A rainstorm didn’t stop Paul McCartney from rocking the crowd as they went wild and glowing reviews flowed from the inaugural concert at Citi Field.
The Friday, July 17 show, one of three that took place at the new home of the Mets, proved to the multitude that McCartney, 67, still has the talent of his younger self – the one who, with three other gents from Liverpool, made history with a half-hour set, one month shy of 44 years ago at Shea Stadium.
“It’s amazing to think this guy’s 67 years old and still has his voice,” said concertgoer Jack Friedman, who attended the Friday concert. “His voice is strong; he’s very personable and just seems like a cool guy.”
The crowd ranged from babes in arms, to baby boomers to even the elderly.
Tickets to the Friday and Saturday performances sold out in less than five minutes, prompting the addition of a third show on Tuesday, July 21. However, a number of sections reputed to have sightline problems or obstructed views were noticeably empty.
Compared to Shea, “there were a lot less people, but the sound was a lot better,” said Friedman, who also went to Billy Joel’s “Last Play at Shea,” in 2008.
When The Beatles played at Shea on August 16, 1965, the music, McCartney told Friday’s audience, was amplified over the stadium’s public address system. Neither he nor his band mates could hear anything, as they were constantly drowned out by the throngs of screaming girls in attendance.
This cued the women in the audience, now visibly older, to start cheering, their crushes on him not having diminished over the years.
The Friday night set contained only one song – “I’m Down,” that The Beatles had performed during their 1965 concert. The rest was a mix of other tunes popularized by the group (whose other members included the John Lennon and George Harrison, both now deceased, and Ringo Starr), material McCartney recorded with his band Wings and very recent material released under McCartney’s alias, the Fireman.
“It covered a lot of ground,” said concertgoer Scott Marc. “It was just one hit after another.”
Songs like “Eleanor Rigby,” “Blackbird,” “Band on the Run” and “Live and Let Die” – complete with pyrotechnics display – turned into sing-a-longs with the audience become fully immersed in the songs.
“He’d start a song and people would just start singing,” Friedman said, admitting that he wasn’t very familiar with McCartney’s new material.
McCartney waxed sentimental at various points throughout the two and a half hour set, dedicating the song “My Life,” to his late wife Linda. He sang his memorial song to John Lennon, “Here Today,” as well as Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” (to which he segued from “A Day in the Life”).
A photo tribute to George Harrison played on the screens behind McCartney when he sang Harrison’s “Something,” on a ukulele, which was a gift from his former band mate.
“He’s very emotional, and he brought tears to everyone’s eyes as he dedicated songs to Linda, John and George,” said 35-year-old Jennifer McAuliffe of Ridgewood.
Not only did his Fireman material acknowledge McCartney’s future, but so did some of the graphics.
During “Got to Get You Into My Life,” a preview of the soon-to-be-released The Beatles Rock Band video game were flashing behind him.
A special guest appearance from Billy Joel, whose concerts closed the book on Shea Stadium rock last year, sent the crowd into a tizzy.
He had invited McCartney to close his “Last Play at Shea” – now, Joel took to the piano during the encore, in a duet of “I Saw Her Standing There.”
To be technical, McCartney was not actually the first musician to play the venue.
Glen Power, the drummer of the Dublin, Ireland band, The Script, opened the show with a drum solo leading into The Script’s hour-long set.
However, even they were in awe of McCartney. Lead singer Danny O’Donoghue told the crowd that all he and his band mates hoped was that the man to whom he referred to as “Sir Paul” would stop in and say hello to them before the show. He did.
Ultimately, McCartney left the audience, which featured a host of actors and other luminaries including Pierce Brosnan and Stanley Tucci, very pleased.
“If I had the money, I’d go back Tuesday [the July 21 concert],”said Marc.
Read about a lucky fan who won tickets to McCartney’s first show at Citi Field
