Paul McCartney BC Place Nov 25th,2012

    My friends and I were stressing as we tried to cross the Lions Gate Bridge, heading for the show at BC Place with Paul McCartney.  I guessed that half of the concert goers were from the North Shore. The age demographic was right and the wallet demographic as well.  It was a relatively expensive ticket and a hard-to-get one, to boot.  Next hassle was parking and I completely lucked out with a spot right next to the stadium when a car started to pull out.  I waved at the driver and got out of my car.  He read my mind and offered his parking ticket out the window, handing it to me and belatedly joking "how about five dollars?".  I thanked him and checked the dates and times to make sure it was valid.  Score!

    We met another friend and headed into the stadium where I immediately bumped into my old buddy and bandmate Mathias Wolfsohn.  He had an app that helped us navigate quickly to the floor where our seats ended up being really close to each other.

    There was one pickled guy at the end of our row and then Mat just across the aisle.  I asked the guy in the yellow baseball hat if he wouldn't mind switching with my friend so we could all be together ( he was by himself over there).  I pointed out that the view would be better over there because it was on the edge of the aisle on the next row and had an unobstructed view of the stage.  The guy chose to tweak out on me, saying "Fuck you! Why don't you go sit over there?"  He missed the point completely.  I said "Don't worry about it.", but he couldn't let it go and tried to make a mountain out of a molehill.  I had to just  ignore him and let it fizzle.  By the end of the show after much dancing and revelry, he realized I was a real Beatle-head and was grinning at me with approval.  By then we had squeezed Mat in when the antagonist went to the bathroom.  He was too blissed out with Beatlemania to notice or care when he returned.

    It was tight on the floor and hard to dance with much swing.  Luckily, everyone stood up right away, though, and our "boxed in boogying" continued through the show unabated.  A few times our row thinned out and I was able to experience some rocking on the edge of the aisle.  It was a fun concert.
 
     Paul looked extremely comfortable on stage.  He didn't seem to be in a hurry and was soaking-in the audience between songs.  His tailored suit was impeccable, with buttons sewn on the inside to avoid scratching his vintage Hofner bass and psychedelic painted Les Paul ( which he pulled off a mean solo on ).  He moved around from Piano on songs like the standout "Long and Winding Road", to guitar on Wings' "Let me Roll It -Foxy Lady Jam", to Ukelele for "Something" as a tribute to George Harrison. As images of the late Beatle- known for his spirituality, graced the screen, I couldn't help but well up with tears.

    It was a treat seeing the old photos and footage of Paul's life with faces of his loved ones from the counterculture of the 60's and 70's- some who had passed away.  He seemed to tear up as he recollected his estranged interactions with John Lennon before playing the very personal tribute song "Here Today".  Paul deserves his Knighthood for spending his life spreading such an overall positive message (All You Need Is Love TV broadcast, Give Peace a Chance singalong at BC Place) while enduring such personal loss ( Brian Epstein, John Lennon, Linda McCartney , George Harrison) and hassles from police, the press, lunatics and show biz leeches.

   "I've got a Feeling" brought back memories for me of my days in Vancouver 90's band- Noah's Great Rainbow; we used to do a rocking version of the song that stood up well in hindsight.  We played it as if it were a rockin' Black Crows song with a reggae treatment given to the bridge and a hand drumming intro.

   During "Live and Let Die" a barrage of explosions, flame throwers, fireworks, flashing lights and videos of explosions rocked the space with fierce intensity.  Meanwhile, the stage cameras flashed quickly from player to player adding to the intense climax.  At the end, guitarist/bassist Brian Ray held his guitar aloft above his head as it rang with feedback.  The camera then cut to Paul who was covering his ears and grimacing from the sheer volume of the unbridled screech.  He mouthed the word "Too Loud! Too Loud!" and left us wondering whether it was a feigned apology to the old timers or an actual screw up by the sound guys or pyro crew.  With in-ear monitors, feedback can really nail you.

