Setlist: Paul McCartney, RDS, 12 June 2010

Anyone who wasn't busy watching Green bottle it (or some other tabloid-pun) at the World Cup probably knew there was something else going on in Dublin, as crowds swarmed to the RDS to see Paul McCartney return to Ireland for the second time in six months. Luckily for anyone who did see him the first time around (at the O2 back in December), he mixed things up with some other songs from his extensive back catalogue.

Setlist:

1. Venus And Mars/Rock Show
2. Jet
3. All My Loving
4. Letting Go
5. Got To Get You Into My Life
6. Highway
7. Let Me Roll It / Foxy Lady
8. The Long and Winding Road
9. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
10. Let 'Em In
11. My Love
12. I'm Looking Through You
13. Two Of Us
14. Blackbird
15. Here Today
16. Dance Tonight
17. Mrs Vandebilt
18. Eleanor Rigby
19. Something
20. Sing the Changes
21. Band on the Run
22. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
23. Back in the U.S.S.R.
24. I've Got a Feeling
25. Paperback Writer
26. A Day in the Life / Give Peace A Chance
27. Let It Be
28. Live and Let Die
29. Hey Jude
---
30. Day Tripper
31. Lady Madonna
32. Get Back
---
33. Yesterday
34. Helter Skelter
35. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise) / The End

Watch 'Day Tripper' from last night's gig:

Live: Paul McCartney at the RDS

...And here's me thinking that I had only one chance to see Paul McCartney live (last Christmas at the O2). But no, the selfish so-and-so has announced a new Irish date, which means other people get to see them, and can now go "oh I saw him too" and knock me down a peg or two. Anyhow, Paul McCartney will be playing Dublin's RDS on June 12th.

Tickets go on sale on Monday, 8th of March, and cost €81.25, €70, €131.25 and €156.25.

Have a look at this excellent version of 'Blackbird' last December at the O2:

Watch: Paul McCartney, O2 Dublin, 20 December 2009

Watch all the songs from Paul McCartney's show at the O2 in Dublin on Sunday night. Thanks to all the tapers and uploaders. I went for length and audio quality ahead of video quality, and will add the missing songs when they're uploaded.

1. Magical Mystery Tour


2. Drive My Car


3. Jet


4. Only Mama Knows
5. Flaming Pie


6. Got To Get You Into My Life


7. Let Me Roll It
8. Highway

9. Long And Winding Road


10. (I Want To) Come Home
11. My Love

12. Blackbird


13. Here Today


14. Dance Tonight


15. And I Love Her


16. Eleanor Rigby

17. Something


18. Mrs Vandebilt
19. Sing the Changes

20. Wonderful Christmas Time


21. Band on the Run


22. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da


23. Back in the USSR
24. I've Got a Feeling
25. Paperback Writer

26. A Day in the Life > Give Peace a Chance


27. Let It Be

28. Live and Let Die


29. Hey Jude


30. Day Tripper
31. Lady Madonna
32. Get Back

33. Yesterday

34. Helter Skelter


35. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise) > The End



If more videos are uploaded, please let me know...

Live Review: Paul McCartney, The O2 Dublin, 20 December 2009

I saw a Beatle. That's not something you get to say every day. Probably not something you'll be saying for long more. At 67, Paul McCartney is well past retirement age, but from his lengthy live show, you'd never guess it for a second. He's still as sprightly as most forty-year-olds. In fact, he's probably far more energetic than me.

Seeing your heroes is sometimes disappointing. Like when a kid meets Roy Keane or some other petulant footballer, you're left with a bitter aftertaste. Not so with Paul McCartney. He leaves you on a high after the musical equivalent of wining and dining you for nearly three hours.

From listening to his recent live albums: Back in the World, Back in the US, and this year's Good Evening New York, you would think Paul just sings and sings, but on stage, he's actually a brilliant showman, and interacts fantastically with the audience. For Good Evening Dublin at the O2, he even threw in a few sentences of Irish here and there. When he said "Nollaig Shona Duit" following 'Wonderful Christmas Time' you would've believed his earlier quip about Liverpool being the real capital of Ireland: "only a short boatride away!"

