Set List critique
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Paul McCartney will always have my admiration. But he has lost a teensy-weensy bit of my respect.
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audi:
Paul McCartney will always have my admiration. But he has lost a teensy-weensy bit of my respect.
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I don' t know if everyone read the entire Rolling Stone article where the above setlist quote was from, but this part came before that paragraph. Actually it also does kinda explain why he rarely uses opening acts.
Well, I'm always reminded of when I was a kid and I used to go to shows. This was pre-pre-pre-Beatles. I was just a little kid in Liverpool with no money, and I'd be saving up forever. It'd be really good if the show satisfied me ? and it really pissed me off if it didn't. So I have this thing, which is that these people have paid money. They're not necessarily all going be that flush, so let's give them a good night out. Let's have a party. Let's make it a fiesta kind of thing, so everyone goes home and thinks, "Yeah, I didn't mind spending that money." That's the philosophy behind a lot of what I do. One of the first concerts I ever went to was a Bill Haley concert. I was so young, I was still in short trousers. I was about 13 or something. It was rock & roll coming to Liverpool, and I was so excited. I saved up, got this ticket, went to the Liverpool Odeon ? and the whole first half wasn't Bill Haley! It was this other guy who, years later, I learned was a promoter who had his own band. Mind you, the second half, when Bill opened from behind the curtains with, "One, two, three o' clock, four o'clock rock," and did "Rock Around the Clock," which is almost the birth of rock & roll ? okay, that was exciting. The curtains opened and they're all there in these crazy tartan jackets. That was worth it. But I was always pissed off about the opening act, thinking I got cheated.
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I didn't read that RS article yet, but saw a post in EW today (might be the same interview): On still playing the hits: ?People say, ?But why do you care, man?? Someone like Bob Dylan doesn?t necessarily care ? he?ll just do what he wants, and that?s cool. I say, ?Yeah, but I have these memories that haunt me of these concerts that I went to and these records that I bought.? I don?t want those people in my audience thinking, ?Hey, we came for big hits, and you played a bunch of s?t.?? so, he's thinks everyone associates his non-hits as s--t?
Come on Paul. http://music-mix.ew.com/2014/07/17/paul-mccartney-rolling-stone-beatles/
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Maccafan82:
And two more: Let Me Roll It HAS TO GO. I still cannot understand what his love affair with that song is. It wasn't even that big of a hit. I love Wix, but the synth strings/horns/band parts are old. We pay $250 for a ticket and get that? How hard would it be to add a small strings/horn/saxophone player to the show every night? Maybe work with the local universities/symphonies and get them to play one or two songs with Paul everynight. Would be the highlight of their lives, and it would be fun to see. Just an idea.
YES. Sheet music, professional orchestra musicians. Done! Just like he always does for - brrrr - The Mull, and how the Stones do it for 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', and how many smaller acts do it when they want to do a worldwide tour with an orchestra. Or how McCartney got The National's string quartet to play 'Yesterday' last year.
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With Paul's 2nd leg of the U.S. Tour a couple weeks away, what are your thoughts...? Same as first leg, with occassional swapping out of songs ("Get Back" / "I Saw Her Standing There")? New song (ie: "Early Days", or possibly "Appreciate") added to setlist?
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DrivinFan:
With Paul's 2nd leg of the U.S. Tour a couple weeks away, what are your thoughts...? Same as first leg, with occassional swapping out of songs ("Get Back" / "I Saw Her Standing There")? New song (ie: "Early Days", or possibly "Appreciate") added to setlist?
Not even, I'm afraid... No reason to not swap around for the first leg.
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audi:
Paul McCartney will always have my admiration. But he has lost a teensy-weensy bit of my respect.
I'm sure he's losing sleep tonight over your lost respect and disapproval of his setlist.
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LiveForever:
audi:
Paul McCartney will always have my admiration. But he has lost a teensy-weensy bit of my respect.
I'm sure he's losing sleep tonight over your lost respect and disapproval of his setlist.
And you are...?
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nobodytoldme:
Maccafan82:
And two more: Let Me Roll It HAS TO GO. I still cannot understand what his love affair with that song is. It wasn't even that big of a hit. I love Wix, but the synth strings/horns/band parts are old. We pay $250 for a ticket and get that? How hard would it be to add a small strings/horn/saxophone player to the show every night? Maybe work with the local universities/symphonies and get them to play one or two songs with Paul everynight. Would be the highlight of their lives, and it would be fun to see. Just an idea.
