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Paul McCartney's Secret Gig at the Highline Ballroom

June 14, 2007 // 8 Comments  // Add yours »

I'm back from the Paul McCartney concert!  Time for the recap:

Let me go back a few weeks to explain this.  About a month ago I found out that Paul McCartney would be doing some type of live performance in NYC to promote his new album Memory Almost Full.  Any large-scale world tour would be postponed to next year due to "personal issues" (his divorce from Heather Mills).  So being a huge Beatles/Paul McCartney fan, I did some intense research until I found out the details of what would be going down.

I found out that the show was going to be a small-scale "secret" show about two weeks ago and that I'd have to win tickets through a radio station contest in order to go.  Only a few hundred contest winners and invited guests would be given tickets.  So after looking through the websites of nearly every FM radio station from the country's major cities, I finally found a contest where you could enter a raffle to win tickets by correctly answering 20 questions about Paul.  I didn't win.  But my friend Steph did, and she offered to take me.  Amazingly, my friend Bret won as well and offered to take my brother Justin.  So now we had 3 people from CT's smallest town attending a concert that thousands of people from around the world were trying to go to, and I was one of them.

More below the cut.

Earlier this week a radio station sold a pair of tickets to this show for $9,100 on ebay.  Just shows you how rare of an opportunity this show would be.  I'd have to go back half a century to the days of The Cavern Club to find another chance like this.

After picking up our wrist bands from the Gansevoort Hotel we walked a few blocks north to the Highline Ballroom to wait in line.  The line stretched the length of nearly the entire block, and was a mix of both young and old fans.  People were carrying albums and other memorabilia hoping they'd get a chance to have it signed.  Towards the back of the line there was a young boy dressed up like Paul from the Sgt. Pepper's cover.

I was a bit worried that they'd take away my camera when I got to the door, but as it turned out, the security guards didn't seem to mind at all.  I probably could have carried in a camcorder if I wanted to.

Seeing the actual size of the place was shocking.  I knew it would be small, but it was amazing to see how close we were actually gonna be.  This place was half the size of my high school auditorium. 

There was an area off to the side up in the balcony that was roped off for celebrities.  I spotted Whoopi Goldberg and Elijah Wood.  I guess Kate Moss, Adian Quinn, James McCartney, and Steve Buscemi were all there as well.

Paul came out, said a few words to the crowd and then started the show with "Drive My Car".  The rest of the show consisted of lots of Beatles songs including "Hey Jude", "The Long and Winding Road", "Blackbird" and "I'll Follow the Sun" as well as some of his solo stuff including "C Moon" and "Calico Skies".

Paul's keyboardist Wix Wickens was missing from the stage and they had somebody else filling in for the show.  Paul said that Wix was in London rehearsing for a performance for "Her Majesty, The Queen"

About halfway through the show he explained that he enjoyed playing in New York because it's played a very significant role in his life. He said it was special to him that it was where he played the Ed Sullivan Show in the 60's, the place where Linda grew up, and the place that John loved so much.  Before he played the song "Here Today", he noted that while he originally wrote the song for John, this time he wanted to dedicate it to his "fallen heroes" John, George, and Linda (his first wife).  For me, this was the highlight of the night.  The crowd became completely silent while he performed the song and you could see how much the words meant to him as he sang it. His voice was flawless.

Another interesting part of the show was when Paul asked everyone in the crowd to nod their heads to the beat of the song "Nod Your Head" for a music video he was putting together.  He said that the crowd at his last gig in London seemed to have some difficulty with keeping a beat, so he trained us a bit and hoped that we'd do a little better.

He played several other songs of his new album including "House of Wax", "That Was Me" and "Dance Tonight".  These songs were great played live!  They fit in perfectly with the rest of the set.  "House of Wax" was my favorite out of the bunch.  That songs been growing steadily on me over the past month.  It could be a big hit for him at future shows.  There was a funny moment when during one new song Rusty, Paul's guitarist, accidentally started playing the chorus again one time too many and screwed Paul up.  They played it off well though, just quickly laughing and then moving on.

He was joking around a lot in between sets, engaging in "meaningless conversation" as he put it, and often reflecting back to his days as a Beatle.  Before playing "I'll Follow the Sun" he mentioned how he remembers writing the song at his home back in Liverpool, looking out the window and wondering if he'd ever become a star.  There were several back and forth exchanges of "your the man" and "no, you the man" between Paul and few different people in the audience.  At one point the crowd broke out with an impromptu singing of "Happy Birthday" that seemed to catch Paul a bit off guard but also please him.

He finished the show with "Hey Jude" and had the crowd sing along for him, splitting up the singing between just the men and then just the women.   He came back out for an encore of  "Let It Be", "Lady Madonna" and  "I Saw Her Standing There".

