Halifax, NS - Halifax Common - 11th July 2009 - ARCHIVE
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DavidP:
mikeskapla:
DavidP:
Bottom line is, if you're bored don't go, someone else will take your ticket. But if you've never been to a McCartney show before, you'd be pissed right off if he didn't play any of the above songs (although I suppose one could live without Lady Madonna). Live And let Die??? Of course he's going to play it, it's his biggest Wings song. Same with Band On the Run. And the list goes on. People want to hear the hits, and he delivers.
If you read my posts, I think I explain fairly well that its only half right about Paul's show being about the hits. If you follow his set lists over the years, he is basically covering almost every Beatle song he's ever done and if he keeps at this pace, he will cover them all. At the same time he hasn't done a bunch of blockbuster #1 solo hits since 76 or never at all. Ditto with a bunch of top 10 songs. Songs that people know. At least for some of us the issue is why constantly do obscure Beatle songs over blockbuster solo ones? And it doesn't ring true becuase that's what the audience wants. I really doubt they will walk out if he does Listen To What The Man Says over You Won't See Me. Most of us when making these points, aren't saying we won't go to his shows. It's like having a favorite restaurant, digging the food, but saying gosh imagine if they did this and that, be an even sweeter experience. I don't know why that point is so offensive for certain people. And in terms of most other artists mixing it up more -- doesn't the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Springsteen, Dylan, etc have people seeing them for the first time too? Are the people that come see Paul that radically different? Other artists must have many repeat audience members so that's why the set list changes more? But for Paul most of those that see him are first timers and those that see him don't want to see him again, except for some stragglers on this board ? I doubt it.
The Stones, Fleetwood Mac and even Sprinsteen don't change their set lists that much anymore either. By the way, Paul plays the Beatles songs because he LOVES those songs. It must give him a rush to hear 60,000 screaming fans every time he plays one. Having said that I think it's great that he's added a couple more Wings songs (Lady Vandebilt, Mull Of Kintye). Perhaps he'll add a few more. Interestingly, he must not really care much for "Listen To What The Man Said", as it wasn't even included in the "Wings Greatest" album in 1978 even though it was a hit song. He just never plays it anymore. Perhaps he doesn't like it??? His choice, I guess. I also wonder if all that negative press he received in the 70's and 80's (bad reviews, being called a "lightweight"), kind of turned him off on some of the music from that era. It's really too bad because I love his songs from that time period as well. With regards to the complaints about "I'll get You" that song was suggested to him by Brian Ray from what I read. He was the one who wanted it included into the set list a few tours back.
Springsteen doesn't change his set list? Check out backstreets.com for his set lists. 7-8-9 different songs from the previous night. When he did his 'Devils and Dust' tour, he played over 160 different songs. I'd take a leave of absence from my job if Paul did that. People complaining (me included) about him never changing much is beating a dead horse. His live show is what it is.
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BOYCIE:
DavidP:
beatlebipper:
Oh Yaaaayyy...Lady Madonna again. Super...Band on the Run...once more! Yippee!! Live and Let Die...have not heard that one is a while. Oh, oh...is that Drive My Car I hear? No way! what a splendid opening choice! UGH...so frustrating. Oh well, please don't blast me, just venting.
Bottom line is, if you're bored don't go, someone else will take your ticket. But if you've never been to a McCartney show before, you'd be pissed right off if he didn't play any of the above songs (although I suppose one could live without Lady Madonna). Live And let Die??? Of course he's going to play it, it's his biggest Wings song. Same with Band On the Run. And the list goes on. People want to hear the hits, and he delivers.
I'm starting to get really irritated by the notion Paul has to play the same songs all the time just in case someone hasn't been to see him.Paul is an artist and artists move on and don't stand still.I'm not saying abandon the classic songs,but there's plenty of other famous songs that can be dusted off and played to freshen up things.Before 2005 Paul did this and nobody was complaining,it's just the last few years he's not changed it as much.To be honest your not a proper fan if you want him to be Beatle Paul only.
the funny thing is that he may play the same songs over and over again, and his concerts are going to be SOLD OUT over and over again!