YES. Sheet music, professional orchestra musicians. Done! Just like he always does for - brrrr - The Mull, and how the Stones do it for 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', and how many smaller acts do it when they want to do a worldwide tour with an orchestra. Or how McCartney got The National's string quartet to play 'Yesterday' last year.
I've never had a problem with Wix. He's a wizard on the keyboard. Over the years, the only gripe I've ever had was his sax sound on "Listen To What The Man Said." Sounds very, very artificial, and his playing isn't as fluid as it should be on that song. Other than that, Wix has been just fine in my book.
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audi:
LiveForever:
audi:
Paul McCartney will always have my admiration. But he has lost a teensy-weensy bit of my respect.
I'm sure he's losing sleep tonight over your lost respect and disapproval of his setlist.
And you are...?
And if you represent what you're purporting to be Paul's attitude toward his fans who have individually spent thousands of dollars on McCartney product, he actually should be concerned.
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audi:
audi:
LiveForever:
audi:
Paul McCartney will always have my admiration. But he has lost a teensy-weensy bit of my respect.
I'm sure he's losing sleep tonight over your lost respect and disapproval of his setlist.
And you are...?
And if you represent what you're purporting to be Paul's attitude toward his fans who have individually spent thousands of dollars on McCartney product, he actually should be concerned.
If that is his attitude then Mr. McCartney should have retired in 1980 and I am sorry I was stupid enough to buy his new recordings because he thinks nobody wants to hear them and they are garbage - smh !!
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I think the remark reflects a lack of faith in the audience rather than the material. He's not saying he thinks the material is sh.t, he's assuming the audience would think it is.
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yankeefan7:
audi:
audi:
LiveForever:
audi:
Paul McCartney will always have my admiration. But he has lost a teensy-weensy bit of my respect.
I'm sure he's losing sleep tonight over your lost respect and disapproval of his setlist.
And you are...?
And if you represent what you're purporting to be Paul's attitude toward his fans who have individually spent thousands of dollars on McCartney product, he actually should be concerned.
If that is his attitude then Mr. McCartney should have retired in 1980 and I am sorry I was stupid enough to buy his new recordings because he thinks nobody wants to hear them and they are garbage - smh !!
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audi:
LiveForever:
audi:
Paul McCartney will always have my admiration. But he has lost a teensy-weensy bit of my respect.
I'm sure he's losing sleep tonight over your lost respect and disapproval of his setlist.
And you are...?
A fan of Paul McCartney.
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Okay, time to chime in here. I get what some are saying about deeper cuts being played, but I'd say that he has done that and is doing that. Let's look at some things that he has played since 2002. C Moon. Not a hit yet he has featured it in tours. Let Me Roll It. I can hear that twice at every concert. Not a hit. Sure it was from a very popular album but not a single nor a hit. And he does love it. And he's augmented it in recent years with the Foxy Lady coda he's tacked on to the end of it. It's great! It rocks! The guitars sting like a social disease! Always thought that was his take on the Plastic Ono sound and it's great that he does it. At any show you are at probably 60-80% of the people there won't recognize it. Nineteen Hundred and Eight-Five. Wow! Another one not a hit nor a single. Yet a brilliant song that he has done recently. It's a deep cut. One After 909. Not a hit nor a single. Yet we all know it and love it. But again, not a majority of people at a show will recognize it. The same thing can be said for Two of Us. Too Many People. Was that a single off of Ram? I can't recall. But really more of a deep cut than anything else. So there's another one. Deep cuts off of Sgt Pepper that he's done lately? Lovely Rita Fixing a Hole Getting Better Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite If you're on this board then you are most likely a very serious fan. But I'll relate a story a friend told me recently with a Springsteen show she went to. Probably hasn't gone to see him in 30 years. I was at the show. Bruce and the band were great! Magnificent. Yet my friend was disappointed he didn't perform Born in the USA. You see? That's a big part of it. Us here on the board are really a small fraction of those going to any Paul McCartney show. That's a big deal and a big reason why Paul will always include some of the songs he does. I've heard Jet in every tour since 1976. I really missed it this time. It's a great song and a monster hit. So Paul will move some things around and not always play it completely safe. I think some of us are fortunate enough to take in a few shows during a tour or at least one show during EACH tour. But that's not everyone. He does what he does so he can give great value to the most people that pay to see him. I think it's really that simple. Hey, not meaning to shout down anyone else with a counter thought. Just putting this out there.
