“Hi, it was a Beatles scream!” Paul McCartney said and responded to a female audience member’s Shriek halfway through his exuberant set at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday night. “Okay girls, let’s come over with: Let’s hear your Beatles scream.” A huge proportion of the audience followed and produced a credible imitation of screams that shook the world in 1964 while McCartney stood, nodded in hollow assessment and then said: “Ok that’s enough.” While some would have been gasping at the moment, Sir Paul has probably heard enough screaming during her 83 years to blast a thousand eardrums.
But for the happy people in the room, it was a night worth screaming for: seeing Paul McCartney and his essay playing a 575 capacity place that later this month hosts shows by artists such as Bartees Strange, Willow Avalon and Jesse Welles. It was suddenly announced at noon, without warning of advance: in six and a half hours McCartney and bands will take the stage at Bowery, physical tickets only at the checkout, first added (a colleague who bolted Downtown was closed heartbreaking when he was third in line from the front). And at 18:44 on the nose, the band – led by McCartney – went down the narrow stairs that led from the Bowery dressing room to the stage and launched straight into “A hard day’s night”, soaring through a narrow but relaxed set of the presented mass Banter, much of it directly with the audience members.
And there was a lot to shout about: Although McCartney said they had only one repetition the day before, this band-Hans four-piece by guitarist Rusty Anderson, guitarist Bassist Brian Ray, Keyboardist Wix and Powerhouse Drummer Abe some songs of a Tredel Horn sections-have been together in a dozen plus years and have toured almost each of them, so it is safe to say that they are talented even after a repetition.
And the set list, a tight version of the two-plus-hour set of McCartney’s last tourScouted McCartney’s entire recorded career, from 1963 (“From me to you”) to his solo hits from the 1970s and even last year’s “final” Beatles song, “Now and Mat.” In between, of course, it was almost every song you would have to hear: a large audience singalong on “Obladi-Oblas,” Flamming rushes through “Get Back”, “Jet”, TK and TK; Deeper cuts like “release”, “Let me roll it” and “Mrs. Wandel”; Acoustic songs like “I’ve just seen a face” and a solo “Blackbird.” To his credit McCartney has changed the set on almost every tour He has done in recent years, and the band has a huge repertoire on hand. As always, McCartney changed bass, guitar and piano, and he was in a strong voice and hit important high tones but without exaggerating it. While all band members are strong musicians , Laboriel is the most interesting: a bruising drummer that makes the best of his very small kit, he has been given much more room to roam than most of McCartney’s accompaniment and loses complicated fillings between beats but always holds it down.
But the most remarkable thing about the show – yes, except that Paul McCartney performed 15 feet in front of you – was the joke. McCartney is usually quite chatting during his shows, but everyone knows that his jokular comments on arenas are actually not aimed at any person even if he does it seems so. Here he responded directly to the fans’ cry. McCartney often talks a lot during his sets, but this time he could actually hear what the audience members screamed at him, which was usually “We love you!” or requires relatively unclear songs. After a man shouted loudly for his flop 1980 -single, “” Temporary secretary, “laugh McCartney and said to the band,” Can we work with it? “; After another shouted” Yes! “To an everyday comment, he replied,” You will say “Yes!” To something! “
After a arousing finale of “Lady Madonna”, “Let it be” and a massive “Hey Jude”, McCartney and the band bent and left the scene exactly 90 minutes after they had gone on it (probably by mistake, but they “are a” are Such well -oiled machine that it would not be surprising if it was intentional). But of course they were back for a encore after only a few minutes: “Golden Slumbers -The End” final of “Abbey Road”, which saw McCartney, Anderson And TK shopping from the famous guitar solos while Wix held a base on keyboards. It is an impossible song to follow (except with “Her Majesty”, which he did not) and the band took a new bow and went off.
“This has been a blast – we’ve jumped it,” McCartney said, talking to seemingly every person who is lucky enough to be in the room.
And as much as it felt like a moment once in a lifetime, we couldn’t help but notice that both Max McNown concerts originally planned for Tuesday and Wednesday at Bowery have been moved up to Irving Plaza. Hmmmmm… ..
