Set List critique
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How is "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five" a hit? It was never a single, right?
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audi:
How is "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five" a hit? It was never a single, right?
I don't know if it was a single or not but it got a hell of a lot of air play in NY at the time, and occasionally still does. So I consider it a hit.
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forget 64:
audi:
How is "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five" a hit? It was never a single, right?
I don't know if it was a single or not but it got a hell of a lot of air play in NY at the time, and occasionally still does. So I consider it a hit.
I consider a hit something that "hit" the top of the charts. 1985 was never on the charts. It was the US B-Side to "Band on The Run". I never advocated for a totally hit-less concert. I advocate for a concert with more balance in career eras. Paul plays a LOT of songs that aren't hits. They may be popular, but not hits.
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I've been listening to classic-rock radio since the 80s, and I have not one recollection of hearing "1985." But I'm glad other markets played it heavily. By the way: When I saw Paul in St. Louis (2012), "1985" was a MAJOR highlight -- everybody in my section was up on their feet.
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audi:
I've been listening to classic-rock radio since the 80s, and I have not one recollection of hearing "1985." But I'm glad other markets played it heavily. By the way: When I saw Paul in St. Louis (2012), "1985" was a MAJOR highlight -- everybody in my section was up on their feet.
In my section also!! Great concert in St. Louis, how did you like the weather for that concert?
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forget64 is right: "1985" did receive a lot of air play in the NYC area on FM radio. Even my non-Paul- maniac friends know and love it, and were thrilled when he started playing it in the shows.
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forget 64:
audi:
I've been listening to classic-rock radio since the 80s, and I have not one recollection of hearing "1985." But I'm glad other markets played it heavily. By the way: When I saw Paul in St. Louis (2012), "1985" was a MAJOR highlight -- everybody in my section was up on their feet.
In my section also!! Great concert in St. Louis, how did you like the weather for that concert?
The day before was gorgeous. Sunday night ... let's not go there.
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Thisbe211:
forget64 is right: "1985" did receive a lot of air play in the NYC area on FM radio. Even my non-Paul- maniac friends know and love it, and were thrilled when he started playing it in the shows.
Unfortunately, I wasn't a Paul- maniac back then, I was a heavy metal guy, but I've learned the error in my ways! I missed some great Wings concerts because of it, I saw just about everybody else that came to MSG and the NY, NJ area back then ! I remember them playing it a lot, that's how I remembered the song. I think 95.5 WPLJ and the DJ Carol Miller especially played the hell out of it. (WNEW also)
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Thisbe211:
forget64 is right: "1985" did receive a lot of air play in the NYC area on FM radio. Even my non-Paul- maniac friends know and love it, and were thrilled when he started playing it in the shows.
If you recall Billy Joel's Scenes From an Italian Restaurant...nobody except hard core Billy Joel fans really thought or cared about that song when the album 'The Stranger' was released back in 1977...it's now a highlight of his live shows While not to the same extent as Scene From an Italian Restaurant, I think 1985 shares that kind of trait from the Band on the Run album...
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I'm in the camp that wants McCartney to change it up more! Look it's been said for years that there may be people in the audience that haven't seen McCartney before, that may be true, but it will always be true, does that mean that McCartney is trapped in the same box for the rest of his performing life? I mean c'mon the man can at least change it up for one or two tours! Especially now that there may not be many tours left! He's given those people the last how many decades to see him? It's way way way past time he really dedicated a tour to his post Beatles years! After all this time, I don't think that's unfair to ask!
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The other night I had dinner with a Beatles fan friend who saw Paul at Candlestick Park -- the same person for whom I'd played a bunch of solo Paul for a couple months before, and he came away really impressed. He was shocked -- genuinely flabbergasted -- to hear me say that I wish his set lists had less Beatles and more recent material. When I said it, he looked at me like I'd just announced I was from Mars.
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Bruce M.:
The other night I had dinner with a Beatles fan friend who saw Paul at Candlestick Park -- the same person for whom I'd played a bunch of solo Paul for a couple months before, and he came away really impressed. He was shocked -- genuinely flabbergasted -- to hear me say that I wish his set lists had less Beatles and more recent material. When I said it, he looked at me like I'd just announced I was from Mars.
Yes, I'm sure most people would be shocked. We forget that we're in a bubble here, knowing and loving all these obscure tracks. I'm so envious of Kate Bush's fans right now. Her first concerts in 35 years, and the bulk of the show is obscure, to the point of doing entire album sides from recent albums! Man, if only Paul could get away with that, but his legacy is just too huge! People hear his name and they expect nothing less than a string of Beatles hits. I even saw Los Loboa a few years ago, doing a show that was advertised as acoustic, and the audience practically mutinied because they wouldn't plug in electric instruments. A reputation is a powerful force: mess with it at your peril!
