Sean Henri

Paul McCartney Joins Billy Joel at Shea

July 19, 2008 // 1 Comments  // Add yours »

(Source: NYT; Photo:Kevin Mazur) 

So last night, while I was home relaxing.. Paul McCartney joined Billy Joel on stage for the "Last Play at Shea" - the final concert at Shea Stadium before it is to be torn down.  It was two of my favorite singers/songwriters side by side, and I missed it.  I found out about the surprise performance a few hours prior to the show, but it was too late.  Needless to say, I regret not buying tickets in advance.  But I have an idea for next weekend that could make up for it.

McCartney wasn't the only one to join Joel on stage.  Roger Daltrey of the Who, Steven Tyler, and Garth Brooks came on to play a few songs as well.  Videos are floating around on YouTube.

On another note: I went to see  a Brian Wilson concert in Torrington this past Wednesday.  It felt like more of a tribute to Wilson than it did a performance.  His band did the bulk of the singing and he hardly played an instrument, but they were playing HIS songs, and it was an honor to witness it.  If you aren't familiar with Brian Wilson's life and work ("God Only Knows", "Good Vibrations", "Wouldn't it Be Nice", etc.), you should read a bit about him.  He's the genius behind the music of The Beach Boys, and one of the greatest songwriters/producers in American pop-music history.

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Paul McCartney Receives Honorary Degree From Yale

May 26, 2008 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

This morning I caught Sir Paul McCartney in New Haven as he received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University.  I had no idea he was going to be there until around 10am when my phone started ringing off the hook - courtesy of my twin brother Justin and a young lass named Brooke.   Once I had all the details I gave Jenn,  Mindy, Justin, and Brooke a call and we all raced downtown.  It was a short ceremony, and he didn't say anything.  They serenaded him with a quick rendition of Hey Jude,  gave him a bit of praise, and after a quick bow and a wave it was all over. 

I thought it was a great way to start of Memorial Day.  It's not every day one gets to see one of The Beatles receive a degree.  Here's some video:

Posted in:  A Day In The Life, New Haven, Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Videos | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (2)

Video from the NYC McCartney Show

October 27, 2007 // 3 Comments  // Add yours »

I came across some really good footage from the Paul McCartney show I attended this past June.  It's shot from right about where I was standing.  In fact, I think I can hear my friends voice on the video.  Anyway, enjoy.

Blackbird:

I'll Follow the Sun (Intro):

Posted in:  Concerts, NYC, Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Videos | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (3)

Paul McCartney's Ecce Cor Meum on DVD

October 23, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

Footage from the world premier performance of Paul McCartney's "Ecce Cor Meum" comes out on DVD  this November 20th.  I don't tend to listen to much classical music but I found this to be quite good.  So good I went to go to see the US premier at Carnegie Hall last November. Of course there were a few other factors in my decision to go see it, one being that this guy was a part of the most important band that ever existed, and I must admit I'm a big fan.  But seriously, I think it's worth a good listen.  It's fantastic stuff.  So pick this sucker up.

Update: The release of Paul's Ecce Cor Meum DVD has been put back until early 2008. Dates are currently being rescheduled, but a February/March release is most likely.

On another totally unrelated yet somewhat similar note:   If you like good music I'd suggest listening to Silverchair's "Young Modern".  I was a bit skeptical about how much I'd like it after seeing the very bland / pop-like video for the song Straight Lines, but now that I've heard full album a few dozen times I think it's one of the best group of songs I've heard all year.  It's creative, melodic, and has some interesting orchestral arrangements composed with a little help from former Beach Boy collaborator Van Dyke Parks.

Personal favs:

• Those Thieving Birds (Part 1)/Strange Behaviour/Those Thieving Birds (Part 2)
• Insomnia
• If You Keep Losing Sleep
• Low

Thus concludes my statement of the night.

Posted in:  Concerts, Culture, Paul McCartney, Stuff, The Beatles | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (0)

Paul McCartney's "Ever Present Past" Video

October 02, 2007 // 3 Comments  // Add yours »

The coolest 65 year-old I know.  Just came out today.  Great song, interesting video.

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Toasting freedom in Queens

September 16, 2007 // 1 Comments  // Add yours »

Here's my recap of the past 24 hours:  We go into the city for a movie, and stop for some vegetarian pizza on 2nd Ave.  We learn that Mindy would instantly throw up if Paul McCartney were to ever randomly walk in the same room as her. We're told that Michael Jackson is too old and that the girls should find somebody younger.  Across the Universe was fantastic.  The music is a bit watered down, and the story is a bit corny at times, but it was still very enjoyable.  It turns out that "Come Together" sounds great when it's sung by a crazy homeless person.

After the movie we stopped in at McSorley's, Manhattan's oldest pub, for a round of beers and a few toasts to freedom, Lincoln, and The Beatles. The place was packed and a little too rowdy to hold a convo, so we left and found a much more quiet atmosphere at the Thirsty Scholar. 

