It’s not every
day you get to see half The Beatles jam onstage with a Rolling Stone, though
in my case, I got to see this yesterday.
It was the
undeniable icing on the cake to a typical (or atypical) three-hour Paul McCartney gig at the 02, marking the seventh time I’ve seen him live (if you
don’t count the two times I briefly met him and the occasion I saw him looking
out of the window of his Soho offices; I AM NOT A STALKER). Every time I attend a Macca concert I can't help but wonder
if it'll be my last, a thought that gains likelihood as the years roll
by, but last night’s show certainly proved there’s plenty of energy in the
old Moondog yet as he showed stamina that'd put most performers half his age to
shame; and if he chooses to bring out Ringo for a Fabs’ rhythm section reunion
rendition of ‘Get Back’ as an encore then who am I to argue?
(The Rolling Stone, in case you were wondering, was Ronnie Wood.)
While I enjoyed
last night’s show, I still find his setlist frustrating, when so much of his solo catalogue remains unrepresented. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate how difficult
it must be to please everyone when you have one of the largest, most
widely-acclaimed discographies to call on, particularly when the majority of a stadium crowd are probably casual fans who'd be more interested
in Abbey Road than Egypt Station. Actually, even the hard-to-please like me could see last night’s set was pretty varied, plus it was great to see him backed by a real brass section again (the last time he toured with one was before I was born, which is frankly a bit ridiculous).
One thing I
found hard to note was the obvious deterioration in his voice in the five years
since I saw him last, which comes mostly from his choice to still play much
of his earliest, most demanding material in the original keys; the irony is if
he were to play more of his recent material he’d more likely not expect so much
from those pipes that are now pushing 80. While it’s completely natural for his
voice to change it’s sad to hear what was once so effortless sound strained. And while he’s still a consummate performer who puts on one hell of a
show, I miss the effortlessness with which he used to riff with his melodies
and throw out those high notes like it was the easiest thing on Earth; the man was always to talented for his own good.