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blondevixen:
redram:
Halifax Setlist 01. Drive my car H, Q, LV, C 02. Jet H, Q, LV, C 03. Only Mama Knows H, Q, LV, C 04. Flaming Pie H, Q, LV, C 05. Got To Get You Into My Life H, Q, C 06. Highway H, C, LV 07. Long and Winding Foad H, Q, LV, C 08. My Love (for all the lovers) H, Q, LV, C 09. Blackbird H, Q, LV, C 10. Here Today H, C, L 11. Dance Tonight H, Q, LV, C 12. Calico Skies H, Q, LV, C 13. Mrs. Vanderbilt H, Q, LV, C 14. Eleanor Figby H, Q, LV, C 15. Sing The Changes H, C, L 16. Band on the Run H, Q, LV, C 17. Back in the USSR H, Q, LV, C 18. Something H, Q, LV, C 19. I've Got a Feeling H, Q, LV, C 20. Paperback Writer (after a false start song is in "G" and Paul started in "A' He apologized that it was his fault but it was ok it was his show. Rusty added, it's your song H, C, LV 21. A Day in the Life H, Q, LV, C 22. Give Peace a Chance H, Q, LV, C 23. Let it Be H, Q, LV, C 24. Live and Let Die H, Q, LV, C 25. Hey Jude H, Q, LV, C First Encore 26. Day Tripper H 27. Lady Madona H, Q, LV, C 28. Mull of Kintyre H 29. I Saw Her Standing There H, Q, LV Second Encore 30. Yesterday H, Q, LV, C 31. Helter Skelter H, LV 32. Get Back H, Q, LV, C 33. Sgt. Pepper H, Q, LV, C --- WOW 33 songs, does he always do so many??
I cross-referenced the set lists to see what he played in Halifax (H), Quebec(Q), Las Vegas(LV), and Coachella(C). I've marked above the songs covered, next to the songs in the set list.
Thanks for the cross-referencing. I did the same thing earlier in this thread with the show I saw on October 8, 2005 and it was much different than what we have above. I predict Mull of Kintyre will be replaced and Day Tripper will stay and that will be the only change made for CitiField, but I am not an expert nor an inveterate Paul concert-goer.
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mikeskapla:
femaleanimal:
It`s actually pretty radical of him to do so many songs from Electric Arguments in these shows. Most people in the audience won`t even have heard of that album,let alone heard it. He`s not going to replace Hey Jude with Motor of Love at these big stadium shows, and that would be incredibly disappointing to those who have not seen him before. The people who have seen him 5 billion times are, I feel, being a little inconsiderate towards those who have not seen him before. On the occasions when he does smaller shows, that is when some of the old staples get dropped.
He's doing 2 songs from Electric Arguments, don't see how that's radical. Yes there are I am sure some on this board who wouldn't mind him replacing Hey Jude with Motor of Love. But most of us aren't talking about him dumping the Beatle staples, we get why he has to do Hey Jude, Let It Be, etc. But there are some things that baffle some of us about his set list including: taking obscure songs like Flaming Pie and Let Me Roll It and doing them on multiple tours whereas he has bigger songs that he's ignoring off of the same albums. Helen Wheels top 10 hit, not done, 1985 gets decent airplay on classic radio stations. But 4 of the last 5 tours, its Let Me Roll It. Though am thrilled he added Mrs. Vanderbilt after his Russian fan club picked it as their top choice of a song they wanted him to play in concert. So a nod on that one. And if anything its an example that maybe we aren't that in the minority, as some claim in this debate. His Russian fan club didn't pick a big Beatle song as their top choice or an obscure Beatle one. They didn't pick the same old Wings songs that Paul does. But picked a never done Wings song. Him doing never done or rarely done Wings songs on tour are rare. That's really the point of most of us. And its interesting to me that it was what his Russian fan club zeroed in on. He does every obscure Beatle song you can think of on tour right down to I'll Get You, You Won't See Me, Till There Was You, I've Got A Feeling, etc. But he hasn't done some blockbuster solo HITS since 76 and some he's never done period, many of which were #1's: With A Little Luck, Listen to What The Man Said, Silly Love Songs, Admiral Halsey, Juniors Farm, Helen Wheels, No More Lonley Nights, on and on. So we aren't talking about him skipping Hey Jude, but how skipping I've Got a Feeling for the 2nd time in a row over for a #1 hit like Listen To What The Man Said, how about dropping Let Me Roll it which he's done now I believe 4 times in a row for a #1 hit like With a Little Luck. Instead of the same top 10 hit Jet all