This show was absolutely amazing.  It was without a doubt the best concert I've ever seen, and I'm still having trouble believing I was lucky enough to actually be there.  I've really had an amazing year with this kinda stuff. 

Following the show, I was walking back to the parking garage to pick up my car when I noticed that Paul's photographer, Bill Bernstein, was standing right in front of me.  Steph took the initiative to go up and talk to him.  We all ended up having a nice chat about the show, Paul's first wife Linda, how we won the contest for the tickets, and about his job as Paul's photographer.  He was a really nice guy and it was great to get a chance to talk to him. 

I'll put these pics and a few more in an album tomorrow in the Pictures section.  Sorry for the delay.  If you would like prints of any of these pictures please send me an email at seanp284@gmail.com.

Here's the set list as I remember it: (not necessarily in the correct order)

Drive My Car
Only Mama Knows
Dance Tonight
C Moon
The Long And Winding Road
I'll Follow The Sun
Calico Skies
That Was Me
Blackbird
Here Today
Back In The USSR
Nod Your Head
Baby Face
House Of Wax
I've Got A Feeling
Matchbox
Get Back
Hey Jude 

Encore:
Let It Be
Lady Madonna
I Saw Her Standing There

Here's video of the show from Good Morning America.

And here's a great interview with Paul about the show I was at.

There is a video at PaulMcCartney.com that features my friend Steph at the end of the show.  I can be spotted in the background with my brother Justin and my friend Bret.

New York Times: "McCartney, Almost Within Touching Distance"

People Magazine: "Paul McCartney Plays Intimate Show in NYC" (My brother and I gave the reporter the bulk of the song names.)

Here's some video of the show from PM.com.  Look closely and you might spot me:

"Hey Jude"

"Let It Be"

Thanks to Seth Kallen for the "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be" videos!

"Get Back"

Posted in:  A Day In The Life, Concerts, Contests, Culture, NYC, Paul McCartney, Photos, The Beatles, Videos | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (8)

Comments:

Let`s hope that he releases a DVD Release of these secret gigs!!! This would be a nice companion dvd to the "Live at the Cavern".

Posted on: Jun 18, 2007 12:58:11 PM

With all due respect,who`s the home alone girl? She`s stunning!

Posted on: Jun 18, 2007 12:58:51 PM

I loved your review.I am Amazed. I love this new CD. I am really looking forward to the L.A. show. I really want to go. There should be a Macca L.A. aleart group. We can be on the lookout and when we hear when and where, we would have a shot at it. My guess. Tues is wristband day. 6/19/07

Posted on: Jun 18, 2007 12:59:56 PM

Wow! Sean! Good for you! I loved your review of your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Sir Paul in such an intimate setting. I, too, am a huge Macca fan and probably entered the same contest you did to try to win tickets. I answered the questions correctly, but - boo hoo, didn't win. Congratulations on getting in - what a great friend you have to share his winnings with you.

So - do you have the inside scoop for the secret show in LA? I live in the LA area and I've been searching all over the place trying to get information on the date/location......nothing!

If you have the "Space Within Us" DVD, you can catch my son holding the "New Paul Fans" sign just before "For No One" and again just before "Penny Lane."

From one Macca fan to another.....thanks for sharing you experience with us.

Any info on LA would be greatly appreciated!!!

Posted on: Jun 18, 2007 1:30:04 PM

Good evening Sean. I envy you being able to attend Macca's recent NYC gig. I live in Mass and have been a fun of Macca/Wings/The Beatles for years. In June 1993, I attended Paul's concert in Northern NJ. It just so I happened I was within a few feet of him with Linda when they drove by in there limo to the stadium......Hope Paul and his band hit New England with the next tour.

Regards,

Bob

P.S.

Who is that stunning blond with blue eyes in your Macca and band NYC pictures?

Posted on: Jun 18, 2007 1:31:02 PM

That's my video of hey jude! haha sorry if i ruined the video with my excited yelping...

Posted on: Jun 18, 2007 3:34:45 PM

paul rules!!!!!!!!!!

Posted on: Mar 9, 2008 5:36:50 PM

PLAULS THE BEST!!!!!!! <3

Posted on: Mar 10, 2008 8:46:56 PM

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» "Paul McCartney @ Highline Ballroom - pics & reviews" from brooklynvegan
Paul McCartney @ Highline Ballroom, NYC - June 13, 2007 Paul McCartney stormed the stage of a small ballroom on Wednesday and delivered a 20-song set featuring Beatles favorites and select cuts from his newly released album "Memory Almost Full."... [Read More]

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