Beatle-mania descended on Van Andel Arena on Monday, with a sold-out crowd cheering McCartney’s first-ever West Michigan appearance. (Review, photo gallery)
Putting In ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ in Grand Rapids: Paul McCartney on stage at Van Andel Arena. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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Leave it to Paul McCartney to make the cover of Rolling Stone magazine at age 74, generating more widespread media buzz as he wraps yet another uber-successful U.S. tour.
The latest issue featuring an interview with the legendary former Beatle hit newsstands just a few days before McCartney made his first-ever appearance in Grand Rapids, where he rolled out an epic, poignant and stirring concert on Monday night for an awestruck sold-out crowd of 12,000-plus at Van Andel Arena.
Top-Notch Band: McCartney has been touring with this bunch for 15 years. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
The buzz surrounding Macca’s long-awaited West Michigan debut was unprecedented, and not surprisingly, McCartney lived up to the hype and his cover boy billing with a colossal show for the ages: a 2-hour-and-45-minute, 38-song career retrospective that was at once nostalgic and refreshing.
From the legendary opening chord of “A Hard Day’s Night” to the perfect, show-closing “Abbey Road” troika of “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End,” McCartney and his top-drawer band of musical comrades assembled what could be described as an exemplary celebration of the past 60-plus years of rock ‘n’ roll.
Or, as McCartney put it early on, “a bit of a good time, a bit of a party.”
That party leaned heavily, of course, on the robust catalog of The Beatles, or what McCartney dubbed in his Rolling Stone interview, “a damn hot little band.”
LIghting Up the Stage: McCartney and his band played for nearly three hours. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
That little band from Liverpool just happened to change the course of musical history and the always-affable, tale-telling McCartney did a masterful job of recounting some brilliant Beatles highlights – from early hits such as “Love Me Do,” “And I Love Her” and “Can’t Buy Me Love,” to later gems “Lady Madonna,” “Birthday” and “Hey Jude” (which naturally inspired cellphone waving, an enthusiastic sing-along and more than a few tears).
There were a fair number of Wings tunes to unleash as well, including “Let Me Roll It,” “Letting Go,” “Band on the Run” and cinematic “Live and Let Die,” the last of which qualified as the arena-rock spectacle of the evening complete with fireballs on stage, pyrotechnics and vibrant images on the massive video screens behind, above and flanking the stage.
McCartney also tackled more obscure tracks: “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” from 1967’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “In Spite of All the Danger,” the first single for The Quarrymen, who preceded The Beatles.
TELLING TALES AND PAYING TRIBUTE TO JOHN AND GEORGE
Of course, it’s jarring to realize that his current band – Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray on guitars, Paul “Wix” Wickens on keyboards and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums – has now been together longer than either The Beatles or Wings, the two bands which produced McCartney’s greatest successes as a songwriter and musician.
Long Lines: The sold-out crowd queuing up outside Van Andel Arena on Monday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Still it wasn’t all about the Fab Four. McCartney and crew courageously and effectively trotted out a handful of relatively fresh songs from his 2013 album, “New,” including the title track, “Queenie Eye” and “Save Us.”
Through it all, McCartney – who alternated between guitars, grand piano, spinet piano and his trademark Hofner bass – told back stories behind many of the songs, paid tribute to the late John Lennon, George Harrison and George Martin, and engaged fans in the audience, who waved signs ranging from “I Love Paul” to “40 Years, 40 Shows.”
“If I make mistakes,” McCartney joked at one point about the placards distracting him, “I’m going to blame the signs.”
While his voice – one of the best in the annals of rock – may not carry the power it once did, it still oozes that distinctive McCartney resonance and charm, something that suits his still-boyish face and mischievous smile. And of course, the boys in the band offered up razor-sharp harmonies to aid the cause.
FANS TRAVELED TO SHOW FROM ACROSS THE MIDWEST FOR ‘AMAZING’ CONCERT
Fans from across the Midwest flocked to Van Andel Arena for the third to last date on McCartney’s summer U.S. tour, with a few even chosen during the encore to join the Beatle on stage where he signed their placards and arms (with one female fan toting a “Can I Touch Your Bass” sign – with the ‘B’ crossed off – even patting his butt).
‘Love Me Do’: And fans did. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
“Grand Rapids you are something,” McCartney gushed at one point. “It’s a fantastic welcome you’ve given us.”
A couple of concertgoers from Wisconsin who’ve seen numerous legendary performers over the years insisted that none of them compares to McCartney.
“McCartney is by far the best,” said Don Maki, of Green Bay, Wis., who made the trip to Michigan with his wife, Zina, after the couple caught the Beatle in concert earlier this summer at Milwaukee’s Summerfest. “It’s the music, the professionalism of the show.”
Drummer John Nowak of the Grand Rapids band Desmond Jones – named after a character in The Beatles’ song, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” – was lucky enough to catch McCartney and his band performing during an afternoon sound check Monday, after a family friend gave Nowak and bandmate Isaac Berkowitz V.I.P. tickets.
Triumphant Debut: McCartney on stage at Van Andel Arena. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
“Amazing. An hour-long set, basically a private show,” Nowak said later. “Unreal.”
Indeed, it often seemed unreal to many in the audience on Monday night that McCartney was actually gracing a Grand Rapids stage – an artist whose contributions as a consummate songwriter are liable to stand the test of time just like Beethoven or the Gershwins.
It was an evening filled with defining moments for a generation raised on The Beatles: McCartney plaintively crooning “Yesterday” on acoustic guitar accompanied only by Wickens on keyboards, unfurling the iconic “Let It Be” from behind the grand piano, saluting his one-time bandmate with a touching rendition of Harrison’s “Something.”
It wasn’t The Beatles, but on a historic night for Grand Rapids, Sir Paul certainly fashioned a “damn hot little band” of his own.
PHOTO GALLERY: Paul McCartney at Van Andel Arena
Photos by Anthony Norkus
SET LIST (Aug. 15, 2016)
1. A Hard Day’s Night
2. Save Us
3. Can’t Buy Me Love
4. Letting Go
5. Temporary Secretary
6. Let Me Roll It
7. I’ve Got a Feeling
8. My Valentine
9. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
10. Here, There and Everywhere
11. Maybe I’m Amazed
12. We Can Work It Out
13. In Spite of All the Danger
14. You Won’t See Me
15. Love Me Do
16. And I Love Her
17. Blackbird
18. Here Today
19. Queenie Eye
20. New
21.The Fool on the Hill
22. Lady Madonna
23. FourFiveSeconds
24. Eleanor Rigby
25. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
26. Something
27. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
28. Band on the Run
29. Back in the U.S.S.R.
30. Let It Be
31. Live and Let Die
32. Hey Jude
Encore
33. Yesterday
34. Hi, Hi, Hi
35. Birthday
36. Golden Slumbers
37. Carry That Weight
38. The End
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
