paul mccartney concerts

Last weekend we traveled to Salt Lake for Grandpa's funeral. It was a really nice service, and I think Grandpa would have liked it.

Even though our primary reason for traveling was the funeral, we did end up getting to see some friends for a few brief moments. And the most unexpected part of the trip? My family had two extra tickets to the Paul McCartney concert, so J and I got to go! (Thanks, dad!) It was really nice that we got to do something really fun while we were in town. And plus, I was ecstatic at the chance to see Paul perform again. I am a huge Beatles fan, and Paul has always been one of my favorite musicians.

I've seen Paul McCartney perform once before, in 2003 when I was on a study abroad in Rome. Paul gave a free concert in the Via Fori Imperiali, the street which leads up to the Colosseum. The concert stage was right in front of the Colosseum, actually. I remember how fun it was to see the ancient building "rocking out" in pink and green lights while the music played. I was really far away from the stage during that performance (you can see in my scrapbook picture (shown below) how multiple screens lined the street in front of me). Even though I couldn't really see Paul at all, it was so fun to hear him play in Rome.


When we went to the Paul McCartney concert this past week, I warned J that I might scream like schoolgirl when Paul got on stage. J thanked me for warning him in advance - but I actually ended up having more comportment for this show. (Although I think that I danced more than J has ever seen in the whole time that we have been married.) We had fantastic tickets, right on the floor. There were a lot of great Beatles songs that were played, and also a lot of Paul's later hits. Some of the songs that he played were "Band on the Run," "Live and Let Die" (which was accompanied with fireworks and flames going off across the stage - so awesome!), "A Day in the Life," "Eleanor Rigby," and "Helter Skelter." I secretly hoped that Paul would have sung "Beautiful Night," but perhaps that isn't a popular enough song to be played in his tour set.

Here are some pictures:

Before the show

My dad with V, A, and little brother C (my sister C was also at the show, but not pictured here)

My absolute favorite part of the show was when Paul broke out and played part of "Foxy Lady" as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. I didn't expect to hear anything other than a McCartney song at the concert, and hearing "Foxy Lady" was so unexpected that I loved the performance all the more. If Zillah had been there to deutsch with me, I think my ecstasy would have been complete.



My sister E was the sacrificial lamb. She stayed at home and watched Sam and L, while everyone else went and had fun. Luckily for E, Sam and L wanted to hold their own concert.

Sam on ukulele, while L marches to the beat