STAPLES A MECCA TO MACCA
Indeed, the guy playing Paul McCartney was spot-on, even if he did look a little, er, jowly, but that was the only thing that betrayed the fact he'll be 60 in June. Even at $258.75 a ticket, you won't hear me complaining about a concert that begins with "Hello Goodbye" and ends with "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" segueing into Abbey Road's "The End."
And no one in the sold-out, standing and roaring crowd at Staples Center, which included an even heavier-than-usual turnout of Hollywood glitterati, seemed to feel ripped off, either. Playing an ever-gracious host, McCartney led a superb four-piece band (each of whom got his own introduction from Paul during the show), which included L.A. natives guitarist Rusty Anderson, guitarist-bassist Brian Ray and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., along with returning keyboardist/accordionist/instrumentalist Wix Wickens. The fivesome came off as a real band, not as a superstar and his backing outfit, and appeared to be having as much fun as the audience. They leaned into the opening salvo of "Jet," "All My Loving," "Getting Better," "Coming Up" and "Let Me Roll It," deftly alternating between Macca solo hits and Beatles faves you thought you'd never hear played live.
Meanwhile, John Cusack and Neve Campbell boogied just in front of us, while Jack Nicholson, out of his customary courtside Laker seats, beamed and sang along to the words of "Jet." Pat Boone looked about as stiff as Al Gore (thanks, Bud), and Brian Wilson appeared positively lost, until he got up to the familiar Beach Boys-like strains of "Back in the USSR." Kiss' Paul Stanley held his young son aloft, Tobey Maguire and Ray Liotta looked pensive, Jeffrey Katzenberg kept putting drops in his eyes, Ted Danson exchanged gleeful glances with Richie Sambora and Jeff Ayeroff brought the wife and kids.
Paul practically apologized when he introduced songs from the new album, Driving Rain, which, on repeated listening, is his best in quite some time, with "Your Loving Flame," the new single, particularly memorable. An acoustic set followed, starting off with "Blackbird," which McCartney introduced as a song he wrote to commemorate the Civil Rights struggle, remarking how they used to call girls "birds" in England. "We Can Work It Out" into "Mother Nature's Son" and even "Vanilla Sky" sounded cool in this context. The Cute One joked about forgetting the words to Abbey Road's "You Never Give Me Your Money," even though he reportedly does it at every show, while, for "Fool on the Hill," he brings out the psychedelic-fronted organ he played on Magical Mystery Tour.
He did a tribute to his two deceased mates, playing "Here Today" for Lennon, then rousing everyone, "Let's hear it for John." He played "Something" on ukelele for George, accompanied by another touching photo montage. The lighting and sound were all first-rate, and then the full band returned for the backstretch, including a plaintive "Eleanor Rigby," a lovely "Here, There and Everywhere," a celebratory "Band on the Run," topped with a truly bring-down-the-house, everybody-dance-in-the-aisles, "Back in the USSR," then managed to up the ante even further with a glorious "Maybe I’m Amazed."
Then, the climax: "Can't Buy Me Love" into a surprisingly affecting "Freedom" into a truly mind-blowing "Live and Let Die," complete with swirling James Bond-cum-psychedelic graphics and three loud flash-pot explosions that woke up my 11-year-old daughter. By then, the audience was putty, and Paul unleashed the final salvo: "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude" (ceding the final "na-na-na-na-na-na" part to the audience, pictured on the giant screens watching itself). The first encore was "Long and Winding Road," "Lady Madonna" and "I Saw Her Standing There." The second and final closed out with (naturally, but a little anti-climactic) "Yesterday" and a fitting "Sergeant Pepper"/"The End" medley which left us with the Beatles' own final coda: "The love you take is equal to the love you make."
My biggest problem with McCartney in the past has been his cheerful insistence on being all things to all people, his often obsequious attempt to please everyone, but on this occasion, that very generosity made this show one for the ages. Don't miss it. You may not see its like again for a long, long time.
