Paul McCartney has officially become an oldies act.
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DavidP, that's just it, people are starting to groan when he plays those songs! I saw McCartney at the Philips Arena in Atlanta Ga, and when he performed Hey Jude, there was some people next to me who said very clearly, oh no not this one again, and they really had a problem with the singalong part, so as I've said, people are moaning and groaning! McCartney just needs to change it up, it's just that simple, it's way past time!
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I'm one who would love to see more new stuff in Paul's shows -- indeed, I'd be happy with no Beatles tunes at all. BUT, a few years ago I saw Paul at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit with a cranky, jaded old friend (about 45 years old at the time), not a huge Paul fan -- more like neutral about him. But when Paul started singing "Blackbird," my friend's jaw literally dropped and he said, "Oh my god, I remember when I first bought this album." A couple songs later -- maybe "Let It Be" -- he was utterly awe-struck, saying in tone of true astonishment and awe, "I never thought I'd see him do these songs." By the time the "Hey Jude" sing-along came along, my deeply jaded and cynical friend was singing along, utterly transported. Yeah, I'd rather see him do "Wanderlust," but I do understand why Paul does the shows he does.
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DavidP, that's just it, people are starting to groan when he plays those songs!
I've read quite a few of the left hand man rantings on this topic, but this comment destroys any shred of credibility for him. From here on I'll just skip over his comments.
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joe9657:
DavidP, that's just it, people are starting to groan when he plays those songs!
I've read quite a few of the left hand man rantings on this topic, but this comment destroys any shred of credibility for him. From here on I'll just skip over his comments.
I was at Anfield, and the groans were very audible when he launched into Long and Winding Road, C-Moon, Let Me Roll It... I saw it first hand. It is happening.
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moptops:
joe9657:
DavidP, that's just it, people are starting to groan when he plays those songs!
I've read quite a few of the left hand man rantings on this topic, but this comment destroys any shred of credibility for him. From here on I'll just skip over his comments.
I was at Anfield, and the groans were very audible when he launched into Long and Winding Road, C-Moon, Let Me Roll It... I saw it first hand. It is happening.
That's just bull.
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Yeah definate bull, me and my friends were very close to the front row and NOOOO groans were heard all night! plus i later we had 4 or 5 other friends at anfiend, somewhere near the middle of the crowd, and by the sounds of it even people back there were going as mad for every single song as us at the front! lol Josh
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Why would anyone pay good money to moan and groan? Leave the tickets for those of us who appreciate what we have and want to enjoy seeing and hearing Paul while we can. He is one, of if not the best live act there is. You would never hear Cliff Richard fans talk about him negatively.
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I'm afraid Cliff is not in Paul's league really.Also Cliff's fans are generally women so are not as complaining as us moaning men
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LINKA:
Why would anyone pay good money to moan and groan? Leave the tickets for those of us who appreciate what we have and want to enjoy seeing and hearing Paul while we can. He is one, of if not the best live act there is. You would never hear Cliff Richard fans talk about him negatively.
Couldn't agree more.
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Guys you can stick your head in the sand and say it's bull all you want to, but I've posted clear evidence for you from different people right here on this thread! Do you honestly think that right here on this thread are the only people in the world who are starting to question McCartney's setlist, surely you can't be that closed minded and blind! Whether you want to believe it or not, it is happening, and it's starting to happen more and more. If McCartney drags out the same basic setlist on his upcoming tour you just pay attention, it's going to happen again.
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woot The only groans are that this is STILL going on & on & on roll
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What's the problem, seems to me we're having a pretty good discussion with many different views and opinions, isn't that what a forum is for?
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left hand man:
Guys you can stick your head in the sand and say it's bull all you want to, but I've posted clear evidence for you from different people right here on this thread! Do you honestly think that right here on this thread are the only people in the world who are starting to question McCartney's setlist, surely you can't be that closed minded and blind! Whether you want to believe it or not, it is happening, and it's starting to happen more and more. If McCartney drags out the same basic setlist on his upcoming tour you just pay attention, it's going to happen again.
No it isn't. It has never happened and never will happen. That's like saying people groan everytime Bruce Sprinsteen plays Born To Run, or every time the Stones play Satisfaction. Give me a break!!! People do NOT pay good money for a concert ticket and then get annoyed when the band plays their famous songs. That is so ridiculous. Fans will get annoyed if their favorite artist DOESN'T play the hits, not the other way around!!!
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DavidP:
Sorry guys, but except for a handful of naysayers here, the world doesn't give a damn about McCartney's set list. They want to hear Beatles songs, and some Wings songs thrown in here and there. A McCartney concert can attract upwards of 250,000. They do NOT want to hear "Distractions", "Footprints", etc. those songs would go over like a lead balloon. McCartney isn't stupid. No one on this forum has ever performed in front of a mass audience like Paul has. In fact, I can't think of any artist out there who can consistently pull them in the way Paul does. He's obviously doing something right, and lets face it, he ain't going to be around forever. We're so fortunate that he's still doing what he's doing. I would think that in a few years he won't be doing these types of shows anymore. As much as I would love to hear him sing "Distractions" and "Waterfalls" and "Footprints" it's not going to happen unless he does an acoustic show in an inimate setting (ala "Unplugged"). Otherwise, forget it. In the words of the Ray Davies and the Kinks...."Give The People What They want!"
I agree with you 100 percent!!!!
