"Yesterday"? He didn't play "Yesterday"?! Wow- the four horsemen of the Apocalypse should be coming round the corner any time now, then...seriously, "Yesterday" has been a McCartney Mainstay since 1976!
Did he play piano or bass? Assuming piano. Also I wonder if he is he still doing other songs where it's just him and guitar? I wonder why Yesterday was dropped. Plenty of other more obvious Beatles songs to drop if he wants to Freshen Up.
Because Paul no longer feels like half the man he used to be. Lately, he's been feeling more like one-fifth or so of the man he used to be ...
Paul's Instagram Stories is now being updated with pictures and short videos of his latest concert in Japan. It seems he has just arrived at the venue, which is the smallest one he has ever performed at in the country. It should be a very interesting experience to watch him playing at a sumo arena.
Normally special gigs get the usual "played for 30 years, but not in the last 2 years" rotation songs, but not even that is happening since the current tour. It was the same current set, minus 'Who Cares', 'Let 'Em In', 'Maybe I'm Amazed', 'Here Today' and 'Eleanor Rigby'. 'Yesterday' has become an "encore rotation song", interesting enough. Only played 1 out of 3 Japanese gigs so far yet.
Well, Paul may not be playing any of the daring deep cuts I want him to, but I'm really impressed by the brave choice of warhorses he's choosing to drop! Bravo for this edgy new direction! Let's see him take things even more out there and drop 'Hey Jude'!
One good sign from the Japan setlists............... It looks like he's finally dropped "45 Kanyes.” I hope it's gone for good.
I ended up with a seat in the 2nd tier, 6th row on the left side of the stage and was pleasantly surprised by how close it was. The Kokugikan is much smaller than Budokan. It did feel special. While I don’t like the fact that he omits songs, I actually thought the pace of the show was very good. Of the songs he omitted, “Here Today”, “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Yesterday” are three very important songs but they all really expose his vocal shortcomings so I was OK with not hearing them.
I was checking Neil Young setlist of some gigs he made past month, and man.. I wish Paul was like him. Just getting out of the confort zone. Playing deep cuts and rockin it out every day with different stuff. Paul is the most prolific artist of ALL TIME and he doesnt seem to notice that. Im sure his band would love to play different stuff every night. NY’s setlists are totally different from each other. Its amazing. I have to be frank, I cant enjoy the same Paul gig everytime he comes near where I live. Sadly Im not paying good $$ to see the exact same show for the 4th time in the last 4~5 years. But I do hope the newer generations are enjoying the gigs.
I don't think Paul will every change. Most of the artists from the 60's era seem to take the same approach to touring that they took 50 years ago. Come up with a setlist of songs that works as a "show" and then take that show on the road. I think most people don't have too much interest in seeing the same show more than once. I've always been different - for me, the enjoyment is similar to listening to an album I like multiple times, just a bit more inconvenient and a LOT more expensive.
It strikes me funny that year after year, tour after tour we get zillions of posts here on the forum suggesting Paul should shake up his setlist, some with suggested setlists as if we know better than that rube Paul, but yet.. strangely, Paul seems to do what he wants, year after year, tour after tour. So, can we just agree that it's a given that most of us would like him to play other things without posting variations of the same thing a zillion more times, when it does absolutely no good AT ALL ? He adds as many new or different things as he thinks he can get away with. Period. Let's enjoy what he's giving us while he's still semi able to sing these things and forget about our own fantasy concerts.
It doesn't matter. Neil still gets the same complaints. For example, when Neil comes up with great setlists, like on his 2000 or 2007 or 2012 US tours, and they don't change or hardly change, the same complaints that get aired in these Paul threads came out. That's when it became obvious to me that most setlist whiners will NEVER be satisfied. His 2018 shows are not a tour but one offs (or two offs).
I saw one of your YouTube vids. It was not the set-up I was expecting. Why on earth was there such a massive gap between the stage and the audience? Why didn't the crowd jump the fence? What were those 4 seated ushers meant to do in that case? And can we just agree that if Paul had played an all Beatles set in 1976 it would have gone down a storm, just like now, and he likely would have stuck with the formula? Yes, indeed, remember the complaints about Greendale, or Le Noise, or .... Pick your tour! Neil even gets heckled at his solo acoustic shows which are clearly advertised as SOLO ACOUSTIC!
There's always a massive gap between the stage and the audience except in Arena and Stadium venues. The Japanese crowd jump the fence? That would never happen, in fact, they wouldn't even consider it. Before the show, it seemed that all 5000+ people were patiently waiting in one line that went up and down and around the outside of the arena and down the road for a couple of blocks - everyone just waited patiently, no one tried to jump the queue and no one complained, even when they delayed opening the doors by over an hour. Of course, being the impatient American that I am, I said "screw this" and went across the street so I could sit and have a cup of coffee and access Wi-Fi.
Very cool that he FINALLY added horns at a show. Never understood why he hasn't been doing this for almost 20 years. Wix is amazing obviously, but he can obviously afford to have three horn players on stage with him. If Brian Wilson, who is playing much smaller rooms and tours less, can have a 10-person band so can PMcC.