    Surprisingly, Paul McCartney came on an hour late.  For a Sunday night with lots of kids in the audience, it was definitely a stretch.  We had a nine year old with us who managed to hang in until the second encore.  I thought for sure the show was over after two encores and I'm sure anybody would have been happy at that.  We started through the maze on the floor as "Get Back" began and I felt like the Doo-Dah Man truckin' along.  When we came to the big open area behind the soundboard, I burst into dance, finally unencumbered by the tight seating; man did that feel good and I marveled that nobody was using the dance-friendly expanse.  I wish we found it earlier, cause this train was on the move.  As we walked out with "Yesterday" joining the soundtrack to our exodus, we overheard someone say that he was going to play another forty-five minutes.  That's when I remembered the rumours that Springsteen would be joining the band onstage.  Mat said "I forgot about that- I can't miss that!" and headed back in.  The lyrics were chiming in the background "Why did she have to go?...I don't know...".  I was wishing we didn't have to go.  Kids just don't have late night concert stamina.  Our tired schoolgirl wanted to leave, so I begrudgingly turned my back to the throng and exited into the concourse.

    As we walked around towards the exit we caught a glimpse through the portals of the Police Marching Band when they joined Paul for Mull of Kintyre and further round the dome: Helter Skelter with a crazy 3D digital lightshow.  I have to admit, it sounded pretty raucous from the p.o.v. of a nine year old at that time of night.  That's Rock n' Roll.  It was also tough for her seeing over the adults from our floor seats all night (side seating next time).  Luckily she could see the screens and she got some happy sing-alongs like Blackbird, Hey Jude, Let it Be and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.  No Yellow Submarine, though! :(

    I heard them doing the medley from the second side of Abbey Road as we finally exited the building. What torture!  Having to leave during one of my favourite songs was a taste of the bitter pill called responsibility.  However,  I was really glad that someone so young could get to see a Beatle as her first concert and we had seen most of the show.  As we descended the steps to the street I could here the heart-wrenching lyrics "...Once there was a way... to get back home..." and I could see a panhandler struggling along in the cold just ahead.  Hearing those lyrics with this homeless person in front of me as I'm heading home from an expensive night of music hit my heart strings and I knew I had to give him some money.  That image couldn't have been more bluesy in my mind.  Paul McCartney had opened my heart and put me in a compassionate mood.  We beat a massive cluster/rush according to Mat who herded out with the tired masses for about half an hour.  His text read "no Bruce".  I drove home listening to early Beatles recordings, inspired and grateful.

1) "Magical Mystery Tour"

2) "Junior's Farm"

3) "All My Loving"

4) "Jet"

5) "Drive My Car"

6) "Sing the Changes"

7) "The Night Before"

8) "Let Me Roll It" (with snippet of "Foxy Lady")

9) "Paperback Writer"

10) "The Long and Winding Road"

11) "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"

12) "My Valentine"

13) "Maybe I'm Amazed"

14) "I've Just Seen a Face"

15) "And I Love Her"

16) "Blackbird"

17) "Here Today"

18) "Dance Tonight"

19) "Mrs. Vandebilt"

20) "Eleanor Rigby"

21) "Something"

22) "Band on the Run"

23) "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"

24) "Back in the U.S.S.R."

25) "I've Got a Feeling"

26) "A Day in the Life" (with snippet of "Give Peace a Chance")

27) "Let It Be"

28) "Live and Let Die"

29) "Hey Jude"

Encore:

30) "Lady Madonna"

31) "Day Tripper"

32) "Get Back"

Encore 2:

33) "Yesterday"

34) "Mull of Kintyre" (with the Delta Police Pipe Band)

35) "Helter Skelter"

36) "Golden Slumbers"

37) "Carry That Weight"

38) "The End"

Thanks to Steve Newton at Georgia Straight's Blog for the Set List.