Our hotel didn't have Internet access (isn't it funny how that seems to happen to us?), but I wrote the following bit of fluff as soon as we hit the room from the concert.
I had a hard time deciding on a title, but here were a few floating about in my brainbucket:
"The Return Of The Psychedelic Piano"
"Paul-Fringe In The Air Conditioning"
"NEWS BRIEFS : Literally!"
"Ram On Hits Denver!"
"Brian Smells Loverly"
Enjoy the post, folks!
I have just come back from a night of awesome. Like, twenty minutes ago, we were watching Paul McCartney (didn't I tell you this was going to happen? Then don't be so surprised!)
SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT!
I don't even know where to begin, so I'm just going to ramble.
Paul hair update : He's letting it go a little "soft" around the wings, which works for him, and he hasn't cut it, either... it's beginning to rival the '89/'90 World Tour hair...
And I have no problem with that.
Big moment of the night : HE ADDED RAM MATERIAL! Even if it was just "Ram On", he used his ukulele for more than two minutes, and it was EFFING AWESOME. I started screaming a stream of obscenities when he started playing the song (at first, I thought he was just mucking about, so imagine my surprise, right?)
Favorite flub : Had to be when he forgot the words to Paperback Writer (though he skirted around the lyrics to Blackbird in his own adorable way, too).
Biggest Change : None of the jokes were the same, except for the one after Mrs. Vanderbilt (regarding the Russians... yeah, now you want to know). It was awesome!
Crew participation : In the space between Paul and Rusty, in my Paul-ipheral vision I could see the sound mixer working his magic... this included rocking out like nobody's monkey... you know, like, air guitar/drumming, dancing, grinning, et al. He's probably awesome at Rock Band. More crew antics included packing up before Paul was even finished on stage.
Audience participation : The poor guy that sat next to me was quite the talker (he spat all over my pretzel. I was not amused.); when he asked if I was a screamer, I asked him he had a hearing aid, and, if so, I have actually shorted them out before. I also warned him that he should protect that side of his face, and, if he got in my way, I would probably shove him over. He must have taken my warning very seriously, because he left before the tenth (or so) number, and never came back.
I can't help it. I can clear a crowd, man.
New band bonding moment : They all cross legs as they take their bows (recent from Phoenix); when Wix didn't participate, Paul prompted him to do so... and you bet he did after that!
As far as Paul goes, he was ON tonight. The altitude does something to his voice (this was my third Denver show, so I'm pretty sure of this), and it's fabulous. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five was my toppermost of the poppermost number for the night, for sure. He even added the "baby don't break it" ad-lib, which was just fantastic, since he didn't in Phoenix.
Tonight was tight trouser night. In my semi-professional opinion, I can also confirm a very prudent question : briefs.
We saw the return of the Psychedelic Piano, as well, which he used on Hey Jude, and Lady Madonna (though I don't remember seeing him rock the grand piano like he did tonight, either). He's rearranged the set list a little, and it works so much better than it did before; he's finally got his new set list nailed down to exactly PERFECT.
Soundcheck : We got there at three o'clock, and Paul didn't arrive until after six, so we waited quite a while out in the heat (and, for Denver, it was ruddy blistering!). These are some of the awesome shots we got...
All in all, it was one hulluva show!
Baby, we'll see you next time!
