done it? That's why I say he should give the audience the benefit of the doubt and present them with a show they have never ever seen before.
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Again, I think the point that's going to be brought home soon is that due to Paul's vastly-increased public profile in the past few years and the immediacy/spread of reporting and coverage on the web media, it's no longer only hardcore fans who have seen the same show multiple times! This is the point he might be missing and it's a point which can be brought home very hard in the media where the journalists are sheep-like. In recent years, we've had a lot of bigging up of Paul and this was started by a few and copied by many. Great when it's positive but works just the same way when it's negative. Getting ahead of the game is what's important and therefore the fact that the show format is still very successful should not dissuade ANYBODY in showbusiness from moving it on. This isn;t a calll for some Madonna-like 'reinvention'. As DennyC says, that ain't what Paul is about...it IS about constantly renewing 'the offer' though and that is now becoming an urgent matter in regard to the general McCartney live show. We can see the degree to which this is now an issue amongst hardcore fans.. It will be best not to wait until it is replicated right across the media. MOVE IT AND GROOVE IT!
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I wish the critics would lighten up here!!!!
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ALL WE ARE SAYING, IS GIVE [insert new song title to be played live] A CHANCE!!!
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If you play any song long enough, it gets tiring. Just like on the radio, a number 1 hit doesn't stay number 1 forever no matter how good it is because people inevitably start liking something else after a while. On a different time scale, a song's repeated live performance also starts to lose part of its shine. Either it must be somehow reinvented or perhaps given a rest for a tour or two to become fresh again in the future. Personally, I think it would be a shame if new or old fans were never given the opportunity to hear and see many of McCartney's compositions live because he chose to play pretty much the same set-list for the rest of his touring days. And given McCartney's vast, extremely popular catalog, I don't see how anyone can argue that foregoing his current overplayed repertoire automatically relegates him to playing obscure b-sides or only new songs The man has SO MANY classics, he could perform numerous completely different set-lists without ever repeating a song from tour to tour and still make everyone happy. It's ironic that McCartney is one of the few, maybe the only person still active in music today that is in such an enviable position. He's the most prolific pop musician ever, I hope his future live sets reflect this diversity.
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Actually I don't know about anybody else but what I'm hoping to do is somehow attract the attentions of the set-manager and annoy him so much that he ends up playing a full set of b-sides just to piss everyone off. Then I can happily retire to the Cotswolds with my yachts.
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lyceum '89:
If you play any song long enough, it gets tiring. Just like on the radio, a number 1 hit doesn't stay number 1 forever no matter how good it is because people inevitably start liking something else after a while. On a different time scale, a song's repeated live performance also starts to lose part of its shine. Either it must be somehow reinvented or perhaps given a rest for a tour or two to become fresh again in the future. Personally, I think it would be a shame if new or old fans were never given the opportunity to hear and see many of McCartney's compositions live because he chose to play pretty much the same set-list for the rest of his touring days. And given McCartney's vast, extremely popular catalog, I don't see how anyone can argue that foregoing his current overplayed repertoire automatically relegates him to playing obscure b-sides or only new songs The man has SO MANY classics, he could perform numerous completely different set-lists without ever repeating a song from tour to tour and still make everyone happy. It's ironic that McCartney is one of the few, maybe the only person still active in music today that is in such an enviable position. He's the most prolific pop musician ever, I hope his future live sets reflect this diversity.
I was at the same concerts as you at MSG. I agree with you that changing the setlist does not mean that it has to be a show of obscure songs and B sides. Songs like "Listen To What The Man Said", "Helen Wheels", "Take It Away", "With A Little Luck", "Say Say Say" and "Tug Of War" have never or rarely been performed and would be a nice addition. Why not do songs like "My Brave Face" again, it has been almost 20 yrs since he did it last and he repeats junk like "C Moon". I wonder sometimes if he is scared to really change the setlist because he would have to learn some of these songs again and might not remember the words. Finally, I don't see it changinging. McCartney seems to firmly believe that all the crowd wants to hear is Beatle tunes and 1 or 2 Wings numbers that have been played over and over again. I would be willing to bet that at most McCartney concerts (US), the majority of the people have seen him live before unless it is a city that he has never visited. I wonder if McCartney really thinks the audience at MSG is mostly first time McCarney concert attendees.
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I am of the same mind as you Yankeefan7. Whereas, this upcoming concert in Kiev will be a one off to people that have for the most part never seen him, so we can expect the tried and true set-list to be trotted out again. For the most part, the Anfield concert was a walk down memory lane, so it remains to be seen what McCartney has in store for American audiences who have, like you say, been pretty well blanketed with opportunities to see him during the last 20 years.
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Chicago Tom:
I wish the critics would lighten up here!!!!
I think it is frustrating to some McCartney fans that he does not play many different songs from his total career. Everybody understands, he was a Beatle and is obligated to ackonwlege that with a decent number of songs in any concert (WOA tour only had 5 and the crowd still had a great time !!) Would it hurt McCartney to replace some Beatle songs with numbers like "Rocky Racoon", "Oh Darling", "Long Tall Sally", "And I Love Her" , "I Feel Fine"and "Your Gonna Lose That Girl" I am sure the audience would not mind hearing these numbers instead of "Let It Be" or Hey Jude" over and over again. If you get to see McCartney live again, try a informal poll and ask people if they have ever seen him live before. If you are in a major US city like Chicago, bet the majority of people will say yes. The other thing is that I would think his band might like to play different songs also to keep them fresh. They got him to do "Too Many People" last tour, hopefully they could get him to change more than that on a new tour.
