but we made it to Paul (AGAIN!).
We hit the sound check a little later this time, since the heat and humidity in Arlington just about killed us to begin with, and, to our great luck, we only had to wait about thirty minutes before Macca drove by. (I have only just realized that when I say we "hit the sound check" I'm not making myself very clear. We don't actually get to go inside and hear the sound check, but we wait for Paul to drive into the venue as he arrives for his part of the sound check.) It was BY FAR the BEST sound check I've ever been to. Some crazed lady actually got past security and rushed his SUV, meaning the driver stopped the car, and we got KILLER pictures.
The first one is my mandatory "I took that one myself" picture, and Mama was on the Cannon. I was very worried about this, since she's notorious for cutting people's heads off in photos, but you'll see that she took some gear shots.
See you on the other side of the slide show!
Wasn't that fun?
Now, for the concert... I'll tell you, Cowboys Stadium is freakin' HUGE. We asked five different people (literally) how to get to our seats (which ended up being Club Seating, right on the 53rd yard line, fab spots for a game), and each one told us something different.
As for the show itself, you can pretty much guess what I'm going to say... how do you beat Paul McCartney? You don't. (Something that may be of interest to you, or maybe just to me... not only does Paul knuckle-bump, but he adds an explosion at the end. Make of it what you will.)
And my favorite flub of the night... during "Mrs. Vandebilt", instead of the lyric "leave me alone Mrs. Washington..." he seemed to forget the Mrs. Washington part, and instead made it "leave me alone Mrs. Madgiter..." which thrilled me to tears, for some odd reason.
This was, of course, a much bigger venue than BOK Center (BOK only holds 13,000, and it was sold out. There were about 50,000 at Cowboys Stadium.), meaning there wasn't as much audience participation, and I noticed Paul didn't seem to have near as much fun with a larger crowd as with a smaller one. Neither did I, actually. The guy next to me was nice and quiet, but he did have one flaw. He wiggled. Now, when you're holding binoculars, you don't want some overweight guy bouncing around in his chair to EVERY SONG BUT ONE. Not only that, but we must have been sitting in the overactive bladder section... I lost count of how many times people got up and down for more Miller (as the lady behind us so kindly complained during the ENTIRE SHOW that they didn't have any Budweiser). Eventually, people started poking me when they wanted out, since I had a pair of binoculars glued to my eyes for the duration of the show... except, of course, on "Live And Let Die", which blew me away. Not because Paul's voice was any better, or the band did something different... no, this time, not only was there fire, but FIREWORKS! (You must forgive me, I'm a slight pyromaniac.)
Perhaps the funnest surprise of the night (yes, even more fun than fireworks) was when Paul broke out Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy", which, apparently, he only saves for Texas shows... not many people know, but I've had both a fascination and a love for Buddy's music since I was a wee naif, so to have Paul sing Buddy was a magical experience.
Now, enough about Cowboys Stadium, I feel I've slighted the Tulsa show for far too long (don't worry, I'll try not to bore you to tears).
All I can say is that it was magical. Paul was in top form, and he was having a blast, jumping around the stage, doing his little Paul dance, making jokes, and melting the faces off the crowd.
I feel the need to publicly apologize to the people around me for the show in Tulsa. You see, when a concert is as it's supposed to be, where I can see the artist without using screens or binoculars, I scream. Very, very loudly. The guy in front of me had to plug his ears, and the people next to me kept looking at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my nose... oh, and I can't forget this guy, either, sorry to him, too. (He was really into Helter Skelter... and good for him, that was the best live version of that song I've ever heard... rock on, guy, rock on...) What amazed me about Tulsa was the sense of reverence... I didn't see anybody get up to leave, there weren't any obnoxious people anywhere near us (except me, of course).
I said I wouldn't bore you (hey, who are you going to blame, you're the one that's read this far...), so have a video from Tulsa! (WATCH IT IN HQ!)
You know, if what Mr. Moran says is true, then I had a freaking blast in Tulsa...
I screamed so hard I literally felt my nasal cavity squirm, and so loud that I gargled my own blood. I did, however, keep both ears.
