My Other Paul Shows
Thursday, July 13, 2017. I’d been looking forward to this show. I used to average maybe 2 shows each tour, but since San Francisco, I just usually get 1 show in. Not that I wouldn’t love to do more. I would. But, since it had been more than a year since my last McCartney show, I was really chomping at the bit for this show.
Pause for a momentary trip down Memory Lane.
The summer before I turned 10 years old, my family and I went to NC to visit my Mom’s parents and her sister, my Aunt Cindy. That was a very rough summer for me, and my Aunt tried to help me by giving me these two mix cassette tapes. On them? Various Beatles songs that she loved. I listened to them over and over on the way home…and I still have them. Though I grew up listening to their music, I wasn’t a true die-hard Beatles fan until that summer.
So, it was pretty awesome that I could finally attend a Macca concert with both my Mom and my Aunt Cindy. (Ok, that’s far enough down Memory Lane LOL)
She arrived from NC on Monday evening for the concert on Thursday. And, I really must admit that I wasn’t my usual “excited to see Paul” until the day of the show. I got up at 5:20am and made my way into work. I just started a new job, so I felt a little awkward about asking for the entire day off. So I worked half a day, and then I headed home. It was a good thing I did only work half a day, by the way. If I hadn’t, I’m not sure we would have arrived in time.
My Aunt came over and we left my house somewhere near 2pm. Originally, I was going to already be in Duluth at this time and go to the fan meet up. But, since I had to work, we didn’t go. We stopped for a bite at the Huddle House up the street; where everyone there was curious and excited to hear about the fact that we were going to see Paul. “Hey, they’re going to see Paul McCartney right now!” LOL
In order to get to Duluth from my house, it was all back roads, beginning with US 411; which took us into Georgia. I live maybe 30 minutes from the GA state line (maybe less, depending on which way you go), so I was kinda excited that this show was so close.
OMG these back roads turned out to be twists and turns and places we’ve only heard of but never visited, but that really was ok because we had The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM to keep us company. The highlight for me was for the very first time, I got to see the courthouse where my grandparents got married. It is noteworthy that it’s the same courthouse where Dolly Parton married her husband…but I’d never seen it before. Always heard about it, and now I can say I’ve been there.
Eventually, the back roads led us right to the arena; which was awesome, and since we were early we also got a pretty killer parking spot. We sat for awhile, just waiting before we got out and got in line to get in. The doors were supposed to open at 6:30.
There was a place to buy souvenirs outside–awesome–so I went to check it out. I bought a new key chain for me (the one I got last year in AR broke!!) and this towel thing that looks like a scarf (it’s now the valance over my bedroom window!!), and also another key chain.
When we got there, and even on the way there, it was bright and beautiful and sunny. It seemed like it would be the perfect day. But the longer we stood in line, the cloudier it became, complete with lightning and thunder in the distance. They opened the doors at a little past 6:30 and we went in. Mom got in the express line because she didn’t carry her purse. Me and Aunt Cindy had to get our bags checked. (So, I carried my Stella McCartney bag for the first time to a show. Once was enough LOL) We got in and our seats were in section 200. So, up the escalator we went.
I have to admit, these were the easiest tickets I’ve ever bought. Normally, there is no way I can get tickets through the PM.com pre-sale, and I have to either wait for the venue pre-sale or general on-sale. But, this time around, I got tickets and had the whole process done within 6 minutes after the PM.com pre-sale began. I was astounded.
But, I was also concerned that they would be crappy seats. I’m always a little paranoid about that because…well…that’s happened before. The seats look great online and on the map, but once you get your butt in them, OMG…crap. And I didn’t want this concert experience to suck for my Mom or my Aunt.
We got up to our section and met a really nice lady named Jeanette. She showed us to our seats, and also advised us where the bathrooms were…and that there was complementary coffee for us out near the food vendors. Well, that made Mom and Aunt Cindy all kinds of gleeful. I let them stay in their seats while I got their coffee. (I don’t drink the stuff.) And then I made my way back to our seats.
Ok. So, no, our seats did not suck when it came to being able to see Paul. In fact, the only thing that sucked about them was that they were on the end of the row. I can’t stand it when people constantly get up and down during the show. It annoys me.
