Paul McCartney Slams Italian Government Over Ticket-Refund Policy – Variety "It is outrageous that those who have paid for their tickets are not getting their money back. Without the fans there would be no live entertainment,” reads the statement, which was written in Italian and posted on McCartney’s official Facebook page in Italy, although it was not visible in the U.S. “We strongly disagree with what the Italian government are doing. In every other country we were going to visit this summer the fans have all been offered full refunds. The organiser of our shows and the Italian law makers must do the right thing here. We are all extremely disappointed the shows could not take place and this is a real insult to the fans". A statement from promoter D’allessando e Galli (translated from Italian) defended the voucher system, citing the dire situation the pandemic has caused for live entertainment. “We have read Paul McCartney’s statements made by him this morning. We fully understand the bitterness of the artist over these two concerts that would mark his return to Italy, and we understand his displeasure in the face of the inconvenience that his fans will have to sustain by not receiving a direct refund but by voucher. “This reimbursement formula is an extraordinary measure that Paul McCartney’s staff was perfectly aware of before the cancellation..."
I like that he stopped "Here Today" due to the loud music playing nearby and said something like "this is on purpose! I planned a mash-up of my concert and whatever sh!t they're playing over there"
Paul's appearance was supposed be 50 minutes long but "Hi Hi Hi", "Get Back" and "Golden Slumbers" were broadcast after the 50-minute slot ended with "Hey Jude". In the end, we got around 65 minutes.
It was one on one (no pun) the original 2015 broadcast. Same songs, same length. Same hard edit of the walk-on, same last shot. But the original stream had terribly low audio bitrate and a fairly low video bitrate, and last night’s stream was a big upgrade. Skimming through it, the new stream didn’t have any banners on screen, the original stream from 2015 had those.
Thanks. I haven't done a comparison yet, but someone at the BZ forum said this about the original 2015 webcast version: "skimming it now it appears to be identical to the one they streamed last night with the exception that last night omited FourFiveSeconds".
Ah, sorry about that, this is correct. I lined both files up and thought of it as a medley. The on demand YouTube rip provides a higher bitrate than the initial 2020 stream rip, btw.
After a lot of pressure by fans through social media, much controversy in the local press and Paul himself getting involved by issuing a statement on the subject, the Italian promoter and the ticket vendor are finally offering the option of monetary refunds for Paul's cancelled concerts in Italy: https://www.ticketone.it/campaign/en/covid-19/ D'Alessandro e Galli Lucca Summer Festival
As was the only right option. Well, now I feel less uncomfortable sharing that I was in Lucca recently for holidays, and this location would've been so cool for a Paul McCartney show. Ok, it's still rubbing salt in the wounds, but at least not financially any more . Just exciting to see how big of an event a rock performance can be in a city as such. The Stones did it in 2017, and I still saw so many posters reminding of the event, quite a few locals wearing shirts, it left such a positive mark. Now is a McCartney event not long as big as a Stones event, but the city itself is charming without any event on, let alone with a big pop/rock show. I would love to visit it for any act, really. I don't think McCartney will ever resume an European tour of this stature (big fields, the majority half-filled due to many factors), but if he does, this would be the location he should rebook.
Sir Paul McCartney on his lockdown album: 'I was just messing around' The future of live concerts is uncertain at the moment. Have you thought about the possibility that you might not be able to play live again? Yes, definitely. I look back at the last gig I did, which was at Dodger Stadium in LA, and we didn't have a very good night. I must say, I was thinking "Uh-oh, what if that was the last gig?" But it would be great, wouldn't it, to be in a crowd and be able to go crazy and listen to a live band again. I was imagining that the other day - instead of doing the songs, you'd just be standing there going "This is great, isn't it?"
As of today the last 3 shows were Vancouver Stadium/San Jose Arena/Dodger LA. I was weirdly underwhelmed with the Vancouver show, and the issue wasn't voice related. My 4th show since 2009. Curious if anyone who saw multiple recent shows including San Jose July 2019.
Ringo's appearance was certainly special to Paul, but perhaps specific details bothered him throughout the concert. He's always been a perfectionist, after all.
I enjoyed that show (Vancouver.) My third time seeing him, and the 1st time with the horn section (!)
I'm not surprised Paul thinks that way. He's a perfectionist, and wants to give a great show every night. I saw him in Vegas, which I guess is one of the last half dozen shows of that tour, and it was a great show. I'm glad I made the trip to Vegas to see him. Hopefully, we get a DVD of some of these tours since the last one was quite a long time ago. I think we might get some type of streaming event for McCartney III, which would be the ideal way to promote it.
Glastonbury Festival - A statement from Glastonbury Festival "In spite of our efforts to move Heaven & Earth, it has become clear that we simply will not be able to make the Festival happen this year. We are so sorry to let you all down."
Posted by a fan on Paul's message board a few days ago: "Tonight I was listening to my favorite radio station, here in the Netherlands. After the DJ played Maybe I’m Amazed, he just casually said that Paul Mccartney will be coming to the Netherlands next year when he’ll be 80 years old!"
Paul McCartney Doesn’t Really Want to Stop the Show McCartney also wants to go back on the road, a life that he finds invigorating. “I’ve been doing this for a long time,” he said. “So another me takes over: Professional Performing Paul—the triple ‘P’!” If the question is “Why do you keep at it?,” the answer is plain: “I plan to continue living. That’s the central idea.”
Maybe he'll finally play "The Other Me" live and we can close the book on Paul performing at least one song from every one of his albums live. Except now we have McIII to contend with as well.
