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Setlist
Tour Dates
05/15/16 Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes
05/17/16 Estadio Unico Ciudad De La Plata 05/19/16 Estadio Unico Ciudad De La Plata 05/28/16 Dusseldorf, Germany ESPRIT arena 05/30/16 Paris, France AccorHotels Arena 06/02/16 Madrid, Spain Estadio Vicente Calderon 06/10/16 Munich, Germany Olympic Stadium 06/12/16 Landgraaf, Netherlands "Pinkpop Festival" 06/14/16 Berlin, Germany Waldbühne Berlin 06/16/16 Prague, Czech Republic O2 Arena 06/24/16 Bergen, Norway Bergenhus Festning 06/27/16 Herning, Denmark Jyske Bank Boxen 06/30/16 Rock Werchter Festival 07/08/16 Milwaukee, WI "Summerfest" 07/10/16 Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena 07/12/16 Philadelphia, PA Citizens Bank Park 07/17/16 Boston, MA Fenway Park 07/19/16 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Arena 07/21/16 Hamilton, ON FirstOntario Centre 08/07/16 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium 08/09/16 Washington, DC Verizon Center 08/10/16 Washington, DC Verizon Center 08/13/16 St. Louis, MO Busch Stadium 08/15/16 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena 08/17/16 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena 08/18/16 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena 10/04/16 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center 10/08/16 Indio, CA "Desert Trip" 10/15/16 Indio, CA "Desert Trip" Read More
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While many of the after work crowd gravitated to Mexican bars and restaurants to celebrate the Cinco de Mayo holiday; downtown at the Target Center, it was the second consecutive night of Paul McCartney and his band in town, playing on their One on One Tour.
Only a legend like McCartney could consider an arena (vs. a stadium) a more intimate venue, and the faithful were more than rewarded with a career-spanning set of more than three-dozen songs played over two hours and forty-five minutes. Pretty great for an almost 74-year old.
Though the tickets stated an 8pm start time, like the night before, the show began 45 minutes later, as big venue security measures never mean quick entry in, these days.
Wearing a blue Nehru-collar jacket and white shirt, McCartney bounced to the stage supported by the solid band he’s had for twenty years - Rusty Anderson (backing vocals, guitars); Brian Ray (backing vocals, bass, guitars) ; Paul Wix Wickens (backing vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion, accordion); Abe Laboriel, Jr. (backing vocals, drums, percussion) and opened with ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ , a song last in regular set rotation in 1965.
The show seemed a tale of two halves, with the first half being more for himself, taken up by several songs from McCartney’s last release, 2013’s New (on Hear Music), and assorted deep cuts with some hits peppered in, and the second half being for the fans- a hit-filled cavalcade of one classic song after another.
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Paul McCartney
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‘Temporary Secretary’ from 1980’s McCartney II received an electronic update, complete with Kraftwerk-like visuals spinning on the large screen behind the band. 1973’s ‘Let Me Roll It’ rolled itself into the end of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’ and a rare glimpse into seeing how versatile McCartney himself is, on guitar.
The song this night was dedicated to Prince, and McCartney admitted to writing him a fan letter in his earlier days, as well as told of being in St. Barts this New Year’s Eve, for a private Prince concert staged there.
‘My Valentine’ was written for present wife, Nancy, and ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ soon followed, written for then-wife Linda. McCartney took time out between songs to look at a few of the signs held up too, “this guy’s been to our show 105 times…and you’re still not bored…!”
‘In Spite of All the Danger’, a 1958 Quarrymen song was the earliest song played, and started the endearing mini campfire set of stripped down songs, done in front of an evening barn scene backdrop. Several Beatles songs had new life breathed into them by this format and also featured a few stories from the early days, as well as a George Martin tribute.
The newest song in his catalog, 2015’s ‘FourFiveSeconds’ (a collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West) was performed with lyrics on the screen; though it was an odd sight, seeing 18,000 mostly baby boomers sing about “wildin’”. From then on, it was nothing but songs we all know by heart.
The George Harrison tribute with McCartney on ‘Something’ is still touching, ‘Band on the Run’ remains an epic three-songs-in-one, and ‘Live and Let Die’ brought out all the lights and pyro, the burned scent of which, still lingered through the rest of the show. ‘Hey Jude’ predictably had the crowd singing and swaying along to end the main set.
The five-song encore began with a gentle solo ‘Yesterday’ then McCartney brought up a mother/8 yr. old daughter pair from the audience to sign the mother’s arm (presumably for a tattoo).
1972’s ‘Hi. Hi. Hi’ segued into the end of Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ to rave applause, complete with purple lighting and his signature glyph emblazoned on the screen. “Prince, the man! We love you, Prince”, McCartney exclaimed.
After thanking the crew and band, ‘Golden Slumbers’ and ‘The End’ appropriately sent the crowd back into the streets; smiles on their faces, happy to have reveled for almost three hours in a musical trip covering over fifty-five years… Viva Cinco de Macca!
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Paul McCartney at Target Center, Minneapolis (05 May 2016) |
