Paul McCartney concert at New York City's Grand Central Station as part of the Freshen Up Tour in support of his Egypt Station album | Page 2 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

My ears are still ringing. With 36 hrs now to think about this performance, this had to be one of the best. Yes, 300 people packed in a space – but what a space! Grand Central is not just a major (and beautiful) train station but also a major subway station – a place where musicians routinely look to scrape together a few dollars. And here was Sir Paul in a roped-off nook of the station with its thick stone walls and high, high, high ceiling. When he spoke (and he bantered with the crowd quite a bit), the acoustics were just fair. But when he and his band played – WOW. 

It was like listening to his music with headphones cranked up.

I had been told it would possibly be a short concert featuring his new songs – but not at all. It was only short by McCartney standards (1 hr 45 min or so), and he only played 3 new songs, all of which sounded terrific. It was a fairly standard setlist minus songs that quite frankly, I didn’t need to hear again – as great as they might sound in concert (and they do). That included Hey Jude (though before the performance, he had the audience sing the words “don’t make it bad”), Band On The Run , Let Me Roll It , Jet , Live And Let Die .

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Hi Hi Hi right after the opening A Hard Day’s Night – maybe not a great song, but certainly a great rocker + Letting Go (one of my faves); there was a real horn section (a rarity these days) brilliantly positioned not on the stage but in the middle of the audience (right next to me). Talk about stereo sound!

And speaking of the middle of the audience, at one point roadies pushed us out of the way to put a little platform on the ground, and sure enough, Sir Paul came over to play Blackbird . There was a little banter with the crowd and he pointed to those he recognized – and my daughter pointed that perhaps he was suddenly too relaxed, as he couldn’t get the lyrics to Blackbird . (He kept saying “learn to fly” instead of “learn to see” – or something along those lines). He got it right the 3rd time. [As a guitarist, it was a thrill of a lifetime to watch him play the song so close to me I thought I could touch the guitar]. I noticed a tiny bit of perspiration on his upper lip, and I wasn’t sure if it was the heat or the sudden stress.

Yes, seeing Abe, the drummer, play the guitar was surprising; but he is a super talent who also sings harmonies. Another surprise was “Dance with Me.” If he was going to pull a song from that approximate time period, I would have chosen “Sing the Changes.” But who cares. The whole experience was remarkable.

By the way, I’ve just come to realize that to truly get the feel for the performance

McCartney at Grand Central Station

you gotta put on real headphones and CRANK UP THE VOLUME!