Wow. What can I say, really? This is the fifth time I’ve seen Paul in concert. Two times ago, I managed to snag eighth row seats on the floor (in the section just right of center). I brought a sign with me, and while being the only one standing in my section during one song, I was shaking my sign from side to side while Paul was looking in my direction; he shook his arms back! Since then, I’ve wanted to be up close at every concert of his I attend. But that was the closest I’ve ever gotten. And being front row center (or close to it) would’ve been the only thing that could possibly have made this show better. Because despite my seat being far away (although not as far away as others, as I was in row 2 of section 307 with a great view of the stage), this show was phenomenal. (However, if anyone wants to donate a front row ticket to me for one of the remaining shows, particularly for the one in Tulsa, where my friend is turning 30 the same day lives, I would happily accept it. I’ll even take one in the second or third row; I’m not greedy.)

OK, I did have one problem with the show: Why were you not excited, people in my section? I know the women next to me were given tickets by someone else (it seemed like a last-minute, “OK, I’ll go see Paul, why not?” kind of thing), so I can almost understand their staring at me when I was dancing or yelling, but not really. The woman to my right said something to me like, “You’re going to lose your voice in the morning.” Guess what? I don’t care. I was at a concert. For the best musician on the planet. I’m going to sing. I’m going to dance. And I’m going to scream like the girls screamed at him 44 years ago at Shea Stadium. And it’s too bad that (most of) the people around me didn’t show such enthusiasm. I finally got to remain standing when the two women behind me left BEFORE THE ENCORE. Seriously? You don’t hear Paul McCartney play Yesterday and you leave? No one even stood for a standing ovation (when other parts of the audience did). I just don’t understand it. But it didn’t stop me from enjoying perhaps the best performance I’ve ever seen.

Back to the music. The full set list can be found here. Paul sounded amazing. He finally came on stage (after an opening band and an intro that included a collage of photos on the screens, with many photos of him and Linda that were beautiful, with alternative mixes of his own music in the background) at around 8:45 and didn’t stop until around 11:00, when he went backstage for about a minute, only to come back for the encore and play until around 11:30. It’s hard to believe that this man is 67 years old. He looks great, with a smile as adorable as ever, and sounds amazing. AMAZING. The amount of energy he has is unmatched. He looked like he was having a ton of fun, really enjoying himself and the audience’s reaction to everything. I was really happy that he played some newer stuff along with the older stuff, so the people who just know Beatles music could hear that he still has a lot to offer. Sing the Changes and Highway from his most recent Fireman album (Electric Arguments, which is incredible) sounded awesome live. What’s fantastic is that his Beatles songs stand up to his music of today. If you played I’m Down, which he played 44 years ago at Shea and played again this weekend at Citi Field, up against Only Mama Knows from Memory Almost Full, which came out in 2007 and was the third song he played Saturday night, you wouldn’t know which one was from decades ago. Well, you might, because it’s I’m Down, but you know what I mean, right? Oh, and if you don’t believe me about how fantastic he sounded, thinking I would just say that no matter what, you’re wrong. First of all, I read someone else’s review of Saturday night’s show, and that person mentioned that he thought Paul sounded better this weekend than he did at his Madison Square Garden show in 2005. I was there, too, and I agree with this review; he sounded at the top of his game on Saturday night, in voice (still hitting every high note and ripping on the rockers) and on instruments (he played the piano, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a mandolin, and a ukulele). Second, check this out:

The first video is The Beatles playing I’m Down at Shea Stadium. The second is Paul playing the same song this weekend (I could only find video for I’m Down from Friday night’s show, which still sounds amazing, but I think Saturday night’s was even better!). See what I mean? Amazing.

Here are some videos from Saturday night’s show (I did not record these, although I should’ve brought my camera, since everyone else was taking photos and videos; there are more than this posted on You Tube, so go look them up). The top left is called Sing the Changes; it’s from The Fireman’s Electric Arguments album. The top right is Live and Let Die, complete with fireworks this time! Crazy! Paul sings his song for John, Here Today, on the bottom left. He always breaks up when he sings it, but this was something special. And he ended the show with Sgt. Pepper Reprise/The End, which is on the bottom right.

Unbelievable.

There were a lot of emotions going through me that night. I was excited. I laughed (Paul’s pretty funny, folks). And I did plenty of crying. So did Paul. When he sang Here Today, which he wrote for John, he lost it in the middle, and so did I. He dedicated My Love to Linda, and it was emotional, as always. And Something, for George, obviously, was melancholy as well. I’ve also been pretty emotional since. I don’t know if it’s because of the concert or just coincidental, but I’ve had some rough moments while listening to some of his music since then. I’m sure I just sound like a crazy fanatic to some of you. But I don’t care. And I’m sure I also sound completely incoherent to most of you. That I regret. I wish I could express how much Paul and his music mean to me, but I can’t. Just trust me when I say that this concert was perhaps the most amazing I’ve ever seen, and Paul McCartney is just an unbelievable musician. You have to experience him in concert if you haven’t already. I’ll go with you. Anyone have those front row tickets to Tulsa?