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left hand man:
...Guys I invite you to go over to the Steve Hoffman forums where the same question is being discussed, they could use some of your very knowledgeble insights... If you're a true McCartney fan, you would want to hear as much of his music as was humanly possible!
Be careful what you wish for, left hand man, 'cuz someone from the Hoffman board might follow you here! I absolutely LOVE the red quote above, and am so glad you said it! On his 2005 US tour, Paul played 16 songs live that he had NEVER played on a United States tour (see link below). Another seven songs had only been played on one previous US tour. Yet you chose not to attend! I'd think that "if you're a true McCartney fan, you would want to hear as much of his music as was humanly possible!" http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=3521473&postcount=191
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Eric In Boise, you're absolutely right, but I'm not talking about more Beatles, we've had enough Beatle heavy setlist, and let's be honest on the few occasions when McCartney does change his songs it's still predominantely Beatles! How about changing out the Wings and solo material even more, that's what I'm talking about.
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left hand man:
... let's be honest on the few occasions when McCartney does change his songs it's still predominantely Beatles!
You're absolutely right on that front, and I'd like a little more variety in the setlist, too. But as long as Paul McCartney is playing songs for me that he hasn't played in front of me before, I'm happy. If he pulls out sixteen more songs this fall that he's never done on a US tour, I'll be REALLY happy. IMO, when Paul does a song - any song - he leaves his distinct imprint upon it. So I'm happy with previously unplayed Beatle songs, solo stuff, cover versions, whatever. I think "true McCartney fans" would also be happy with that. But some folks aren't, and "ain't that a shame" (which, when performed at my first (of ten) Macca shows on Dec 3, '89, was one of the undisputed highlights of the night!)...
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The set list argument on both sides is valid. However, I would bet $1000 that the majority of people at every single concert he plays are seeing him for the first time.
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you would be absolutely correct, and everyone of them would be thrilled with the song choices. As a real ran, I would love to hear everything Paul does, and I do. I have it all recorded.
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yankeefan7:
I would be willing to bet that at most McCartney concerts (US), the majority of the people have seen him live before unless it is a city that he has never visited. I wonder if McCartney really thinks the audience at MSG is mostly first time McCarney concert attendees.
That was definitely once true but I don't think it is any longer. Just from what I saw/heard around me at MSG during the "Driving Rain/Back in the US" and "Chaos" tours, a large number people there were definitely seeing him for the first time. Certainly compared to back in '89, when pretty much everyone in there was a complete Paul basketcase (like myself)! I think for the average person, Paul's profile increased exponentially (thereby making him a "hot ticket" for people who wouldn't have thought to see him before) around the Driving Rain period for a couple of reasons, but the big one of course being his fundraising efforts after September 11th. George's death was obviously no small factor either as people realized, "hey, I may never have another chance to see a Beatle perform live". But he's definitely become shrewder and more aggressive about cross-marketing/advertising, and certainly the whole Heather thing has put Macca firmly back in the general public's consciousness to the point where I'd argue his profile this decade is much higher now than it has been since the mid-70's. People are definitely rushing out to buy tickets that wouldn't have before - that said, many of those probably won't ever go to another one of his shows as they'll feel "they've done that" and have no interest in his new material.
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Glad to see some spirited and intelligent debate going on about this topic (I was a little worried there for awhile roll ). I can understand the POV of some that say the Liverpool show was a "Special Event" that might have warranted a very standard standard show (which is very different than the blind followers who will accept anything). But for the majority of us who have seen one, or even more, shows on every one of his tours, a change of pace is extremely necessary (especially with the extremely high cost of concert tickets). A lot of good suggestions here. The question is will we know if Paul is willing to "mix it up" before he goes on his next extended tour (and before tickets go on sale). I'm hoping and guessing that he WILL refresh the song list.
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jorke3344:
Glad to see some spirited and intelligent debate going on about this topic (I was a little worried there for awhile : ). I can understand the POV of some that say the Liverpool show was a "Special Event" that might have warranted a very standard standard show (which is very different than the blind followers who will accept anything). But for the majority of us who have seen one, or even more, shows on every one of his tours, a change of pace is extremely necessary (especially with the extremely high cost of concert tickets). A lot of good suggestions here. The question is will we know if Paul is willing to "mix it up" before he goes on his next extended tour (and before tickets go on sale). I'm hoping and guessing that he WILL refresh the song list.
Will agree with all of this and have found this a really interesting thread as I was being to wonder whether I'll be doing another Paul show in the near future (Liverpool excepted - couldn't miss that). I know he still does pull surprises out of his hat but I don't know, I too would like a bit more variety. And let's be frank, when you're talking $200 a ticket (much less what you'd pay for top-tier or scalped ones) every couple of years to see him now, it gets to be a legitimate question. What I would *LOVE* to see Paul do is what many older, established artists on tour are doing now, which is to perform an entire album live as act one if you will, take a break, then come back and do the "hits" for the second (or vice versa). Roger Waters has been doing this for the last couple of years with "Dark Side of the Moon" (Floyd hits as part one, then all of DSOTM), but so have others like Lucinda Williams (stints in LA and NY where she performed a different entire album every night, then selected material from her most recent) and Patti Smith ("Horses" plus others). I think it's a great concept, guarantees a sellout crowd but also has a little of something for everybody. Just an idea like....imagine the entire "Ram", "Band on the Run" or "Chaos" with Beatles/Wings/solo stuff thrown in? Baby!