the time, how about another top 10 one in Juniors Farm? For people that love first and foremost Paul the Beatle, his shows are a dream. He does vary his Beatle stuff to a decent degree, and he keeps the focus on the old stuff. If I had to bet money I'd say he'd more likely do Why Don't We Do It On The Road in the future over lets say Junior's Farm. For those that equally like Paul the solo artist, we love it from the stand point its Paul, and Paul is great. And ANYBODY that spends time on a Paul McCartney fan web site obviously digs the artist. And anybody that is calling for a wider gamut of stuff from his music career, has to be into the artist. But are we as excited to hear I'll Get You over Listen To What The Man Said. Nope. Does that make us bad people? Nope. Most of us would go to his shows if he lets say decided to do the whole Wild Life album and nothing else -- so challanging our appreciation for Paul becuase we want him to expand his set list again seems silly to me. And no I do not think the casual fan would walk out of Paul's show in disgust if he did Juniors Farm over I've Got a Feeling or Listen To What the Man Said over I'll Get You. Most of us aren't asking for Paul to do what many major concert draws do and that is mix up their set list from show to show. We are just saying Paul, be cool if the solo stuff was mixed up the way the Beatle stuff is. Besides the staples which he has to do, the Beatle songs in my opinion are mixed up pretty well. One tour is Good day Sunshine, another its Paper Back Writer, etc. But the solo stuff, its pretty much the same songs everytime, with maybe one or two new nuggets. And all of this is said with a smile of my face, no anger. If people are upset that some of us want to see more solo material or at least vary it more, sorry to hurt anybody's feelings. And again to me these points are aimed to flatter Paul not insult him. We are saying dude, Jet is great but you got a bunch of other solo stuff on par, we'd love to hear it. And yes I don't think the casual fan who has never seen Paul would leave the show cheated to hear a song that was #1 for several weeks in the 1970s like Silly Love Songs over I've Got a Feeling.
Astute analysis and very objectively stated from the 'I want more Wings' camp. A couple additional points that occurred to me while reading this thread are that he may have strong feelings about performing songs from the Wings period due to memories of Linda, as someone else pointed out, and he may also be deliberately promoting the Beatles Rock Band video game and the Beatles CD box set as well this time out.
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Stones, U2, AC/DC, Metallica and the list goes on, and some others whose concerts are sold out will play the same main setlist, just change the order they play it, sometimes the Stones play Satisfaction and close with Brown SUgar and sometimes is the opposite way, U2 always make One, With or Without You, Streets, , Pride Beautiful Day (after they added it back on Elevation Tour), now Vertigo and City of Blinding Lights and over and over again Sunday Bloody Sunday, so why Paul can't play live his biggest hits? look at the changes he's made from Drving USA/World, US Tour and offially he is not on Tour! SO why Paul can't? anyways, no once is forced to buy tickets if they don't like the setlists
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One other thing to keep in mind, frustrating as it may be, is that in 02, 04, and 05, Paul reconfigured his setlist significantly because he was going on tour. He's done, what, 15 shows between 07-09? As opposed to just over a hundred in 02-03 with the same amount of variation we've seen in the last 2 years? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Beautiful Night, About You, Message To My Girl, and the Vintage Clothes/That Was Me/Feet in the Clouds medley, but if he came to Denver on this run and did the same set he's currently doing, I'd be thrilled - 2 songs from Electric Arguments, 2 songs from Memory Almost Full, 2 songs from an album in 1997 - for an artist of his age it's really cool to see 6 songs in the setlist from the last ten years or so - you'll never find that at a Stones gig, for instance. Of course, you'll never find 34 songs at a Stones gig either, but that's definitely besides the point T
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marco76:
LRitaWebb:
What was the situation with cameras? Could you get them right in or were they checking for them?