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favoritething:
Bruce M.:
The other night I had dinner with a Beatles fan friend who saw Paul at Candlestick Park -- the same person for whom I'd played a bunch of solo Paul for a couple months before, and he came away really impressed. He was shocked -- genuinely flabbergasted -- to hear me say that I wish his set lists had less Beatles and more recent material. When I said it, he looked at me like I'd just announced I was from Mars.
Yes, I'm sure most people would be shocked. We forget that we're in a bubble here, knowing and loving all these obscure tracks. I'm so envious of Kate Bush's fans right now. Her first concerts in 35 years, and the bulk of the show is obscure, to the point of doing entire album sides from recent albums! Man, if only Paul could get away with that, but his legacy is just too huge! People hear his name and they expect nothing less than a string of Beatles hits. I even saw Los Loboa a few years ago, doing a show that was advertised as acoustic, and the audience practically mutinied because they wouldn't plug in electric instruments. A reputation is a powerful force: mess with it at your peril!
But it ISN'T just the obscure tracks that most of us want. Just a fair representation of his entire career. That's all I want. I don;t expect rare tracks. Just some OTHER tracks! It is Paul's own fault for not introducing more solo material into his shows.
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Just reading an interview with André 3000 of the rap duo Outkast, who just reunited for a tour after ten years: When you started the tour, was it difficult to be onstage after so long? Yeah, I think people could see it at Coachella, the very first show. It was foreign. My head wasn?t there. I kind of fluffed through rehearsals. A few hours before the Coachella show, I get a message that Prince and Paul McCartney are going to be there. My spirit is not right, and idols are standing side-stage, so as the show started, I?m bummed. This is horrible. In my mind I was already gone to my hotel room halfway through. So Prince called a couple days after. It was my first time actually talking to Prince. He said: ?When you come back, people want to be wowed. And what?s the best way to wow people? Just give them the hits.? I?m explaining to him that I really didn?t want to do it. He said: ?I?ve been there. I?ve tried to do other things. After you give them the hits, then you can do whatever.? Prince told you to boss up, so you bossed up. He broke it down like this: ?You?re a grown man. You?re either going to do it or you?re not.? But Paul is much bigger than Prince. He doesn't have even the luxury that Prince does to do what he wants. Other hits of Paul's are probably just off the table. Silly Love Songs - Linda's gone, plus it's the epitome of Paul abandoning rock With A Little Luck - dominated by keyboards; what the hell is the rest of the band gonna do? Uncle Albert - too complicated to come up with an arrangement involving this whole band without them just standing there for parts of it Helen Wheels - kind of obscure now, not a huge fan favorite either Goodnight Tonight - never in a million years, or maybe just a fake-out Mull Of Kintyre - a few excited whoops in the U.S., otherwise bemusement, bathroom break '80s hits - duets without duet partners, songs no one remembers anymore Any ONE of these, maybe, but that's about it, at best.
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favoritething:
Bruce M.:
The other night I had dinner with a Beatles fan friend who saw Paul at Candlestick Park -- the same person for whom I'd played a bunch of solo Paul for a couple months before, and he came away really impressed. He was shocked -- genuinely flabbergasted -- to hear me say that I wish his set lists had less Beatles and more recent material. When I said it, he looked at me like I'd just announced I was from Mars.
Yes, I'm sure most people would be shocked. We forget that we're in a bubble here, knowing and loving all these obscure tracks. I'm so envious of Kate Bush's fans right now. Her first concerts in 35 years, and the bulk of the show is obscure, to the point of doing entire album sides from recent albums! Man, if only Paul could get away with that, but his legacy is just too huge! People hear his name and they expect nothing less than a string of Beatles hits. I even saw Los Loboa a few years ago, doing a show that was advertised as acoustic, and the audience practically mutinied because they wouldn't plug in electric instruments. A reputation is a powerful force: mess with it at your peril!
Did it ever occur to you (or Paul) that people hear his name and they expect nothing less than a string of Beatles hits because HE has been expecting that on every single solo tour? If Paul had created a more balanced set in 1989, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
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WixRocks!:
favoritething:
Bruce M.:
The other night I had dinner with a Beatles fan friend who saw Paul at Candlestick Park -- the same person for whom I'd played a bunch of solo Paul for a couple months before, and he came away really impressed. He was shocked -- genuinely flabbergasted -- to hear me say that I wish his set lists had less Beatles and more recent material. When I said it, he looked at me like I'd just announced I was from Mars.
Yes, I'm sure most people would be shocked. We forget that we're in a bubble here, knowing and loving all these obscure tracks. I'm so envious of Kate Bush's fans right now. Her first concerts in 35 years, and the bulk of the show is obscure, to the point of doing entire album sides from recent albums! Man, if only Paul could get away with that, but his legacy is just too huge! People hear his name and they expect nothing less than a string of Beatles hits. I even saw Los Loboa a few years ago, doing a show that was advertised as acoustic, and the audience practically mutinied because they wouldn't plug in electric instruments. A reputation is a powerful force: mess with it at your peril!