Blah. Anyway, since we got in pretty early, we were able to watch the arena fill up. It’s usually up to me to take photos and videos, so I brought a portable charger for my phone; which I had plugged into my phone while we waited. (Though, as it turned out, the charger was compatible with my old phone, not really my new one, and my cord got fried. Not awesome. I didn’t know that would happen.) It was pretty fun to watch. Even more fun to realize that Mom and Aunt Cindy liked to watch as much as I did. LOL Though, all three of us had to comment when we saw a family walk into the arena with Sgt. Pepper jackets on. We watched as they took photos with people, had people taking pictures of them. Mom and I both said, almost at the same time: “They’ll get on the stage with Paul. Watch.”
DJ spun some awesomeness; pre-show video began. And then…Paul. I finally got to record the moment he gets on stage (and my reaction to it LOL). JOY
I was at a Macca show once in Boston, I believe, where the people who sat beside me were all talking, laughing, joking around with me before the show began. It was great. But, once Paul hit the stage. they were frozen in place, in absolute awe. At one point during the Duluth show, Mom leaned over and asked, “Is Cindy enjoying herself?”
I leaned back and pointed and Mom chuckled. There was my aunt absolutely frozen while she watched Paul singing. It was actually pretty cool to see because I knew how much this meant to her and how excited she was for the show. Though she is more of a Lennon fan, in these moments it really didn’t matter. The look on her face said it all. I wish I would’ve gotten a photo of it, but I know I will never forget the pure joy I saw there.
My phone was quickly running out of battery; which was pretty awful considering that we weren’t even halfway through the concert! So, I put it in airplane mode and tried to get it to charge with the portable charger. You know, as many times as I’ve had electronic devices fail me at Macca shows, you would think I would learn a better way to take pics and vids. Gonna have to get on that for next time.
I really wanted to save my battery for Live and Let Die; which I LOVE live and for the end of the show (which I got almost all of. My battery finally died right at the end of the guitar solos right before Macca sings, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make…” OY!) I thought I’d get a little reprieve when Mom said she would record Live and Let Die, but 10 seconds later, her battery died.
Good Lord! I don’t know how I managed it, but I got it. The whole thing, not just bits and pieces like I’ve recorded in the past. Somehow, this time, it just seemed….better.
Macca always reads the signs that people make, and earlier in the evening he read a sign that said, “Please help me tell my family I’m gay.” I thought that was a pretty brave sign, to be honest. It’s not an easy thing to announce something like that to 11,000+ people–at the same time. The girl that made that sign (I found out afterwards her name is Becka) made it onto the stage with Paul. And, I started to cry. I can’t help it. I always cry when people get to go up on the stage with him. I have never done that myself. BUT, I do know how it feels to meet him. It is an incredible feeling that words simply cannot properly describe.
It was amazing to watch her fulfilling her dream. I wish I would have recorded it, to be honest. I thought it was beautiful. But, then, as predicted, the Sgt. Pepper family was also up on stage. Honestly, I just can’t even explain how much I cried over them! Especially when that beautiful little boy got to play Macca’s Hofner. Oh man! Yeah, I bawled like a baby. I admit it.
Found it, too.
I had to include them. Just had to. Too amazing not to be included. Besides, we knew that they would be picked. The costumes were too awesome.
I have to say that this was a pretty amazing and awesome show. In my top 3, if I have to rank all of the shows I’ve been to. But, what made it better for me was to be able to share it with Mom and Aunt Cindy. I’ll never forget how excited they were and their absolute amazement from the moment Paul hit the stage until well after….
It took forever and 300 years to get out of the parking lot, but when we finally did we found a Waffle House. It’s noteworthy that when the 3 of us saw Ringo at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last year, we found a Waffle House after the show, too. We pulled in, and while we sat eating, Becka and her dad came in to eat. I recognized her, but the first thing that caught my eye was where Paul signed her upper chest. (Man, that will be a killer tattoo!) I got up and went over to congratulate her. I mean, those were two big accomplishments in one night. It had to be both amazing and overwhelming, and I was proud of her. I just had to tell her so.
Afterwards, we didn’t end up taking the back roads home mostly because my phone was dead, Mom’s phone was dead and my Aunt’s phone just had enough battery to power on. So, her map on her phone took us I-85, I-285,I-75 to US 411. We briefly said hello as we drove past Atlanta…. Once we got off the interstate, Mom took over driving and I crawled into the back seat. We got home at a little after 3am and, well, I’d been awake since 5:20am the previous day so I was exhausted. I went into work on Friday a bit late. All in all, it was an incredible show (as always!!!) and I am so grateful I got to share it with two amazing ladies.