only pro-cameras and camcorders were not allowed, but I've always sneaked in my camera at previos shows were not any kind of cameras were allowed
The security was an absolute joke. When someone ahead of me was getting checked, the guy said "you were really not supposed to bring that. But whatever, go in." I thought it was stupid that they sectioned off the people who brought in chairs. I don't believe it was mentioned they had to stay in one section on the website. It only got a small mention in the newspaper the day before or of the concert. And I did see someone with a pro camera. It had a huge lens on it. They did obviously have some pro photographers there (for the newspapers and such), but I didn't notice anything on them that screamed "I'm working for the newspaper!". I'm glad they only let people with beer stay in the chair section. Prevented any stupid drunks from making a mess up near the stage.
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Beatlesfan94:
.... I thought it was stupid that they sectioned off the people who brought in chairs. I don't believe it was mentioned they had to stay in one section on the website. It only got a small mention in the newspaper the day before or of the concert. ...
Actually it was mentioned on the Ticketatlantic website. I don't know when they put the warning there, but I saw it on Friday morning.
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It was a great show and worth the trip. It took my mom & I over 10hr to get there. We were able to wave to him as he drove in the night before for sound check. The concert went great!!! I want to go to Boston now
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Not to be negative about any of Paul's solo material, as I own it all and cherish it, but his Beatles stuff has aged a lot better than much of his material from the 70's and 80's, and maybe that's why he goes back to it more. I think it's not only audience familiarity, but also quality of songs. If he's going to bust out an oldie, I'm sure he wants it to rock. Based on his set lists, its clear Paul is prouder of stuff from McCartney, Ram, and Band on the Run than he his stuff from the latter part of the 70's. He clearly thinks stuff on Flaming Pie is better than stuff from Off the Ground. Every song in every performance is played with conviction, and he brings a freshness to each song every night, even if it's an oldie. If he were going through the motions playing Drive My Car over and over again, that would be reason to complain. But when he "brings it" for almost three hours and makes old songs feel new again, the quibbles over set lists and the avatars begging for change seem a little over-the-top. These shows all sell out, so someone will buy your tickets if his chosen songs no longer do it for you. Clearly, Paul puts thought behind the songs he plays, as evidenced by even the small changes in the set lists he makes.
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LapisLee:
Astute analysis and very objectively stated from the 'I want more Wings' camp. A couple additional points that occurred to me while reading this thread are that he may have strong feelings about performing songs from the Wings period due to memories of Linda, as someone else pointed out, and he may also be deliberately promoting the Beatles Rock Band video game and the Beatles CD box set as well this time out.
Thanks, I'd be with you if it wasn't the same general drill in 90, 93, 02, 05 and now. Last US tour where he gave lots of Wings was 33 years ago 1976. I do think he mixes up his Beatle set well and covers a tremendous gamut of his Beatle career, I believe he's covered every album except for Yellow Submarine. Heck he's even covering the pre album years some and B sides like She's a Woman. As for his solo stuff, he doesn't really change it much. It's really the same stuff, with Let Em In, Coming Up, and My Love leaving and entering different tours. And he adds one or two new ones. For a guy who was one of the most prolific solo artists of all time. It strikes me that he's giving short shrift to that part of his career. Yes he does tend to cover his latest album on tour. He covers Band on the Run well, but what other album? I guess McCartney and Flaming Pie are runners up with 2 songs since 1990. He has a bunch of solo albums that he has never done ANY song from, zero, zip. There are three #1 solo hits that he has never performed live in the US, you can add two more if you include #1's he hasn't done since 76. About 10 or so top 10 hits never done. I am not talking about songs like Getting Closer or Venus & Mars which were top 40 hits. Am talking bonafide big hits. The Beatles are covered on the other hand beautifully. There are very few Beatle songs he's written that he hasn't covered on tour. The idea that Paul wouldn't cover a Beatle #1 hit or for that matter top 10 one would be laughable. The strange part is for many of those that follow his tours, the idea that he will do one of those top 10 or #1 Wings or solo songs that he's never done live before over an obscure Beatles song he's never performed seems equally laughable. And that is the strange part for some of us. I don't notice anyone saying we don't appreciate Paul touring, or we hate his concerts or don't want to go. We just have questions about some of the set list decisions. And mine is yeah if I had to take a bet I'd say in a future tour, we'd be more likely to get Martha My Dear over With A Little Luck. And no it doesn't strike me that the fans would prefer it that way, or casual concert goers would walk out in disgust if h did With a Little Luck over I'll Get You. And for those that love the concert set list as is, cool for you, and I don't mean that sarcastcally who am I to say what people should like or not like, I am just talking about myself, there are no right or wrongs, we are just stating our own preferences.
