photos by Dana (Distortion) Yavin, review by Andrew Sacher

Paul McCartney played his second of two shows at Yankee Stadium Saturday night (7/16). Like the first night, the 35+ song set was Beatles-heavy. Unlike the first night, Billy Joel showed up and performed "I Saw Her Standing There" with Paul during the first encore on Saturday. A set of pictures from Saturday are in this post. Both setslists are also below.

Twentysomething Andrew Sacher was there on Friday, seeing Paul live for the first time. Here is his review...

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Paul McCartney made his Yankee Stadium debut on Friday (7/15). HIs set, as noted, was majority Beatles songs with a number of Wings songs, some solo cuts and the Fireman track, 'Sing the Changes." To put it bluntly, The Beatles are the band that I (and many, many others) have probably heard more times than any other band in history. Hearing Beatles songs, while always great, is not nearly a rare occurrence. But as Paul and his band performed their material, I couldn't stop thinking this is the guy who wrote these songs. As someone who never really thought about going to see Paul McCartney live before these shows were announced, the whole thing was actually surreal.

Before Paul went into "All My Loving," he said, "Here's an old one you might remember," and as soon as the song took off, video clips of The Beatles in their early days showed up on the screen behind the stage. Seeing those clips in contrast to where Paul is at now, standing before them in real life at age 69, made the experience even more staggering. And on top of that, Paul hasn't aged a bit. Nothing about the show was dated at all. Paul's voice and musicianship were totally intact, his band was excellent, and the clips/images/visuals screening on the stage's backdrop were widely appealing. The sound at Yankee Stadium was also amazing, and Paul had no problem delivering to the extremely large venue.

Though almost every song in the set was written by Paul, he also paid tribute to his late Beatle-bandmates John and George. He brought out a ukulele for one song and told a story about how George Harrison had a period where he was really into ukuleles. During that period, Paul went to George's house and said, "I've learned one of your songs on ukulele, do you want to play it with me?" Then Paul proceeded to play us the song on his ukulele, which ended up being one of Harrison's Abbey Road contributions, "Something." About halfway through the song, he was joined by the rest of his band for a rendition closer to the Beatles original.

Paul prefaced the song "Here Today" by telling the crowd that sometimes in life you want to apologize to someone but before you do, you realize it's too late. He said that the song is written about a conversation between him and John Lennon that they never got to have. This was actually my first time hearing the song, but the story behind it and the song's lyrics left an immediate impact on me. Paul then paid even more tribute to John later in the set when he took the joint McCartney/Lennon track "A Day in the Life" directly into Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance."

The medley of those two tracks began what largely appeared as the 'end of the set.' While most shows I go to save a single or an epic track to end the [pre-encore] set, sometimes even two, Paul McCartney and his band end their shows with four climactic performances. In "A Day in the Life"'s psychedelic crescendo, smoke filled the stage and the images on screen swirled into trippy visuals before abruptly clearing up as Paul's peppy piano-led offering to the song kicked in. Once the upbeat Paul McCartney found his way upstairs and had a smoke, and somebody spoke and he went into a dream, the visuals kicked back in, and after soaking that up, Paul and his band drifted into "all we are saying is 'give peace a chance.'"

They calmed things down for a bit with the captivating "Let It Be," which reached the same level of grandiosity by the song's end. That was followed by the best Wings track of the night, "Live and Let Die." The song started off soft as usual, and as soon as the heavy orchestral break exploded, flames shot up in front of the stage, which were joined by fireworks once the drums kicked in. Paul McCartney and his band then ended the set with the crowd sing-along "Hey Jude."

The band returned for two encores, both consisting entirely of Beatles material. Paul began the second encore with the most recorded song in history, "Yesterday." He was accompanied by no more than his own acoustic guitar and his keyboard player (who had some of the most realistic instrument replication I've ever heard) taking care of George Martin's string arrangements. After mesmerizing the entire audience with the song, the rest of the band walked on stage to kick things up to a way harder level with "Helter Skelter." The show then ended with a chunk of Abbey Road's b-side medley; "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End," which Paul recently started doing in place of ending his sets with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"/"The End."

Both setlists and more pictures from Saturday night, below...

