It will come as a surprise to exactly no one that I was one
of the 15,000+ cheering, screaming, dancing fans in attendance at the Golden 1 Center Tuesday night, to catch the inaugural show by none other than Paul McCartney.
Most people know that I've loved and adored Sir Paul since I was a teenager. My
closest friends indulge my fangirl tendencies and politely listen to my raving
about his genius. And while it's highly unlikely I'd hang with anyone who didn't
at least like him, I readily acknowledge that I'm in the group wherein fan truly comes from fanatic. To those who fail to see the
light, I could just state the obvious and point to his unrivaled success and
other-worldly ability to crank out hit after hit (which I've done in the past),
but what really sets Macca apart from his rock star royalty contemporaries is
his natural ability to engage an audience.
It's obvious that he's a born performer, as were the other
three Beatles, but Paul can face a club, an arena or a giant outdoor stadium and
talk to the crowd as if we were all sitting in his living room. He's honed his
between-songs banter over the years, but it never comes across as rehearsed or
stilted; it really feels like we're having an intimate conversation, whether he's
talking about the inspiration for a particular song, or telling a story about
the early days of the Beatles. Tuesday night he talked about how nervous he and
his Liverpool compadres were during their first recording session with George
Martin, and said that he can still hear the nerves in his vocals on "Love Me Do" when he
listens to that track.
The stand-out crowd-engaging moment from that night though,
was courtesy of a 12-year-old. (The age range at his concerts is truly
wonderful). People often bring hand-lettered signs to the shows, and Sir Paul has
recently been inviting fans whose signs catch his eye onto the stage. This girl's
sign read, "I’m 12 years old and I want to hold your hand." She was wearing a
Beatles t-shirt and I'm sure her knees were shaking as she crossed that stage.
Paul asked her name and said he wanted to hold her hand too, and then took one
in both of his. Every person in that arena felt that girl's elation, and when
Paul put his arm around her and she started to cry we all did too. Whether or
not you're in regular contact with your inner fangirl, like, ahem, some of us,
moments like that bring out the teenager in everyone. I'll be forever grateful
that an artist I've admired for so long still wants to perform and bring joy to
his legion of fans. No doubt about it, we’re still amazed...
