PAUL ON THE RUN: ONE ON ONE : July 19 2016 - Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey

lancasteronline.com
Review: Paul McCartney is charming at jaw-dropping Hershey show
JENELLE JANCI - Staff Writer
July 20, 2016

McCartney Concert

Paul McCartney performs at Hersheypark Stadium Tuesday evening.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

As if the world needed any proof that Paul McCartney’s still got it, skeptics should look no further than the music icon’s Tuesday night show at Hersheypark Stadium.

Just a few songs into his nearly three-hour set, McCartney peeled off his royal blue Nehru jacket to reveal a sharp dress shirt.

Fans, primarily the women in attendance, shrieked in delight.

“That’s the main costume change of the whole evening,” McCartney said with a wink.

Moments like these are what makes seeing McCartney live an experience unlike any other. Of course the music is going to be good – not just good, astounding – so the pleasant surprises are in the humanity McCartney brings to his live show.

Sometimes it was a little jig he’d do after a song, standing up at the piano and waving his arms around playfully at the crowd. Other times, it was a sweet memory of one of his former bandmates, or a story about a time he performed in Moscow, during which he impersonates a Russian government official.

During “And I Love Her,” it was when he turned his back to the crowd and did an adorable little booty shake.

The man still has it.

The sprawling, spectacular setlist was like a musical scrapbook of McCartney’s career. He played the first song he ever recorded with the pre-Beatles band the Quarrymen, “In Spite of All the Danger.” He also played his 2015 collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West, “FourFiveSeconds.”

McCartney performed numerous Beatles songs, from sailing toward the sky on a mobile riser during “Blackbird” to the circus ditty “For the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” which was a joy to hear live thanks to McCartney’s exceptional backing band. (It’s worth mentioning that McCartney has played with this lineup longer than he did with the Beatles or Wings.)

Of course, McCartney’s voice isn’t as rich as it once was, but one would be foolish to expect it to be. He was 18 when the Beatles began, and last month he celebrated his 74th birthday.

Still, McCartney hit high notes with remarkable ease, especially during “Maybe I’m Amazed.” Photographs and videos taken by McCartney’s late wife Linda were displayed on the big screen behind him as he played the song, which he wrote for her.

There were many times when it was easy to get misty-eyed as McCartney paid tribute to loved ones. He played “Here Today,” a song he wrote as a conversation he wishes he had had with John Lennon.

“If you’ve got something nice to say to someone, get it said,” McCartney said.

As he played the George Harrison tune “Something” on ukulele, photos of McCartney and Harrison were shown on the screen behind him.

The jumbotrons were utilized incredibly well during the entire performance. The images were a mix of photographs, video and animation, which were always interesting but never distracting. Fireworks and pyrotechnics elevated the show even higher, blasting off at key moments during “Live and Let Die.”

Even though McCartney is conditioned to putting on a grand spectacle night after night, his live show never feels like he’s simply going through the motions. On Tuesday night, he even made a conscious effort to be present and allowed himself a moment to just look out into the crowd.

“I’m just going to take a minute here to drink it all in for myself,” he said.

We’re trying to do the same, Paul. Take as long as you need to.

These Beatles montages are going to make me misty eyed by the end of the night. I just know it. pic.twitter.com/UKYto7MLaL
— Jenelle Janci (@jenelley) 20 de julio de 2016

"Lady Madonna" pic.twitter.com/ia0z1NOP7n
— Jenelle Janci (@jenelley) 20 de julio de 2016

I felt the heat from this on my face, and it was awesome. pic.twitter.com/ULvFlniTqg
— Jenelle Janci (@jenelley) 20 de julio de 2016

A beautiful ending to a beautiful night. Thank you, Paul. pic.twitter.com/PjtETHwknF
— Jenelle Janci (@jenelley) 20 de julio de 2016

SETLIST

1. “A Hard Day’s Night”
2. “Save Us”
3. “Can’t Buy Me Love”
4. “Letting Go”
5. “Temporary Secretary”
6. “Let Me Roll It”
7. “I’ve Got a Feeling”
8. “My Valentine”
9. “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five”
10. “Here, There and Everywhere”
11. “Maybe I’m Amazed”
12. “We Can Work It Out”
13. “In Spite of All the Danger”
14. “You Won’t See Me”
15. “Love Me Do”
16. “And I Love Her”
17. “Blackbird”
18. “Here Today”
19. “Queenie Eye”
20. “New”
21 “The Fool on the Hill”
23. “FourFiveSeconds”
24. “Eleanor Rigby”
25. “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”
26. “Something”
27. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
28. “Band on the Run”
29. “Back in the U.S.S.R.”
30. “Let it Be”
31. “Live and Let Die”
32. “Hey Jude”

Encore:

33. “Yesterday”
34. “Hi, Hi, Hi”
35. “Birthday”
36. “Golden Slumbers”
37. “Carry that Weight”
38. “The End”

GALLERY

McCartney Concert

Paul McCartney performs at Hersheypark Stadium Tuesday evening.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Hersheypark Staduim was packed with people who came to see Paul McCartney Tuesday evening.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Paul McCartney takes the stage at Hersheypark Staduim Tuesday evening.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Paul McCartney waves to fans as the takes the stage at Hersheypark Stadium Tuesday.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Paul McCartney performs at Hersheypark Stadium Tuesday.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Paul McCartney performs at Hersheypark Stadium Tuesday evening.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Paul McCartney performs at Hersheypark Stadium Tuesday evening
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Fans watch the Paul McCartney Concert from outside Hersheypark Stadium Tuesday.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Fans brought a variety of signs to the Paul McCartney concert in Hershey Tuesday.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

www.pennlive.com
5 takeaways from Paul McCartney's concert in Hershey
By J.C. Lee
July 21, 2016

Paul McCartney performs at Hersheypark Stadium. Sean Simmers, PennLive.com July 19, 2016
Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com

Paul McCartney performed for the first time in Hershey, and it was a trip through decades of music history.