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Alain Lacasse:
Hello everybodys!, Just a little correction. Paul didn't sing Helter Skelter last year in Quebec city. Thank you very much! Bye! Alain Lacasse.
My bad - knew the diff, but got trigger finger happy! Good catch.
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Travis:
Not to be negative about any of Paul's solo material, as I own it all and cherish it, but his Beatles stuff has aged a lot better than much of his material from the 70's and 80's, and maybe that's why he goes back to it more. I think it's not only audience familiarity, but also quality of songs. If he's going to bust out an oldie, I'm sure he wants it to rock. Based on his set lists, its clear Paul is prouder of stuff from McCartney, Ram, and Band on the Run than he his stuff from the latter part of the 70's. He clearly thinks stuff on Flaming Pie is better than stuff from Off the Ground. Every song in every performance is played with conviction, and he brings a freshness to each song every night, even if it's an oldie. If he were going through the motions playing Drive My Car over and over again, that would be reason to complain. But when he "brings it" for almost three hours and makes old songs feel new again, the quibbles over set lists and the avatars begging for change seem a little over-the-top. These shows all sell out, so someone will buy your tickets if his chosen songs no longer do it for you. Clearly, Paul puts thought behind the songs he plays, as evidenced by even the small changes in the set lists he makes.
I think this is also right on the mark. I am far more than a casual fan of the Beatles and, to a lesser extent, Paul's solo material from Wings; however, I must confess that I am not really too familar with much of the material between 'Band on the Run'/'Venus and Mars' and 'Flaming Pie'. I am sure there are a lot of classics in there that I would recall, but I am not sure if I would attend the concert primarily to hear Pauls' material from 1976 to 1997. I certaintly can understand people's desire to hear much more from recent critically acclaimed CDs such as 'Flaming Pie', 'Chaos and Creation in My Backyard' and 'Memory Almost Full' as these albums drew me back to Paul again after quite a few years of not listening very attentively. I think I was thrown off by the poppiness of 'Wings at the Speed of Sound' and never quite recovered over the course of the next few albums. Maybe I am just a casual fan who has followed Paul's career off-and-on since 1973...
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Beatlesfan94:
marco76:
LRitaWebb:
What was the situation with cameras? Could you get them right in or were they checking for them?
only pro-cameras and camcorders were not allowed, but I've always sneaked in my camera at previos shows were not any kind of cameras were allowed
The security was an absolute joke. When someone ahead of me was getting checked, the guy said "you were really not supposed to bring that. But whatever, go in." I thought it was stupid that they sectioned off the people who brought in chairs. I don't believe it was mentioned they had to stay in one section on the website. It only got a small mention in the newspaper the day before or of the concert. And I did see someone with a pro camera. It had a huge lens on it. They did obviously have some pro photographers there (for the newspapers and such), but I didn't notice anything on them that screamed "I'm working for the newspaper!". I'm glad they only let people with beer stay in the chair section. Prevented any stupid drunks from making a mess up near the stage.
I agree! they screwed up at last minute, it was difficult with that ammount of people! it was funny to see this guy who hid a case of beer in a recycling been right in front of security guys before they finally let us in
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dsmpaul:
Beatlesfan94:
.... I thought it was stupid that they sectioned off the people who brought in chairs. I don't believe it was mentioned they had to stay in one section on the website. It only got a small mention in the newspaper the day before or of the concert. ...
Actually it was mentioned on the Ticketatlantic website. I don't know when they put the warning there, but I saw it on Friday morning.
