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PAUL
McCARTNEY
Sunday, October 23, 2005
The
Bradley Center
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin
Photos by Terry
Mayer
Review by Robyn Cook
"Hey Paul, make us feel 17 again!"
read a sign held by a Paul McCartney fan hoping to draw Sir Paul’s
attention. Reclaiming the songs from their youth seemed to be the
general mood of the crowd that filled the Bradley Center to capacity
during Sunday night’s sold out Paul McCartney show.
Performing a
mixture of Beatles, Wings and solo tunes, he was met with an exuberant
audience who were there to see not just the solo artist Paul McCartney,
but a member of one of the most prolific bands in rock ‘n’ roll history.
Joining him onstage was a group of young musicians who have learned the
old songs from the Beatles and Wings discography as well as new songs
from McCartney’s solo efforts.
The
old songs were ramped up to really rock ‘n’ roll, particularly by
drummer Abe Laborial Jr. who treated the evening as an
opportunity to put a serious, almost heavy metal back beat to some old
favorites.
McCartney opened with "Magical Mystery Tour", then took a moment
to soak up the audience’s adulation while appearing to try to count the
number of empty seats in the house (there were none!). The band
continued with a multitude of hits including "Got To Get You Into My
Life" and "Baby You Can Drive My Car".
A
boisterous crowd contributed to a rousing version of
"Jet",
keeping beat with fists raised in air, singing the chorus loud enough to
drown out Sir Paul and his band.
A highlight of the
evening took place when the band members departed the stage, leaving Sir
Paul to reminisce on moments from Beatle’s history as well as moments
from his current tour.
"This is the bit where they go off and leave me alone with you in my
living room!",
he said. The crowd was awed to be present in McCartney’s "living
room"!
Paul’s gentle humor drew his audience in and their attentions were
rewarded with performances of "Maybe I’m Amazed" and "The Long
and Winding Road". There were instances where McCartney’s voice rang
clear and true as in his younger days, but it was apparent that his
voice has aged, particularly on "Maybe I’m Amazed" where his
strained vocals competed only with his piano to be heard.
 One
of the best songs of the night was "Jenny Wren", the newest
single to be released from new album "Chaos and Creation In The
Backyard". A haunting melody, it combined McCartney’s voice,
acoustic guitar, a single tom tom beat by Laborial and a plaintive and
melancholy accordion to weave a truly moving piece of music that
captured the audience’s attention from beginning to end.
Because he is the icon he is, McCartney certainly did not have to work
all that hard to woo his audience. But because he is the performer that
he is, he did work to woo them. He enticed even a young lady of 10 or 11
to stand on her chair for almost the entire concert at her father’s
side, singing along to the old Beatle’s songs and the new songs.
“We’ve come from many miles away to rock you and we will!”
promised McCartney at the beginning of the show. Judging from the crowd
that stayed on their feet until the end, McCartney fulfilled his
promise.
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