He played 39 songs Tuesday night to a packed Hersheypark Stadium. Fans from as far away as West Virginia and New York came for the performance, which included songs from his time with The Beatles and Wings. Many of them, such as Phyllis Basehore, grew up to his music. The Palmyra woman told PennLive.com before the show that she has been a fan of The Beatles ever since they first performed on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

"I've always followed The Beatles," she said. "Ringo is my favorite, but Paul's pretty close."

McCartney not only played music throughout the evening. He cracked jokes and shared anecdotes about the inspiration behind his songs or his interactions with other prolific musicians. For someone knighted 19 years ago for his contributions to music, he still remained personable on stage.

Here are five takeaways from McCartney's performance that really made it stand out.

Fans got a sneak peek of Paul McCartney's performance through his soundcheck

Dozens of fans gathered along the chain-link fence that lined the corners of Hersheypark Stadium as early as 5 p.m. to listen to McCartney and his band during the soundcheck. They could see him practicing singles, such as "Lady Madonna," on the towering screens on either side of the stage. McCartney would also interact with the crowd in between songs even though the actual show was still hours away.

Paul McCartney shared stories about John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and more on stage

McCartney had a number of stories to tell about meeting other prolific musicians, most of which involved fellow Beatles band member John Lennon.

He recalled a time when the both of them copied the words off a circus poster in Lennon's apartment for one of their songs. It would later become "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," the seventh song on The Beatles 1967 record "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

McCartney also talked about Jimi Hendrix after performing a cover of the prolific guitarist's "Foxey Lady." He said Hendrix learned the title track to "Sgt. Pepper" as soon as it was released so that he'd be able to open his next show with the song three days later. He called it the "biggest tribute" to them.

He also recalled his first performance in Russia's Red Square 13 years ago. The former Soviet Regime had previously banned the musician from performing in the country, according to the BBC.

"Backstage, there were a lot of Russian government officials. One of my guys points out the defense minister, and he said 'Paul, first record I bought was 'Love Me Do,''" he said in a Russian accent.

Paul McCartney talked about how the U.S. civil rights movement, regrets inspired his songs

Throughout the performance, McCartney would talk about the inspiration behind a few of his songs, including "Blackbird." He said the single was written during the 1960s, when there was "a lot of trouble about civil rights" in the United States.

"Not that it's much better now," he said. "Alabama, Arkansas, Little Rock. I wrote the song to give them hope."

He also talked about how "Here Today" is written as a conversation that he and Lennon couldn't have because of the latter's death. Mark David Chapman shot Lennon at his New York City apartment 36 years ago.

McCartney started the story by telling the audience, "In life, you may want to say something nice but think 'I'll do it tomorrow or next week.'"

"But it may be too late," he said.

Paul McCartney took the time to read fan-made signs and autograph a few on stage

McCartney took a moment to talk about some of the fan-made signs that bobbed up and down at the front of the stage, such as "Maybe I'm amazed at the way you sign my poster" and "Paul, I got your ball, it's in my pocket."

"When you're singing the lyrics to a song, you tell yourself 'don't read the signs,'" he told the audience. "If I get it wrong, I'll blame you."

He then scanned the crowd for more signs and read one with the words "Paul 4 President" to which he responded, "No comment."

Later on in the night, McCartney invited two fans onto the stage. After a little back and forth with them, he gave them both his autograph. One even asked for two on her upper and forearm.

"You're pushing your luck," McCartney said, which got a laugh out of the audience.

McCartney signs New York fan's sign, more. pic.twitter.com/lhSg6vyFuT
— J.C. Lee (@jclee89) 20 de julio de 2016

There was a song for just about every Paul McCartney fan

There were the songs you'd expect to hear at a McCartney concert, which he said included "the old, the new and the in-betweeners." McCartney performed songs from his early career with The Beatles, such as "Back in the USSR," and his later years with Wings, such as "Band on the Run."

True Beatles fans got a treat, however, when McCartney performed a song from when the band was still called The Quarry Men in Liverpool. That song was "In Spite of All The Danger," which McCartney said was the first song they ever wrote.

Here's the full setlist for McCartney's performance. There's also a Spotify playlist below with several of the songs from Tuesday's show.

A Hard Day's Night
Save Us
Can't Buy Me Love
Letting Go
Temporary Secretary
Let Me Roll It
Foxey Lady (Jimi Hendrix cover)
I've Got a Feeling
My Valentine
Nine Hundred and Eighty Five
Here, There and Everywhere
Maybe I'm Amazed
We Can Work it Out
In Spite of All the Danger
You Won't See Me
Love Me Do
And I Love Her
Blackbird
Here Today
Queenie Eye
New
The Fool on the Hill
Lady Madonna
Four Five Seconds
Eleanor Rigby
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Something
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band on the Run
Back in the USSR
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude
Yesterday
Hi Hi Hi
Birthday
Golden Slumber
Carry That Weight
The End

UPDATE: The story was updated to say that McCartney was banned from performing in the Red Square in Russia during the 1980s, not The Beatles.

GALLERY

Paul McCartney performs at Hersheypark Stadium. Sean Simmers, PennLive.com July 19, 2016