It was getting late and we had started to head back to Grand Central, but then Jenn presented us with the brilliant idea of crashing at her sisters apartment in Queens.  So we hopped on the subway, piled into the apartment, busted out the cards, sung some songs, had some intense conversations about music, learned how Jenn would properly utilize her favorite band, and I created some brilliant artwork. 

For me it felt like the last night of the summer.  And I'd say it was one of the best nights I've had so far this year. 

Now this guy really needs to make it onto a t-shirt:

Posted in:  A Day In The Life, NYC, Paul McCartney, The Beatles | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (1)

Paul McCartney's new DVD

August 26, 2007 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

I'll be buying this.  I know I'm just rehashing info that's already out there, but here's the press release:

McCARTNEY YEARS’

FEATURES EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY, BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE, OVER 40 MUSIC VIDEOS AND TWO HOURS OF HISTORIC LIVE PERFORMANCES ‘THE MCCARTNEY YEARS’ IS SET FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 12th 2007

Continue reading "Paul McCartney's new DVD"

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Paul McCartney talks about his younger fans

June 26, 2007 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

In this interview with Sir Paul McCartney about his recent show in New York, the interviewer expresses his amazement at the growing number of young Beatles fans and mentions how two of his contest winners, possibly my friends Steph & Bret, were born in the 1980's!!!  Paul then responds with his thoughts.

Paul: A lot of people (from) my generation would think: 'Well the only people that are gonna really like my music are the people who grew up with it'.  You know?  People who are my age.  Maybe a little bit younger...but, that's it.
Interviewer: Two of the five winners (Steph & Bret) we had on Wednesday morning were born in the 1980's!
Paul: Ha!  Is that possible?  Haha nobody was born in 1980..
Interviewer: No it's possible
Paul: Er, no exactly that's the thing.  And I see that at my shows.  You get these generations - you'll get the people my age, and then you'll get their kids, and then their kids.  And, I love it!  Cuz, these kids know the music.  They know it better than I do.
Interviewer: Well I tried to make it a little difficult to win the tickets to the show, because I wanted to make sure that real Paul McCartney fans would win, obviously.  So I didn't just say.. be the 25th caller and you're in.  I asked questions that Paul McCartney fans would be able to answer.
Paul: Mmhmm.
Interviewer: And those two young people, born in the 1980's, knew the answers!
Paul: You know, it's phenomenal, I must say.  But it's great!  It's kinda, you know, very satisfying to think that young kids are into it.
Interviewer: What would you say to your young fans... ?
Paul: ...What would I say? I would say thank you for like, appreciating something we did a long time ago.  But, I'm with them.  I understand that thing.  Cuz, I'm wrong to assume that it's just my generation that's gonna like it.  And I know that, for instance, cuz I like Fred Astaire, Nat King Cole - and that wasn't my generation.  So, I suppose that what they're doing is they're liking good music.  You know, and I can say that now about The Beatles.  Cuz, you know, it's not being conceited.  I know that the stuff we did was really good.  You know?  And I think that somebody appreciating it now is just great.  It's just very gratifying.  So there you go.  I love it.

You can listen to the full interview by clicking HERE.
Paul talks about the show at the Highline Ballroom HERE.
And you can read my recap of  Paul's secret concert in New York and see the pictures HERE.

Posted in:  Culture, NYC, Paul McCartney, The Beatles | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (2)

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.

Continue reading "Paul McCartney's Secret Gig at the Highline Ballroom"

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)

My plans for the evening: Attend a secret Paul McCartney Concert

June 13, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

Tonight I'll get the incredible opportunity to see Paul McCartney in concert from just a few feet away.  Along with my friends Steph, Bret, and my brother Justin, I'll be among just 300 contest winners and invited guests who will watch McCartney play Beatles classics as well as some of the best songs of his new album Memory Almost Full.  The show takes place at 8:30 pm tonight at the Highline Ballroom on 16th St. in NYC.  It's extremely rare for a guy who usually performs in front of 50,000 people to do a show in a venue this small.  What makes tonight even more interesting is that his album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 this morning with his highest weekly sales since 1982.  I'll post a recap after the show.

Thanks for MaccaReport.com for the heads up on the secret gig!

Posted in:  A Day In The Life, Concerts, Contests, Culture, NYC, Paul McCartney, The Beatles | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (0)

New Paul McCartney album - Memory Almost Full - out today

June 05, 2007 // 1 Comments  // Add yours »

Today's the day Memory Almost Full comes out - Paul McCartney's 21st solo album since the breakup of The Beatles.  Every single Starbucks on the planet will be playing the album back to back throughout the day for a "global listening event".  They estimate that somewhere around six million people will hear the album through Starbucks alone.  It's a great album and it's well worth buying.  I've had it for over a month now and it's all I listen to.  You can buy it at any Starbucks, most retail outlets, or download it via iTunes.