Did it ever occur to you (or Paul) that people hear his name and they expect nothing less than a string of Beatles hits because HE has been expecting that on every single solo tour? If Paul had created a more balanced set in 1989, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
Sure, it's occurred to me, but that's just not Paul. If he's got an arena or stadium full of people, he's going to try to please them all. Other performers are okay with half-hearted applause for some old track that wasn't a hit, but Paul would only do that in tiny venues where everyone is so close they'll be thrilled no matter what he does. But he can only do an Amoeba Records or a Times Square thing very sporadically; it's just not practical (or profitable). We should count ourselves lucky that he still does his brand new material, I suppose!
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It's not just about wanting stadiums full of adoring fans. In 1989, I remember reading somewhere that Paul's management told him he could no longer rely on his name alone to sell albums. So he toured to promote FITD. I also remember reading that since Michael Jackson had purchased the Beatles catalogue, if Paul wanted to generate more funds from that source, it was in his best interest to play Beatle songs in concert. So he did, and I suspect that is some of the reasoning behind his playing so many Beatle hits. It keeps promoting the Beatle brand name which still generates a lot of revenue for him. Probably a lot more than his solo catalogue, which he doesn't promote in concert even when reissued. As someone already said, he set the template in 1989, and has not deviated since. It is what promoters and audiences expect.
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RMartinez:
It's not just about wanting stadiums full of adoring fans. In 1989, I remember reading somewhere that Paul's management told him he could no longer rely on his name alone to sell albums. So he toured to promote FITD. I also remember reading that since Michael Jackson had purchased the Beatles catalogue, if Paul wanted to generate more funds from that source, it was in his best interest to play Beatle songs in concert. So he did, and I suspect that is some of the reasoning behind his playing so many Beatle hits. It keeps promoting the Beatle brand name which still generates a lot of revenue for him. Probably a lot more than his solo catalogue, which he doesn't promote in concert even when reissued. As someone already said, he set the template in 1989, and has not deviated since. It is what promoters and audiences expect.
I think you're exactly on target here.
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I also think you can't discount Paul's reputation, which he has worked to rehabilitate twice now: once after the Beatles' breakup, when everything he did (including "Ram"!) was heaped with critical scorn, finally hitting the upswing in '73-'74. Then again in the '80s in the wake of his celebrity duets, his failed movie venture, and the loss of the Beatles catalogue to MJ; the FITD tour was the first step in the process of THAT rehabilitation, which has continued more or less ever since. I don't think he wants to be seen as the moody, grumpy, intractable guy who refuses to play the hits people want to hear (remember the backlash at Ringo over his no-autograph thing). He'll continue to throw us a few bones here and there, but I think that's all we're likely to get. It's okay with me, though, because it's still a great show, and there will be those little intimate performances and TV specials thrown into the mix along the way. He is not just "our" Paul, any more than the Beatles belonged strictly to the Cavern dwellers, or to Liverpool.
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RMartinez:
It's not just about wanting stadiums full of adoring fans. In 1989, I remember reading somewhere that Paul's management told him he could no longer rely on his name alone to sell albums. So he toured to promote FITD. I also remember reading that since Michael Jackson had purchased the Beatles catalogue, if Paul wanted to generate more funds from that source, it was in his best interest to play Beatle songs in concert. So he did, and I suspect that is some of the reasoning behind his playing so many Beatle hits. It keeps promoting the Beatle brand name which still generates a lot of revenue for him. Probably a lot more than his solo catalogue, which he doesn't promote in concert even when reissued. As someone already said, he set the template in 1989, and has not deviated since. It is what promoters and audiences expect.
The 1989 tour set list was much more balanced than today and he did 32 songs not 37. McCartney played 6 songs from FITD which was his current album. In addition, he did 3 solo songs (not from FITD) and 2 1950's covers. McCartney played 3 Wings songs songs so this adds up to 14 non-Beatle songs out of 32. I will also note that McCartney opened with a song from FITD and did not play a Beatle song until the 4th song, that is unheard of today - lol. I would love it if it was balanced like this for the current tour. See set list from show I saw in NY in 1989. 1989 MSG Set list Figure of Eight Jet Rough Ride Got to Get You into My Life Band on the Run Ebony and Ivory We Got Married Maybe I'm Amazed The Long and Winding Road The Fool on the Hill Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Good Day Sunshine Can't Buy Me Love Put It There Hello, Goodbye Things We Said Today Eleanor Rigby This One My Brave Face Back in the U.S.S.R. I Saw Her Standing There Twenty Flight Rock Coming Up Let It Be Ain't That a Shame Live and Let Die Hey Jude Encore: Yesterday Get Back Golden Slumbers Carry That Weight The End