Back in 1965 when the Beatles appeared at Shea Stadium, I just didn't have the money to buy tickets. Earlier in the day I found in our VHS collection a tape of the Beatles at Shea. Murray the K and Cousin Bruce Morrow were the announcers. The stage was set up in the middle of the stadium as the Beatles sang for only 35 minutes. The screams of the girls in the audience drowned out the singing.
It rained for most of the day and I was just hoping that the weather would not put a damper on the concert literally, We arrived at Citifield at 6:40. I am always an early bird :). The stage was set up in deep center field. Obviously many of the seats for baseball could not be used since people there could not see the stage. There were seats on the playing field. Nothing happened until 7:25 when an opening called Smith from Dublin, Ireland took the stage and played for 45 minutes. The people in the audience were of all ages ranging from small children to seniors who listened to the Beatles in the 1960s. Lee wore his t-shirt of the Beatles at Shea. This extra time gave people the opportunity to buy food and beer. This is fine, but I just can't understand why people must leave their seats to buy the overpriced beer as this concert is likely a once in a lifetime event, while one can drink beer anytime.
Finally, at 9 PM, Sir Paul and his backup band took the stage. Whenever, I went to Bob Dylan concerts I always had to guess what songs he was playing. Sometimes it would take me a minute or to guess the song if it were one of his rarities. Friday's set list appeared in Sunday's New York Times. So we knew what song was coming up as the set list was the same. I was unfamiliar with just a few songs that Paul recorded as a solo artist.
I especially enjoyed Paul's version of George Harrison's Something. He started playing a ukelele and then moved to a guitar. Photos of George were shown on a screen in the background. Paul made a tribute to John by playing Here Today and Give Peace a Chance. Another highlight was the fireworks display during Live or Let Die. Paul certainly has his voice after all these years of performing. Bob Dylan's voice has obviously declined after all these years of giving concerts.
Billy Joel did not appear as he did on Friday. I was also hoping for Ringo Starr, but he wasn't there. It is obviously imposible to play everything in the catalog. I would have liked to have heard Penny Lane and Coming Up. There was a warning for people not to take photos and videos, but I saw many people with cameras. If you do a search on Youtube under McCartney and Citifield you will see many amateur videos. At the top of this entry you will see Paul seeing I'm Down which was played both at Shea and Citifield. I'm Down was the B side of Help, but was not heard in the film.
Set list:
“Drive My Car”
“Jet”
“Only Mama Knows”
“Flaming Pie”
“Got To Get You Into My Life”
“Let Me Roll It” (with a “Purple Haze” coda)
“Highway”
“The Long and Winding Road”
“My Love”
“Blackbird”
“Here Today”
“Dance Tonight”
“Calico Skies”
“Mrs. Vandebilt”
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Sing the Changes”
“Band on the Run”
“Back in the U.S.S.R.”
“I’m Down”
“Something” (on ukulele)
“I’ve Got a Feeling”
“Paperback Writer”
“A Day in the Life”/“Give Peace a Chance”
“Let It Be”
“Live and Let Die”
“Hey Jude”
“Day Tripper”
“Lady Madonna”
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“Yesterday”
“Helter Skelter”
“Get Back”
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (reprise)/“The End”
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