Continue reading "Paul McCartney played 2 nights Yankee Stadium (pics, review, setlists & Billy Joel)"

Bruce Springsteen & Tom Morello @ MSG (BMoreSweet)

U2 closed the second night of the MSG Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shows on October 30th. At the first (10/29), it was Bruce Springsteen & Billy Joel (before one big group sing on Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher")...

After "Badlands" much of the drained audience began leaving and then rushed back to their seats when Billy Joel sat down at the piano and launched into "You May Be Right," "Only The Good Die Young" and "New York State Of Mind." (The pair were uniting the kindred spirits of New Jersey and Long Island, Springsteen explained.) "Higher and Higher" wrapped up the night. The official set list had the show ending at 11:36:55 (yes, they thought they had it down to the exact second), but the final notes rang out at 1:31 a.m. Six straight hours of music, and that was just the first of two nights. [Rolling Stone]

Bruce was actually there both nights (one of many possibly "filling in" for Eric Clapton, who canceled last minute on the second). Those in attendence on the 30th got to see U2, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith sing together on "Because the Night." (And U2 + Mick Jagger (another unannounced guest) + Fergie + Will.i.am sing "Gimme Shelter"...). Ray Davies, Lou Reed, and Ozzy Osbourne all performed with Metallica. Many played with Stevie Wonder. Full setlists below.

HBO will be airing four hours of highlights on Thanksgiving weekend.
(November 29th at 8PM ET).

Bruce's current tour wraps up November 22nd in Buffalo. He was at Giants Stadium earlier this fall, playing the last concerts ever there. U2 also played the venue for two nights in September, and will be back in Jersey in 2010 as part of their just-announced tour.

Set lists for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows are below...

Continue reading "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame hosted 2 very long shows @ MSG (setlists), will air on HBO Thanksgiving weekend"

photos by Bao Nguyen

The new Citi Field received a Beatle baptism Friday night.

Paul McCartney offered the first musical concert at the sterling new venue, an apt parallel to the Fab Four's historic, kick-off show at Citi Field's predecessor, Shea Stadium, 44 long years ago.

Of course, several key differences between 1965 and today made themselves immediately clear.

This time, everyone could hear. And the only "girls" who screamed were gently prompted by Paul.

As a further reference to history, Paul brought out a special guest at one point - Billy Joel, who last summer closed down the crumbling Shea.

Together they performed a song from the '65 performance, "I Saw Her Standing There." [The Daily News]

Paul was also Billy's guest at the final Shea shows. Two more Paul shows at Citi Field to go - the next of which is tonight (Saturday, 7/18). More pictures, some videos, and the complete setlist from last night, below...

Continue reading "Paul McCartney (and Billy Joel) @ Citi Field (night 1 of 3) - pics, video & the setlist"

FLUSHING, N.Y., June 3, 2009 - Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Paul McCartney will perform the historic first concerts at Citi Field - the new home of the Mets - Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18.

Tickets go on sale Monday, June 15 at 10:00 A.M. ET online exclusively at www.507tixx.com and by phone at 718-507-TIXX. These concerts are rain or shine.

These inaugural concert events at Citi Field mark the latest in a series of landmark performances that link the beloved Beatle with New York City and the home of the Mets. Beginning with The Beatles' legendary musical christening of Shea Stadium in 1965, and continuing with McCartney's special appearance at Billy Joel's "Last Play at Shea" show that closed the stadium last year, McCartney's summer shows at Citi Field will once again mark a momentous occasion in the history of New York - and rock n' roll itself.

"I am really excited about playing Citi Field - The Beatles were the first to play at Shea Stadium and along with Billy Joel, I was the last to sing at the old Shea," said Paul McCartney. "So to be the first to play this stadium is incredible. I am really looking forward to a buzzing show."

The flyer and more fun quotes below...

Continue reading "Paul McCartney confirms Shea Stadium (Citi Field) shows "

AC/DC @ The Izod Center (more by Ryan Muir)

If anyone had any doubt that touring is where the money is in the music business, a quick look at the top Moneymakers for 2008 should hammer the point home.

