Paul's "Out There" tour (contains spoilers) | Page 38 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

I just got back from seeing Paul. And it was simply… incredible. Just incredible. Amazing. Brilliant. Fantastic. Awesome. Just…

I was with my dad, who is a big Beatles fan, but didn’t know anything about the setlist, or Paul’s setlists ever, so it was really cool to see him react when they started playing. I was also with my brother, who’s name is Jude, so that was fun. The opening was cool, with all the pictures through the life of Paul. When he came out, and started Eight Days A Week , it was already a sign of incredible things to come. He then went in to Save Us, which a lot of people obviously didn’t know (but I did, of course). All My Loving followed, which was great. Listen to What the Man Said was another one that quite a few people weren’t familiar with, but again, it was awesome. 

And then he started rocking. I’d never really appreciated the arena rock sound, but when he hit with Let Me Roll It (psychedelic guitar, woohoo!), it was a simply incredible feeling. The Foxy Lady coda was really awesome (my dad’s reaction when it started was almost as awesome) after which he told the story of how Hendrix learned and played Sgt. Pepper ‘s at his concert just two days after the release. He brought out the original guitar used for Sgt. Pepper ‘s and played Paperback Writer on it, which is obviously not the same without John and George, but again, it just rocked. Rocking Paul is one of many awesome Pauls, and possibly the most awesome. He just looked like he was having a blast.

Then he went over to the piano, and slowed it down with My Valentine . Now, if you’ve ever payed attention to me, you know that I absolutely despise Kisses On The Bottom . But even this was awesome (I’m going to use a lot of superlatives here). He sped it up again with Nineteen Hundred Eight Five, which is in the top 5 of Paul solo songs, and was in the top 5 of the night (which is saying something, because the whole thing was absolutely incredible). He went in to The Long And Winding Road after that, which I’m definitely not a fan of, but even so I couldn’t resist singing along. Of course, the closing piano song was the classic Maybe I’m Amazed . I was positively amazed at how great it was (I’ll show myself out).

He went back and grabbed his acoustic guitar and did I’ve Just Seen A Face , which was fantastic. Now, on Friday, he did On My Way to Work in this slot. But, sadly, not today. But it was a special day! Ringo’s birthday! So he did the first verse and chorus of Yellow Submarine , which was really cool. (at least, I think it was here). Then he did We Can Work It Out (with some awesome Wix accordion!) and Another Day , which was really great. He quieted down again after that with And I Love Her .

Then the band left, and Paul was all by himself, on a raised platform in front of the stage. He talked about the Civil Rights for a little, then did Blackbird . Then of course, he did his John tribute with Here Today , which almost brought me to tears. 

He brought out the psychedelic NEW piano and played New and Queenie Eye from NEW. Queenie Eye was basically designed to be played in stadiums, and it didn’t disappoint. He barely even paused before banging out Lady Madonna , which was just pure energy. He brought in the kids on a singalong of All Together Now . After that, he talked about Sgt. Pepper ‘s and played Lovely Rita . He did another singalong with Everybody Out There, which fell a little flat with the audience, but I thought it was great anyway.

Then Abe jumped down from the drums and stood behind the other backup microphone, and they did Eleanor Rigby . Again, just brilliant. He played his John song of the night with Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, which he mentioned as being new for the tour, which I thought was a little misleading, since this tour’s been going for a year and a half. 

Of course, he pulled out his little ukelele and told the story about going to George’s house and jamming on ukelele, then went in to Something , with just him until after the first “ooooooo” section, where the whole band came in and he switched to acoustic guitar, which was just energetic and incredible. After that, he gave us the sing along with Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da , which was just incredible from those banging opening piano chords. Everyone was singing in the chorus, and he let us take it on our own on the last chorus. Then he went into Band On The Run , which of course had everyone singing along at the end. And that middle section (“if we ever get out of here”) is just so powerful and incredible live, in a way that doesn’t come across on the record. After that, he started Back In The USSR , which had everyone singing along, which I found unexpected. It probably had the loudest sing along of the whole night though (other than, of course, the “nanananas”

After that, he told the story of playing the Red Square, and a bunch of officials in the Russian Government told him that they had grown up with The Beatles. It was the only story of the night that I hadn’t heard before, so I was happy about that. He went over to the piano and did Let It Be , which had the phones out in full force. 

Then of course, the massive, awesome, fireworks and laser show that is Live And Let Die live, which was another highlight of the night (there were so many!). He closed the set with Hey Jude , with the “nananas” being sung in full force by every person in CONSOL Energy Center. Then they all took a bow and left. 

But wait, they’re back! Paul had a United States flag, Brian had UK, Rusty had a Pennsylvania flag, and Abe was carrying the ol’ Skull and Crossbones (Pittsburgh’s baseball team is the Pirates (Let’s Go Bucs!), one of two local sports nods, the other yet to come.) Then they proceeded to rock even more with a fantastic rendition of Day Tripper , before doing Hi, Hi, Hi , which was good. Then he went into the always crowd pleasing Get Back , which was awesome (and he did the “low neck sweater”coda!). Then they left again. 

After that, Paul and Wix came back on, and did Yesterday . Midway through, the camera zoomed in on his guitar to reveal, above the ever present Detroit Red Wings sticker (which has been there forever. Anyone know why?), a Pittsburgh Penguins (hockey team) sticker! And the crowd went wild… The band came back with Helter Skelter , which was the high point of all high points. It was the best performance of any song I’ve ever seen. It was just absolutely positively incredible. He went back to the piano, and finished up with Golden Slumbers /Carry That Weight /The End , which featured a great drum solo from Abe and some fantastic guitar works from Rusty, Brian, and Paul. And that was it, as it closed with the famous words. “And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make”… It was a perfect ending to a perfect show.

This show was the first major concert I’d ever gone to, and now I’m spoiled, because it also is probably the best concert I will ever go to. It was simply pure energy from beginning to end. If anyone’s doubting whether or not to see Paul, do it. It’s incredible. A religious experience. You won’t see anything more incredible. Just fantastic. I could go on, but I won’t. I hope I get to see him again, but if I don’t this was a once in the lifetime experience that was incredible. Thank you, Paul. Thank you Brian, Rusty, Abe, and Wix. Thank you light and sound guys. You gave me the best time of my life. Thank you.