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DrivinFan:
With Paul's 2nd leg of the U.S. Tour a couple weeks away, what are your thoughts...? Same as first leg, with occassional swapping out of songs ("Get Back" / "I Saw Her Standing There")? New song (ie: "Early Days", or possibly "Appreciate") added to setlist?
________________________________________________________ Call me the ultimate optimist, but one thing to possibly consider is that Paul and his band may have had very little time to rehearse prior to the Albany show. After all , it was a serious virus and the Doctors ordered him to get plenty of rest. Maybe with this current hiatus, they will have a good amount of time to rehearse some new numbers. At least that is what I am hoping. Afterall, he has 2 new videos that his team could put into the visuals. I'm talking about Appreciate and Early Days. But they do have to rehearse. It is not as easy as one thinks to do a credible job on these songs. I am hoping that he adds both songs amd still does the rest of the NEW songs. I'm not betting on that happening however. I think Paul doesn't give his audience enough credit when it comes to his current material. The majority of fans would love 7 or 8 songs from NEW. For the Beatle Paul audience, there are still plenty of Beatle songs in the setlist. I also thought that they would play a never performed Beatle iconic song to celebrate the 50th Anniversay of their U.S arrival. I was thinking of 2 songs...either I Want to Hold Your Hand or She Loves You. We could still get that with the extra rehearsal time they have. I would prefer I Want to Hold Your Hand. I just wander if Paul thinks the songs are just too iconic and that his current Band just can't duplicate the amazing sound that the Fabs had. That's a possibility. If that is the case, I would love it they brought back Please, Please Me. I thought Paul and the Band were great when they did that several years ago. Please, Please Me was a 1964 song if I recall correctly.
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B J Conlee:
DrivinFan:
With Paul's 2nd leg of the U.S. Tour a couple weeks away, what are your thoughts...? Same as first leg, with occassional swapping out of songs ("Get Back" / "I Saw Her Standing There")? New song (ie: "Early Days", or possibly "Appreciate") added to setlist?
________________________________________________________ Call me the ultimate optimist, but one thing to possibly consider is that Paul and his band may have had very little time to rehearse prior to the Albany show. After all , it was a serious virus and the Doctors ordered him to get plenty of rest. Maybe with this current hiatus, they will have a good amount of time to rehearse some new numbers. At least that is what I am hoping. Afterall, he has 2 new videos that his team could put into the visuals. I'm talking about Appreciate and Early Days. But they do have to rehearse. It is not as easy as one thinks to do a credible job on these songs. I am hoping that he adds both songs amd still does the rest of the NEW songs. I'm not betting on that happening however. I think Paul doesn't give his audience enough credit when it comes to his current material. The majority of fans would love 7 or 8 songs from NEW. For the Beatle Paul audience, there are still plenty of Beatle songs in the setlist. I also thought that they would play a never performed Beatle iconic song to celebrate the 50th Anniversay of their U.S arrival. I was thinking of 2 songs...either I Want to Hold Your Hand or She Loves You. We could still get that with the extra rehearsal time they have. I would prefer I Want to Hold Your Hand. I just wander if Paul thinks the songs are just too iconic and that his current Band just can't duplicate the amazing sound that the Fabs had. That's a possibility. If that is the case, I would love it they brought back Please, Please Me. I thought Paul and the Band were great when they did that several years ago. Please, Please Me was a 1964 song if I recall correctly.
Please Please Me was 1963. Paul and band also did I'll Get You. Clearly they can pull off the "iconic" tunes, even the plethora of Beatle tribute bands around the world pull them off. Strange Paul would do On My Way To Work at one gig, considering it is a new song off of NEW. Given that, I would not expect anything from the latest CD to be added.
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B J Conlee:
DrivinFan:
With Paul's 2nd leg of the U.S. Tour a couple weeks away, what are your thoughts...? Same as first leg, with occassional swapping out of songs ("Get Back" / "I Saw Her Standing There")? New song (ie: "Early Days", or possibly "Appreciate") added to setlist?
