Over the course of seeing concerts the past 3+ decades, I have had the good fortune to attend shows that were recorded and later distributed on CD/DVD a handful of times.
Up until recently, the most memorable was Aimee Mann’s Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse.
But this summer, I was lucky enough to attend Paul McCartney at Citi Field (as well as experience the Spontaneous Crowd Chorus).
I went to the Friday night show straight from work. The show was terrific, and I was thrilled to see it release as a reasonable priced set: Paul McCartney: Good Evening New York City is 2 CDs + 1 DVD for $14.
As a huge Beatles fan, I avoided seeing earlier McCartney shows as they were mostly solo/Wings material. As you can see from the tour de force set list, it is heavily weighted with Beatles tunes. From the opener Drive My Car, followed by Jet, you can see a lot of thought went into the list. If there is any weakness, it is a run of 4 non Beatle tunes wedged between Blackbird and Eleanor Rigby. The rest of the list is outstanding.
The show itself was terrific — a full two and half hours — McCartney was in great voice. The songs surprised in their freshness, the stage presentation was classic old school, but it worked really well. McCartney is the consumate performer, and he showed that at age 67 (WTF!) he can still rock with the best of them.
If I have any complaints about the DVD, it is the director never seems to let the camera linger anywhere for more than a few seconds. Sometimes less cutting, and more continued footage is more.
For Beatles fans, or those whose kids want to get to know the band, this is a great place to start.
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