I will admit to having looked at the setlists to give an indication of what to expect. But words on a page can't really prepare you for thirty-something fantastic songs. The set was filled with Beatles tunes, Wings tunes, Paul solo tunes, and even two from his Fireman project. The ones that got the best response were obviously the Beatles songs, but each song got a magnificent welcome from an awestruck audience. It probably was the best audience I'd ever seen at a concert. There wasn't your drunken louts, it was a dignified communal dance in time to the music. A bit like this?

After a long video intro (which was played alongside remixes of his own music in many guises - ballsy to come out to your own music, isn't it?), Paul and his fantastic backing band took the stage around twenty past eight, and kept going until eleven p.m. They opened the same way as the rest of their shows with 'Magical Mystery Tour' and 'Drive My Car', two Beatles classics that let you know you were in for a marvellous night's entertainment. The Wings song that followed, 'Jet' really got the crowd going with its fantastic rock riff. He then played the standout song from his most recent solo album Memory Almost Full; 'Only Mama Knows' maybe a newer song but it was as warmly received as the rest. There were many die-hard Macca fans in the audience.

I was never a massive fan of the title track from Flaming Pie, but live, it was pretty good. 'Got to Get You Into My Life' and 'Let Me Roll It' were much better though, the latter ending the same way it has all tour with a nice piece from Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxy Lady'. Paul also told us a wonderful story about how Jimi covered 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' only two days after its release, and afterwards he (Hendrix) wanted Eric Clapton to come on stage to re-tune his guitar.

'Highway' from the Fireman and later 'Sing the Changes' were the least known of any of the songs, and caused some people to use them as a bathroom break. I stuck around throughout, and must say I loved both tunes. 'Highway' especially, with its fantastic chorus. I had listened to the new album once or twice when it came out, but totally forgotten it since. I may have to go back and revisit it.

Paul then switched to piano for 'The Long and Winding Road'. For this, and some of the softer songs like 'Blackbird' and 'Yesterday', it was actually hard to hear Macca singing at all, due to the fact that 14,000 others were singing along at the same time. It was a wonderful experience, and his solo rendition of 'Blackbird' has made up for all the times I've played the opening riff while tuning my own guitar - now every time I do it, I'll remind Gill of this concert, so I won't be asked "playing that again?"

'I Want to Come Home' and 'My Love' are lovely little tunes, and provided that slow dance feel to the evening. I know I've mentioned it already, but 'Blackbird' was absolutely fantastic. 'Here Today' is a gorgeous tribute to John Lennon, and although the place was packed, felt quite intimate. The mandolin playing of 'Dance Tonight' was wonderful, and set us off dancing again. 'And I Love Her' always sounded to me like a song the Who never recorded (check out that opening vocal), maybe it influenced Pete and Roger, who knows?

'Eleanor Rigby' was another standout. Perhaps the highlight of the night for me as far as Beatles songs go. Absolutely amazing. Then Paul pulled out the ukelele for a fantastic version of 'Something' which was introduced with a little tease of 'Oh Me, Oh My' and a great story about George Fornby beforehand. 'Mrs Vandebilt' is another of those essential Wings tunes (complete with synthy keys), and is great live due to its singalong refrain "ho eh oh, ho eh oh"! 'Sing the Changes' is a Fireman song which sounds like Fleetwood Mac. That can't be bad, right? It wasn't either. Damn good live.

'Wonderful Christmas Time' was only played for the second time this tour, but it wasn't at all rusty. The graphics on the screens behind and the sides were also fantastic. Not many people get to hear that McCartney classic, so we all should feel even more special. 'Band on the Run' was gorgeous, especially the breakdown section (Franz Ferdinand wished they could do it that well). 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' was never one of my favourite Beatles tunes either, but I may well be converted now. However, everyone loves 'Back in the USSR', with its old-school rock and roll feel. Gorgeous. "You don't know how lucky you are".

