All you need is love, said The Beatles. And, at Citi Field on Friday night, there was plenty of love in the air, all directed at legendary Beatles alum Paul McCartney as he took the stage for the first-ever show at the Mets’ brand-new stadium. The historic performance was fitting, as The Beatles played the first show at the Mets’ former home, Shea Stadium, in 1965.McCartney, looking dapper in a tailored black suit and a pair of skinny black suspenders, was clearly in awe when he came onstage to a frenzy of cheers and whistles from his eager audience. After opening up with the classic “Drive My Car,” McCartney reminisced about that first show at Shea, telling the audience how bad the acoustics were on account of the shaky sound system and the overwhelming screams of even more overwhelmed female fans, and explaining that the fab foursome couldn’t hear what they were playing.
Luckily for the more than 42,000 fans gathered in the audience for McCartney’s performance on Friday—of which I was one, thanks to an early birthday gift from my parents—the acoustics were much improved this time around. “I think we’re going to have fun tonight,” McCartney said before launching into a two-and-a-half hour set that included Beatles classics, favorites from Wings, and highlights from McCartney’s latest album, Electric Arguments.
There were rousing renditions of “Jet,” “Band on the Run,” and “Dance Tonight” and lively versions of “Got to Get You Into My Life,” “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” and “Paperback Writer.” The crowd went crazy for classics like “The Long and Winding Road,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “A Day in the Life” and “Let It Be,” and everyone was blown away—quite literally—by a performance of “Live and Let Die” that featured a surprise eruption of fireworks from behind the stage, followed by the always powerful “Hey Jude.”McCartney got choked up while playing “Here Today,” a sweet and moving song he wrote after John Lennon’s death, to a photo montage of Lennon on the stage’s main screen. There was also a tribute to George Harrison, during which McCartney played the opening chords of Harrison’s
“Something (In the Way She Moves)” on a ukulele that Harrison had given him and explained that Harrison was “really quite good” on the instrument. Both tributes made it evident that McCartney viewed Lennon and Harrison as not just band mates and fellow musicians, but as beloved friends. The most touching dedication of the evening, however, was to McCartney’s late wife, Linda, for whom he played the touching “My Love.”Throughout the show, McCartney took time to share stories and anecdotes with the audience. He talked about that first performance at Shea, his days as a Beatle, and his memories of his former band mates, as well as other notable artists. In one particularly memorable story, McCartney recounted how, just a few days after the release of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album, Jimi Hendrix opened a show at which McCartney and Harrison were in attendance with his own version of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which he had rehearsed only minutes before the show began. Hendrix then called Eric Clapton, also in attendance, onstage to tune his guitar. The memory was clearly a fond one for McCartney and, as he shared this story and others, the Citi Field audience put its cheers on hold in reverential silence that made it clear we were all hanging on McCartney’s every word.
The cheering always resumed, though, and at no point was it more thunderous than during McCartney’s dynamic encore. After taking a bow alongside his incredibly talented band, McCartney walked offstage only to return a few minutes later and play for at least another half hour. He did “Day Tripper” and “Lady Madonna” before being joined onstage by surprise guest Billy Joel, whom McCartney had joined last year when Joel played the last show at Shea. The pair played “I Saw Her Standing There,” Joel on the piano and McCartney on guitar, before Joel took a bow and McCartney resumed his encore with “Yesterday,” “Helter Skelter,” “Get Back,” and, finally, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He then graciously thanked his band, his crew, and his audience before exiting the stage one last time to an explosion of red, white, and blue confetti that flurried throughout the stadium.And his audience left Citi Field amazed, astounded, and honored to have been part of such an historic event and impressed, not only with McCartney’s skill, but with his kind, down-to-earth demeanor and affable stage presence.
Needless to say, we were all glad for the advancements in sound system technology that have been made since that first show at Shea.
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