McCartney, One on One

Paul McCartney - Playing Let It Be on Piano

July 16, 2017 In Photography By Annie

McCartney, One on One

A few years ago, I went to my first Paul McCartney concert. It was an amazing night. However, my seats weren’t so great, so I promised myself that if the opportunity ever presented itself again, I would splurge and buy the best tickets that I could get. So, for the recent Tampa show (One on One tour), I splurged on the VIP (Hot Sound) tickets. 6th row. An invitation to sound check. It was a Beatle girl’s dream.

Because of sound check, we were invited to the arena early and had a separate entrance. After checking in and getting our passes, they took us to a special area where we had cocktails until McCartney arrived for sound check.

Once he arrived, we were taken into the arena, and we got to enjoy about an hour long sound check from back near the sound booth. The high points for me were… being in the same “room” as Paul McCartney, pulling some Ringoesque dance moves to All My Loving, and getting to hear Macca sing my name when he covered Little Richard’s Miss Ann.

After sound check, we were taken back to the VIP area for drinks, dinner, dessert, and swag bags. It was a nice time and lovely to meet a few of the McCartney diehard fans (all sporting the Fans on the Run pins). I met some really nice people and learned all kinds of new and interesting Beatles trivia.

While I understood that 6th row was going to be close, I was pretty emotional when I got to my seat. There was a little bit of a difference between my 2013 and 2017 seats, don’t you think? I have to admit that being so much closer did knock the experience up a few notches.

So, for three hours, Paul McCartney & Co. put on an out and out amazing show (setlist). It was a wonderful mix of Beatles, Wings, and solo tunes. He did beautiful tributes to Jimi Hendrix, Linda, John Lennon, and George Harrison (the Harrison one is the best, but I might be a bit biased). I loved all of the details (videos, photos, lights, and effects) that went into designing the stage for each song. I love the screens that made the stage look like an old house, and the drama of Live and Let Die ensures that I’ll have it stuck in my head for weeks. And while the whole show was amazing, I still get goosebumps thinking about the damn genius ending of the Abbey Road medley (Golden Slumbers/Carry the Weight/The End).