________________________________________________________ Call me the ultimate optimist, but one thing to possibly consider is that Paul and his band may have had very little time to rehearse prior to the Albany show. After all , it was a serious virus and the Doctors ordered him to get plenty of rest. Maybe with this current hiatus, they will have a good amount of time to rehearse some new numbers. At least that is what I am hoping. Afterall, he has 2 new videos that his team could put into the visuals. I'm talking about Appreciate and Early Days. But they do have to rehearse. It is not as easy as one thinks to do a credible job on these songs. I am hoping that he adds both songs amd still does the rest of the NEW songs. I'm not betting on that happening however. I think Paul doesn't give his audience enough credit when it comes to his current material. The majority of fans would love 7 or 8 songs from NEW. For the Beatle Paul audience, there are still plenty of Beatle songs in the setlist. I also thought that they would play a never performed Beatle iconic song to celebrate the 50th Anniversay of their U.S arrival. I was thinking of 2 songs...either I Want to Hold Your Hand or She Loves You. We could still get that with the extra rehearsal time they have. I would prefer I Want to Hold Your Hand. I just wander if Paul thinks the songs are just too iconic and that his current Band just can't duplicate the amazing sound that the Fabs had. That's a possibility. If that is the case, I would love it they brought back Please, Please Me. I thought Paul and the Band were great when they did that several years ago. Please, Please Me was a 1964 song if I recall correctly.
I agree...if he decided to add something from NEW it would most likely be the two mentioned since videos for them have been released. However, he's been soundchecking "Alligator" as well...so that may appear. Regarding the 50th anniversary of the Beatles, I think he may do something special for the Candlestick show ("Long Tall Sally" or perhaps "She's A Woman"), rather than celebrate their arrival. Four of the six shows on this leg are outdoor stadiums, so that may play a part in his decision.
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brady:
Okay, time to chime in here. I get what some are saying about deeper cuts being played, but I'd say that he has done that and is doing that. Let's look at some things that he has played since 2002. C Moon. Not a hit yet he has featured it in tours. Let Me Roll It. I can hear that twice at every concert. Not a hit. Sure it was from a very popular album but not a single nor a hit. And he does love it. And he's augmented it in recent years with the Foxy Lady coda he's tacked on to the end of it. It's great! It rocks! The guitars sting like a social disease! Always thought that was his take on the Plastic Ono sound and it's great that he does it. At any show you are at probably 60-80% of the people there won't recognize it. Nineteen Hundred and Eight-Five. Wow! Another one not a hit nor a single. Yet a brilliant song that he has done recently. It's a deep cut. One After 909. Not a hit nor a single. Yet we all know it and love it. But again, not a majority of people at a show will recognize it. The same thing can be said for Two of Us. Too Many People. Was that a single off of Ram? I can't recall. But really more of a deep cut than anything else. So there's another one. Deep cuts off of Sgt Pepper that he's done lately? Lovely Rita Fixing a Hole Getting Better Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite If you're on this board then you are most likely a very serious fan. But I'll relate a story a friend told me recently with a Springsteen show she went to. Probably hasn't gone to see him in 30 years. I was at the show. Bruce and the band were great! Magnificent. Yet my friend was disappointed he didn't perform Born in the USA. You see? That's a big part of it. Us here on the board are really a small fraction of those going to any Paul McCartney show. That's a big deal and a big reason why Paul will always include some of the songs he does. I've heard Jet in every tour since 1976. I really missed it this time. It's a great song and a monster hit. So Paul will move some things around and not always play it completely safe. I think some of us are fortunate enough to take in a few shows during a tour or at least one show during EACH tour. But that's not everyone. He does what he does so he can give great value to the most people that pay to see him. I think it's really that simple. Hey, not meaning to shout down anyone else with a counter thought. Just putting this out there.
Your point is fine, but take out the Beatles tunes (all are big hits really, don't you think, except maybe something like You Know My Name...) and you've just got a couple songs between 70-76. Which isn't really that much considering how much Paul has toured since those songs have come out. I think the gripe with a lot of the board members (and the die hard fans that are spending a lot of money to see his shows, year after year) is that he blatantly ignores all his solo work from 1980-2012 and doesn't change his set list that often.