Regardless of genre, retail sales or radio play, each of the 20 acts on Billboard's Moneymakers list toured in 2008. (Taylor Swift mostly opened for Brad Paisley but doesn't get credit for that revenue). For almost all of them, touring generated the most revenue. And in a year when recorded-music sales declined yet again, many earned more at the box office than ever before. [Billboard]

I hope Kanye West can handle being below The Jonas Brothers (and Lil Wayne). The whole list below...

Continue reading "the list of musicians who made the most money in 2008"

Join us for CHANGE ROCKS
at The Hammerstein Ballroom featuring Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen & Friends

Purchase your ticket using the form below [this link].
Tickets must be purchased by October 14th.

Thursday, October 16 @ 8:30 PM

For more information, please contact
ny-finance@barackobama.com or call 212-763-4850

Tickets start at $500 each. The best seats are $10,000!

Bruce Springsteen is also playing the Superbowl Halfime show in 2009 and is rumored to be playing the final show at Yankees Stadium which is rumored to be November 9th. Billy Joel played the final show at Shea Stadium which hosted its final baseball game this past weekend - just a short while after the Yankees played their last game in their old home.

Video of a "Drunk, Sleeping Fan Victimized by Beer Cups at Shea Stadium", below...

Continue reading "Bruce Springsteen & Billy Joel playing a NYC show for Barack Obama +++ a belated RIP for Shea Stadium"

New York City is hoping an annex of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening this year will boost tourism, as well as commemorate the artists and music venues that formed the city's rock history.

The annex to Cleveland-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is due to open in the art-and-fashion district of SoHo in November, and will feature such memorabilia as Bruce Springsteen's first car, a 1957 Chevy Convertible.

It will also house an original phone booth from the downtown music club CBGB where Patti Smith and Ramones played, and have interactive maps highlighting venues like Studio 54 and The Hotel Chelsea.[Reuters]

DOWNLOAD: The Black Ghosts - Repetition (Diplo Remix) (MP3)

The Dodos @ Cake Shop, NYC - July 17, 2008 (forklift)

today in NYC
* FREE STUFF
* The Siren Festival
* Yaz @ Beacon Theater
* Matmos @ (le) poisson rouge
* USAISAMONSTER @ Silent Barn
* Rooftop Films w/ Pwrfl Power
* The Black Ghosts @ Studio B
* The Siren afterparty @ Music Hall of W
* Girls, Nite Jewel & Rings @ Glasslands
* Karsh Kale performing Enter the Dragon in Prospect Park
* Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson & Kyp Malone @ Cake Shop
* Calavera Conspiracy & Dillinger Escape Plan @ Irving Plaza
* Sic Alps, Meth Teeth, Religious Knives & caUSE co-MOTION! @ DBA

Meth Teeth, a good lo-fi band from "Kerby st./ Seattle/Goose Hollow, Oregon" is now on tour. Check them out tonight at Death By Audio (see great lineup above) and Sunday at Don Pedro's.

Tickets are still on sale for the Last Shadow Puppets show at Grand Ballroom.

"Dark Knight" breaks preview record

James Brown's children sorry to see memorabilia auctioned.

Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, Steven Tyler, Roger Daltry of the Who, John Mellencamp, Don Henley, and Tony Bennett, and all made guest appearances at one of Billy Joel's two "last plays" at Shea Stadium.

What else?

1 2 3 4 (via)

May 8th @ Carnegie Hall.....

Continue reading "2008 Rainforest Benefit @ Carnegie Hall - Feist, Brian Wilson, Billy Joel, Sting, etc...."

Continue reading "Billy Joel adds 2nd final show at Shea Stadium"

Billy Joel will be the last artist to play at New York's Shea Stadium with a July 16 concert billed as "The Last Play at Shea, From the Beatles to Billy." The show comes in the midst of the New York Mets' final season at Shea; the team moves into its new home at Citi Field in 2009....The Joel show, promoted by Live Nation in association with Mitch Slater, goes on sale Feb. 16......"The Last Play at Shea," which comes the day after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, makes Joel the only artist to ever have played both Yankee Stadium (two nights in 1991) and Shea Stadium [Billboard]

Video of the Beatles playng Shea, and related footage, below....

Continue reading "Billy Joel will play the last show @ Shea Stadium"