But it was definitely after they decided to allow chairs in. So people waiting to get in were excited to be able to bring chairs, only to find out that they had to stay in a certain section. Which is why a lot of people left their chairs and went up closer to the stage. After the concert, there were 200 chairs left over, according to a local newspaper (I have amassed a few of them from my Canadian trip now.) And people were taking chairs they weren't there. "I came with 2, I'm leaving with 2" basically. One guy even had a new chair which said "Canada" on it. I guess he got up and when he came back, his chair was gone.
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And by the way here are a few links to my photos: Flickr - has about 30 of my absolute favorites. These are the best ones I took, I think: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beatlesfan94/sets/72157621404464918/ Photobucket - around 70 photos. Includes the Flickr 30, along with 40 that I didn't think were good enough to be on Flickr. Still really good shots, though: http://s216.photobucket.com/albums/cc200/beatlesfan94/Paul%20McCartney%20Live%20in%20Halifax/ I have a lot more than that, but because I used zoom on a lot, they came out blurry. When you zoom all the way and then use the digital zoom to go in even further, it's hard to get a nice, stable shot.
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my attitudes about this type of stuff is if he don't like the topics, why doesn't he start topics he does like and see what kind of replies he gets. also, why does he hijack this poor thread to spew his stuff? he could have started his own good bye thread (i've seen them on other boards) and more people probably would have read it. and somethin' wrong with musing about kissing Paul? the thread is obviously labled and clearly is what it is. It's avoidable by those that don't like the subject, and there are enough other active threads on this board to read if one chooses to not like the topic.
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I and over 50,000 of my close friends, had the absolute pleasure of seeing Sir Paul perform Saturday night. We all know what a truly phenomenal night it was. I was in the midst of the crowd about 100 feet from the stage and with my binoculars felt like I was on it. The crowd was electric from the first note played to the amazing multiple encores. Never seen a crowd sing along to so many songs before, Hey Jude was magical. Live and Let Die was spectacular, the fireworks going off and the flames exploding onstage, I and the crowd loved it. I've seen U2, The Stones, Young and Dylan and this was definitely one of the best concert experiences I have ever had. There were so many fantastic moments in this concert.The young girl getting her arm signed. I've been to a lot of concerts and have never seen a huge star such as Paul be so gracious as he was to this young girl. The crowd was delighted!!!! For us in Nova Scotia, to have the pipes and drums on the stage for Mull Of Kintyre, was the icing on the cake, the crowd went wild, lol!!! Everybody at work who went, all agreed, it was one of, if not the best concerts they have ever seen. The funny thing is that I have never been a huge Beatles or Wings fan but after seeing Paul in concert, I'm a Believer!!!! Thank you Paul, for being so personable, humble and enjoying us, as much as we enjoyed you. What an incredible night, incredible band and incredible crowd, a night anyone who was there will never forget!!!!!!!!!
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blondevixen wrote: I didn't mention my run-in with somone in the crowd. I found them quite aggressive, too. It was during Joel Plaskett, and someone had previous gone to "get more beer and pee" or something like that. Anyway, later, during Joel Plaskett, he returned...he came up behind us and said said he wanted to get through, and I said "sorry, there's no room in front of me", he was a huge guy, and would have blocked anyone any distance behind him, anyway, he proceeded to say "well f*ck this, I'll go through you" very roughly grabbed me, picked me up and shoved me out of the way, cursing all around him that the reason everyone was feeling the fallout of his aggressive behaviour is because "that b*tch wouldn't move out of my way". I was a little shaken, but wouldn't let it ruin my night. Luckily once Paul came out, it was easily forgotten. But I did find a lot of the crowd were ROTTEN in the front area. Aggressive, inconsiderate, and overall horrid. Guess it just takes a few bad apples, eh?
I was about a 100 feet from the stage and although when Paul came on it was a bit tight, I didn't notice much pushing and shoving. People were generally polite, we even helped people close to us find their friends by holding up a blue knapsack, so they could see it and come to us in the crowd. I'll admit I'm a big guy and I think what that guy did to you was reprehensible but I don't want people to get the impression that it was a surly or unruly crowd. We actually had a medical emergency about ten feet in front of us and everyone was quite respectful and easily parted to let the emergency people in and out. Generally the people around me seemed to be enjoying themselves and the concert. I am truly sorry that you had a bad experience!!!!!
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it looks like such a magical night