We didn't get 'I'm Down' on Sunday night, which wasn't a huge disappointment, nor was the lack of 'Michelle'. But like everywhere else, we got...'A Feeling'. See what I did there? A nice song to slow things down before the fantastic final run of 'Paperback Writer', 'A Day in the Life', 'Let it Be', 'Live and Let Die', and 'Hey Jude'. All magnificent songs. The last three especially. 'Live and Let Die' was a major highlight due to the pyrotechnics. What a show. (The fact that it's a Bond theme helps too).

Paul took a break before coming back on for the first encore: 'Day Tripper', 'Lady Madonna' and 'Get Back' are all classics. 'Lady Madonna' was gorgeous, and 'Get Back' was another singalong highlight. Wonderful.

The second encore gave us a lovely quiet 'Yesterday', a rip-roaring 'Helter Skelter', and the usual 'Sgt Peppers/The End' ending. At thirty-six songs, it never went on too long, and everyone in the Point that night could have gladly stayed on for another thirty-six more.

The best gig of 2009. Without a doubt. If you missed it, I really feel for you. Amazing in every way.

Watch 'Live and Let Die' live in Dublin:

Setlist: Paul McCartney, O2 Dublin, 20 December 2009

I was at this gig last night, and it was amazing! I'll have a full review up later, but for now here's Paul McCartney's setlist from the O2 in Dublin on the 20th of December:

1. Magical Mystery Tour
2. Drive My Car
3. Jet
4. Only Mama Knows
5. Flaming Pie
6. Got To Get You Into My Life
7. Let Me Roll It > Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix cover)
8. Highway
9. Long And Winding Road
10. (I Want To) Come Home
11. My Love
12. Blackbird
13. Here Today
14. Dance Tonight
15. And I Love Her
16. Eleanor Rigby
17. Something
18. Mrs Vandebilt
19. Sing the Changes
20. Wonderful Christmas Time
21. Band on the Run
22. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
23. Back in the USSR
24. I've Got a Feeling
25. Paperback Writer
26. A Day in the Life > Give Peace a Chance
27. Let It Be
28. Live and Let Die
29. Hey Jude
---
30. Day Tripper
31. Lady Madonna
32. Get Back (with reprise)
---
33. Yesterday
34. Helter Skelter
35. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise) > The End

Album News: Paul McCartney - Good Evening New York City

If you got your Macca tickets yesterday for December 20th's O2 show (like me), then you'll be brushing off your Beatles and Wings back catalogues in anticipation. The Dublin show is part of the European leg of the Good Evening tour, and on November 23rd, Sir Paul McCartney will be releasing a Double CD and live DVD of his New York performance. So you kind of get an inkling from the tracklist what he might play. I cannot wait.

Disc 1
“Drive My Car”
“Jet”
“Only Mama Knows”
“Flaming Pie”
“Got to Get You Into My Life”
“Let Me Roll It”
“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”

Disc 2
“Back In The USSR”
“I’m Down”
“Something”
“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”/”The End”

DVD

“Drive My Car”
“Jet”
“Only Mama Knows”
“Flaming Pie”
“Got to Get You Into My Life”
“Let Me Roll It”
“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 USSR”
“I’m Down”
“Something”
“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”/”The End”

Watch 'Let it Be' from the Good Evening tour:

Live: Paul McCartney O2 Show Sold Out

Bad news Macca fans! Paul McCartney's December 20th Dublin performance is fully sold out. You may be able to find tickets on eBay or the like, but they'll probably cost a fortune. There hasn't been anything relating to a second show announced, but as he's performing back in the UK two days later, it's probably unlikely. However, if there is one announced, I'll let you know.

And to anyone who is going: I'll see you there!

Watch Paul Back in the US from 2002, playing his own 'Live and Let Die':

Live: Paul McCartney at the O2

Great news Beatles fans. By the time you've finished Beatles Rock Band, you can actually go and see one of the former Fab Four in Dublin. Paul McCartney will be playing the O2 on December 20th, with tickets priced €86.25 for standing, and €126.25 or €156.25 depending on where your seats will be. It'll be worth every cent!

They go on sale next Wednesday, the 28th at 9 a.m. and could sell out pretty fast.

Watch The Beatles in Dublin in 1963: