Totally went to see Paul McCartney on Saturday night. It was awesome. First, Paul had two giant disco balls hanging from the ceiling of The Pond – totally boss. And what’s more, our seat were pretty good. We were close enough that we didn’t require the aid of the jumbotron to actually see what was going on. Yes, the tickets were a pretty penny, perhaps the prettiest penny, but it was totally worth it.

As you may know, I am a big timey Beatles fan. But since I was born long after the break-up and even longer since the touring ended, seeing Paul is the closest experience I could ever have to seeing the Beatles. As such I have been trying to get tickets to every tour since I was 14. Unfortunately, so was everyone else. But this time I had an advantage. I could actually afford tickets and I went all out, baby! So, my wife, Miranda Kopfschmertzen, donned her “I ♥ Paul” button, joined my parents and went to worship at the Alter of Paul.

And unique to our show, we (like I was involved) hooked up and played live to the two crewmen in the International Space Station. Read more. But we did our part. We bid them “Good morning!” when Paul told us to. (Though Paul had us practice before the hook up just to make sure we didn’t goof it up. We were clearly not to be trusted.) But the space men were pumped to be there and Bill even did a couple super sweet space flips for us. We cheered like mad, because space flips are super sweet.

Let me take you through the event…

First weird DJ guy was spinning the Paul tunes for about 20 minutes. This was awesome because Paul’s music lends itself so well to scratching and the whole club scene.

Then we were treated to a 10 minute film that was a “history of Paul.” Which was excellent for all the people who paid $250 for a seat and had no idea who he was. The end of the film ended with a snippet from “Venus and Mars,” particularly the “Sitting In The Stand Of The Sports Arena, Waiting For The Show To Begin.” Then the “Waiting for the show to begin” repeated and faded. Anticipation was high, people were getting panicky, the medics were waiting on the wings with stretchers… Then the curtain rose and the band exploded into Magical Mystery Tour.

— Set List —
1. Magical Mystery Tour
2. Flaming Pie
3. Jet

At some point during “Jet” some weird altercation erupted between the guy behind us and a dude across the aisle. I have no idea what started it, but security came and took the guy across the aisle away. He later returned and seemed much more calm.

4. I’ll Get You

Super awesome old timey Beatles tune. I knew the claps.

5. Drive My Car
6. Till There Was You
7. Let Me Roll It

When the song should have been over the band went into this strange “Foxy Lady” jam. Some kind of obscure tribute to Hendrix?

8. Got to Get You In My Life
9. Fine Line

This is the new single from Paul’s new album. All the beer drinkers used this song as a good time to go pee.

10. Maybe I’m Amazed
11. Long and Winding Road
12. In Spite Of All The Danger

For this song, Paul asked me (and a few others) to do the “oh OH Oh oh” part of the song. No problem, I totally knew that part.

13. I Will
14. Jenny Wren
15. For No One
16. Fixing a Hole

Here’s where we hooked up to the ISS and started chatting with Bill and Valery. Bill did one of his spacesaults to thunderous applause.

17. English Tea
18. Good Day Sunshine

Said good bye to the space station guys. Bill does one more flip as he knows its a crowd pleaser. And pleased the crowd was.

19. I’ll Follow the Sun

Paul did several false endings to this song to the amusement and delight of the crowd. We were still giddy from Bill’s space flips. We would have laughed at anything.

20. Follow Me
21. Blackbird
22. Eleanor Rigby

The drunk lady who’d been dancing in the aisle for the last 10 songs really gets into this one. She starts doing the “sexy shoulders dance.” I can’t blame her. “Eleanor Rigby” always lifts my spirits too.

23. Too Many People

At the end of “Too Many People” Paul said, that one was for all the Wings fans. And I know this is going label me as a dork, but that didn’t make any sense. “Too Many People” was from Paul’s second solo album. Wings didn’t come about until the following album.

24. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
25. Band on the Run

Drunk lady who’d been groovin’ in the aisle falls over during “Band on the Run.” Her date/husband picks her up and puts her in her seat. She is banished from dancing for the remainder of the show.

26. Penny Lane
27. I’ve Got A Feeling

This was my favorite of the show. An unexpected treat and one of my fav Beatle songs.

28. Back in the USSR
29. Hey Jude

We “na na nanana na”-ed for hours.

30. Live and Let Die

Fireworks and flames exploded at the appropriate moments causing temporary blindness. We were giddy to have been blinded by Paul. He’s got us so wound up, we are ready to follow him into vegan battle!

— 1st Encore —
31. Yesterday
32. Get Back
33. Helter Skelter

— 2nd Encore —
34. Please Please Me
35. Let it Be
36. Sgt. Pepper’s (reprise)
37. The End

A splendid time was guaranteed for all. We walked out of there pleased as punch. (And just for the record, punch is so pleased that it is willing to pay $65 for a shirt…and buy more than one shirt without flinching.)

The next time I saw my mom, she indicated that if I were to find any more tickets for any of the remaining show that I should go ahead and get them, no matter the location, no matter the city, no matter the price.

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