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Guys, sorry but you're wrong as I said earlier just go back and look at the examples I posted of what people are saying. You're right people don't pay good money and then complain, but they don't know the setlist ahead of time and when he drags out the same basic one yet again, that's when some groans and moans start. Also I have to say, I have thick skin but someone else could find it offensive that some of you are basically calling those of us who have shared some of our negative concert experiences liars! We have absolutely no reason to lie about the negative reactions we've witnessed. When I saw McCartney at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, that really did happen, those people were actually upset that McCartney was performing Hey Jude yet again! Not everyone is thrilled to hear that song for the hundredth time. Hey, believe whatever you want, but I have shared the evidence, you can ignore it all you want to, but it can't be denied because it is showing up in more and more places. Here's a review from Colin Jacobson who is a reporter for the DVD Movie Guide. He saw McCartney in concert 11 times in 2002. McCartney?s setlist almost never varied. I heard that Toronto got ?Mull of Kintyre? in the spring, while Houston received ?Midnight Special? in the fall. However, Paul kept things the same the vast majority of the time. While that fact made my 11 shows more tedious than I?d have liked, I can?t criticize the basic program. Paul packed a whopping 37 songs into each set. Heavy in Beatles material, 22 of the numbers found in the show came from his days with the Fabs. (That number includes Paul?s cover of George Harrison?s ?Something?.) Four originally appeared on Driving Rain, plus ?Vanilla Sky? from the same era. In addition, eight showed up during Paul?s Seventies solo work. That left a mere two tunes ? ?Coming Up? and ?Here Today? ? to account for all of McCartney?s material done in the Eighties and Nineties. The almost total absence of work from a full two decades remains a disappointment. Paul put out some good material during that time, and it?d be nice to hear tracks from Press to Play and Flaming Pie live. However, with such a rich back catalog, Paul can never please all of the people. I think he should try something more daring if he hits the road again ? which I believe he will ? but taken on its own merits, the 2002 setlist offered a lot of excellent material. I won?t attempt to discuss all 37 tracks, but I will chart my own personal cheers and jeers. (I?ll also hope that TV Guide doesn?t sue me for use of that phrase.) Really, the only major complaint I had about the tour resulted from the general lack of ambition in the setlist. It didn?t include any songs that I genuinely disliked, though Driving Rain?s ?Freedom? remains pretty weak. Mostly, whatever disenchantment I felt came from the overexposure of various tunes, but that affects virtually everyone I see. I love ?Born to Run? and ?Jumping Jack Flash?, but when I attend shows by Springsteen and the Stones, I?d kill to not hear those numbers for the eleventy-seventh time. I?ve not gone to nearly as many McCartney concerts as I have for that pair, but I could still live without numbers like ?Eleanor Rigby?, ?Hey Jude?, ?I Saw Her Standing There? or a number of others that got repeated airings during Paul?s earlier tours. Given the infrequency of his performances, it?d be nice to see him branch out more heavily. This was in 2002, and many people are still saying the same exact things today? Paul McCartney needs to change his set list!
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I can see some enthusiastic posts here. This debate has appeared on this message board before, and most likely will again, and it's reasonable that members express opinions about Paul's choice of set-lists . One thing else is also true. There never will be complete consensus about what constitutes a "perfect" set list, or who matters most at a concert - the fans that attend to relive their Beatles memories in the company of one of the most iconic musicians of the century - or the dedicated Paul fans/or Wings fans that live to hear precious pearls of new or seldom heard material played live for the first time. Bearing that in mind - carry on, but please avoid denigrating the views of those that hold opposite opinions. Thanks Martin
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Thank you for keeping things sensible and on track, Martin.
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left hand man:
Guys Here's a review from Colin Jacobson who is a reporter for the DVD Movie Guide. He saw McCartney in concert 11 times in 2002. McCartney?s setlist almost never varied. I heard that Toronto got ?Mull of Kintyre? in the spring, while Houston received ?Midnight Special? in the fall. However, Paul kept things the same the vast majority of the time. While that fact made my 11 shows more tedious than I?d have liked, I can?t criticize the basic program.
This is almost laughable. This guy saw McCartney 11 times in one year and is complaining because Sir Paul didn't change his set list at all during that time??? How arrogant of this guy to think that McCartney ought to change the setlist from show to show, and in the process deprive those fans who've never seen him perform before, those same fans who WANT to hear the hits. There are more people in this world than just those few who complain ad nauseum. Fact is, if you've seen McCartney perform so many times and you don't enjoy the show anymore, then don't go, simple as that. Someone else will fill the seat, believe me. The way you would have it, the fan that has never seen Paul McCartney perform live before, ought to now be deprived of hearing Hey Jude, simply because you've heard it before, and you don't want to hear it anymore. Seems selfish to me.
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You can't really expect any musician to play the same songs on every tour infinitum.DavidP i don't expect Paul to drop the Holy Trinity of Beatle classics,but i do expect a wider variety of songs around the usual suspects.You can't really expect Paul to go over the same old ground just because some people might have missed his shows over the last 20 years.I don't think it's a arrogant standpoint just a realistic one.
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BOYCIE:
You can't really expect any musician to play the same songs on every tour infinitum.DavidP i don't expect Paul to drop the Holy Trinity of Beatle classics,but i do expect a wider variety of songs around the usual suspects.You can't really expect Paul to go over the same old ground just because some people might have missed his shows over the last 20 years.I don't think it's a arrogant standpoint just a realistic one.
I totally agree and I don't know why people get upset about some of us who want some variety. It is not like we are asking him to ignore his Beatle past even though McCartney ignores a large part of his career in concert. I have seen clips of him doing "Mrs. Vanderbilt" in Kiev and he seems like he is enjoying himself by playing something different.