To some extent, Paul ignores crowd expectations to squeeze in new songs. When NEW was new, he said this onstage between two NEW songs: Paul: "I can see which songs you really like and which ones you're not so keen on. When we play an old Beatles song all your cell phones light up. It looks like a galaxy. But when we play a new song it looks like a black hole. The thing is, we don't care. Here's another black hole..."
Always good to have real numbers and not just vague recollections of the past. Thanks for the work. It is what I thought. Here are the times I saw him. I will say I would have went a lot more often if he changed his set more dramatically over the years. To me all three times I saw him the sets felt ridiculously similar. With the '13 performance blowing the other two away as far as Paul's vocal quality and his contagious excitement. McCartney ‘89 58% (18/31) McCartney ‘13 67% (26/38) McCartney ‘15 64% (25/39)
Thank the Lord he wasn't watching when the teenagers on "American Bandstand" hated "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever".
That is sooo sad. If he really didn't care, we would get a lot more tracks performed live off of his new releases, but it obviously bothers him and that is exactly why we get two to four tracks off of new releases performed live instead of six 0r more as many of us would like.
But of course he does care. Which is why his shows are 2/3 Beatles and we get just a smattering of new and recent material.
He obviously cares a lot though, going by the setlists. Kinda wish he cared less. I still think he could do an arena tour off the back of just the Wings/solo catalog, assuming it was advertised as such and no one went in expecting anything else.
Yeah, I suppose. I just think it'd be a more powerful statement to only use non-Beatles tracks. I mean, look at how great Wings Over America is, even though there's 5 Beatles songs, they're sort of casually dropped into the piano and acoustic sets during the first half of the show, he didn't need them for a big opener or set closer, and he's written plenty of great songs since 1976 that have never been played live that would be great for fans. Obviously if it hasn't happened by now, it's never going to happen, but it's still kind of a bummer it didn't.
You are correct sir! I did count the Quarrymen tune as a Beatle song, I always forget about that act there are so few shows in '18 I just took a peek... If we only had the time to look at every show, every year... I'd say there's probably a swing of 5% or so in every year, and this year is no different with most shows at 59-65%
2018 - actually most shows 59-65% so far let's say 61% on average... kudos to @adm62 for pointing that out
Glad you enjoyed! I was curious, and once I started sampling I had to keep going to get a more complete picture – though not all tours are represented. In '89 the buzz was intense - in Seattle at least, the new material didn't even trigger any bathroom breaks
Hey, we probably saw him together in '89 cool! Every time I've seen him has been in Seattle. Have you seen him any other times besides '89?
As setlists go - I'm fond of the period about ten years ago when he opened with Venus & Mars / Rock Show He even covered Tequila (!) at Hyde Park Paul McCartney Setlist at Hard Rock Calling 2010 Also why is he reluctant to make Get Back a staple when Back In The USSR always makes the cut...I've seen him play 1985 more than Get Back, which is nuts!
The difference is that in 1976, Wings was a current chart-topping act with a string of recent no. 1 singles. He could play new or recent material and the audience knew it and loved it. That, alas, is no longer the case. Believe me, I'd love to see the sort of show you ask for, but I get why he's reluctant.
FAKE MEMORIES - Sad. Those of us who really saw that tour know it didn’t hit the Kingdome until 1990!
Ha! I didn't even notice you were right up the road -- yes I was at the Kingdome in '90 and the Rose Garden in '05. My wife saw him in '76 and I feel like I was there with all the impressions she's shared. In '90 we spent $75 for 15th row center and though the sound was a let down (dome's!) and the distance between row 1 and the stage seemed like 100 feet, we still had a spectacular time
Did you make the trip from Boise in '90? That's a journey -- what a great road trip. After missing the '76 show I was ready to lay down more cash than we had to get great seats. So exciting at that time.
I didn't necessarily say "recent." But Wings had enough hits to fill a show by the end of the 70's, plus some 80's hits, and a selection of the best stuff from his post-80's albums? He could've done it if he'd wanted, and still sold lots of tickets. Not to mention stuff like Ram, McCartney II, Flaming Pie, etc, most of which was never played live but has a big following or recent critical reappraisal among Macca-heads. It'd be a killer setlist, and I think people would've dug it if he'd done it when he was still in decent voice maybe 10-15 years ago. It's also clear via the archive series that he's hoping to have his solo/Wings career re-evaluated by those who brushed it off, and few things would've accomplished that by going to every town with an arena and playing the absolute crap out of the best stuff he wrote between 1970 and now. (especially if he focused more on the more rock n' roll tracks, rather than the lighter fare)
2010 was his best recent setlist year. This is maybe my favorite attended McCartney show.......same as yours minus "Tequila." Paul McCartney Setlist at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
I saw that Rose Garden show in 05. One of my fave Paul concert memories, cuz his website had granted us 6th row seats, virtually in the center. At a quiet-ish point in the acoustic set, he thanked everyone from Portland “and surrounding areas” ... I screamed out “BOISE”. Remarkably, he heard me, and pointed down and said “oh is that where you’re from” or something like that. And then he said, “well I’m from Liverpool!” and the crowd, of course, went nuts... My then-12 year old son was stunned - Paul McCartney just talked to his dad! His eyes went like this: Row ten at the Kingdome in 1990 - I bribed a guy who worked for Ticketmaster ($30, iirc, so we’d get good seats without standing in line)! But yeah, it was still a LONG way from the stage!
No, I was in Seattle ‘87-‘99. But I’ve road tripped many times to see Sir Thumbs Aloft, though I think those days are over...