Related Posts:
"Meeting Paul McCartney"
"My Night at Carnegie Hall"
"McCartney on his new album"

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Paul McCartney's Dance Tonight Video

May 23, 2007 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

The new Paul McCartney video.

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My thoughts on Memory Almost Full

May 11, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

I just gave Memory Almost Full a good listen and I love it.  "Mister Bellamy" is amazing.  It's a very unique sounding song.. which is what I love the most about McCartney's music.  Some of my other favorite tracks at this point are "Dance Tonight", "Only Mama Knows", "Vintage Clothes", "That Was Me", "House of Wax" and "Feet in the Clouds".  All the other songs are good too, I just need to listen them a little bit more to get a better opinion.  The album goes back and forth from pop to rock.  But it all flows nicely.  There's a Brian Wilson-like harmony in the song "Feet in the Clouds".  The songs at the end aren't anything like the medly at the end of Abbey Road.  Now sure where that idea came from.  But it's great album.  Everyone needs to buy it when it comes out.
www.paulmccartney.com  www.meyesight.com

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McCartney on Memory Almost Full:

April 28, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

Above: McCartney plays air drums and sings along to one of his new songs called "Only Mamma Knows".

"I actually began with the work on this new album, "Memory Almost Full", before my last album "Chaos and Creation in The Backyard" (released in September 2005). The first recordings took place in the autumn of 2003 at Abbey Road with my band and David Kahne as producer. I was already in the middle of it, when I began to talk with Nigel Godrich about a completely new project - this became then "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard". When I was finished with all work to "chaos" and had received a Grammy nomination (2006) for it, I noticed that there was still this other album, which I wanted to absolutely finish.

Continue reading "McCartney on Memory Almost Full:"

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Memory Almost Full

April 25, 2007 // 5 Comments  // Add yours »

Paul McCartney's new album Memory Almost Full comes out June 5th.  I just heard the first single - "Ever Present Past".  Very upbeat, light, melodic, catchy song.  It fits more under the pop label than it does rock, but I absolutely love it.  Seems to be a Heather Mills reference in the lyrics.  He just shot a promo music video for the song Dance Tonight with Natalie Portman.  You can view the making of that video HERE.  And here's another video of him welcoming you to his new website Meyesight.com

I strongly dislike the album cover.  Click here to listen to the single Ever Present Past.

New album means new tour.  And you know I'll be there.

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Home Videos of Paul McCartney

December 14, 2006 // 1 Comments  // Add yours »

Here are some of Mal Evans' 8mm home movies of Paul McCartney shot back in 1967.  They feature Paul's trip to Denver to meet Jane Asher, and to LA to meet with Brian Wilson for a Beach Boys recording session, and Derek Taylor.  It also includes behind the scenes footage of the the filming of the "Magical Mystery Tour", and Paul's travels to places like Spain and Africa.  Beatles fan's like myself should find this to be pretty interesting.

Click the link below to see the rest of the videos.

Continue reading "Home Videos of Paul McCartney"

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Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall

November 15, 2006 // 1 Comments  // Add yours »

Last night Steph and I went back into the city to attend the United States premier of Paul McCartney's latest classical album Ecce Cor Meum.  The concert took place at Carnegie Hall, which was one of the few major places in the city that I had yet to visit.  We arrived minutes before the show was to begin, walked right in and took our seats on the main floor.  We were excited, but not shaking with anticipation as I had thought we'd be, probably because we had just met Paul the day before, but still, it was great to be there and I couldn't wait for it to start.

A minute or two before the performance was scheduled to start Paul entered a box maybe 10 feet directly above us and sat down with a bunch of celebrities.  The crowd went nuts and many got out of their seat to get closer.  Eventually they sat everybody down and the show began.

Continue reading "Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall"

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How I Met Paul McCartney

November 13, 2006 // 14 Comments  // Add yours »

I have now met one of The Beatles.  The other day I finally got to meet Sir Paul McCartney, the most successful popular-music composer and recording artist ever, at the Times Square Virgin Megastore in NYC.

It took some effort to get the opportunity.  Steph and I arrived 22 hours before he was scheduled to arrive.  We had expected maybe 30 people or so to already be standing in line, but instead found a line that wrapped all the way around the corner and down W 46th St.  A man towards the front of the line started passing down a list for people to sign, and we found that we were the 114th and 115th persons in line. 

Continue reading "How I Met Paul McCartney"

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Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall

October 05, 2006 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

I was sitting home, bored and sick, when I get this email about a "new Beatles album" coming out next month.  So I get all excited and start doing some research.  Then another email comes telling me that Paul McCartney's new classical album Ecce Cor Meum is going to have a U.S. premier next month at Carnegie Hall in NYC!  Instantly I call up Steph and minutes later we had our tickets.  I suppose it's possible Paul won't be there, but I expect that he will be.  And even if he isn't it will still be pretty cool to see the one and only U.S. performance of one of his albums.  Can't wait!!

Posted in:  Paul McCartney, The Beatles | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (2)