In My Life, I've Loved Paul McCartney

 The second highlight of my Spring of 2022 occurred at MetLife Stadium in E. Rutherford, N.J. on June 16, when Paul McCartney, my favorite Beatle, walked on to the stage and started singing "Can't Buy Me Love"! Finally, after all the years, I checked off another thing on my bucket list. Becoming a revitalized Beatlemaniac after viewing "Get Back" several times, I knew I had to see Paul in concert. Oh yeah, the first highlight was becoming a grandmother upon the birth of my grandson, Zander.  

Getting to Jersey from the city wasn't all that bad, but an hour of checkpoints and security protocol til we found our seats wasn't great.  Neither were the seats on the field, that were way back, and also obscured by mountainous monitors. As my son and I pouted, a young crew girl asked us if we'd like better seats!? "Well, yeah, of course," we replied, and we were led from section 12 to section 3, the section in front of the stage. Many other people were shepherded onto that row for the same reason.  We were delighted and waited in anticipation for the concert to begin.

McCartney, 2 days shy of his 80th birthday was  talkative and energetic, as he sang and played his Hofner bass, magic piano and his other cool guitars, including the "crowd goes wild" Gibson. He remarked that he would play old, new and in between songs, and noticed how few cellphones lit up when he played the "new".  I didn't care, I was in the presence of a former Beatle. I had brought my homemade sign along, because I read that Paul enjoyed his fans' signs, and hoped maybe he'd notice mine.  Instead I only embarrassed my son. 

He played Wings tunes, solo McCartney songs and of course Beatles tunes. Love Me Do, Blackbird, Helter Skelter, Maybe I'm Amazed, Band on the Run, Letting Go, Let it Be, and many others, were included in his set, a total of 38 songs, 2 hours and 40 minutes run time. It started raining during "Hey Jude" but the crowd put their raincoats on and continued singing "Na na na nah nah na nah." We didn't care, this was a once in a lifetime experience for some; well at least for me and my son, a fellow Beatles fan.             

Out came Bruuuuce Springsteen to join Paul in singing "Glory Days" and "I Wanna Be Your Man,"  the song the Beatles gave to the Rolling Stones. At some point, Jon Bon Jovi, another Jersey boy, handed Paul balloons, while we sang "Happy Birthday."  This was followed by the appropriate "Birthday" Beatles song.  

Fireworks and cool pyrotechnics exploded on stage for "Live and Let Die". But the crowd was really moved by a very emotional performance featuring a virtual duet of "I've Got A Feeling" with John Lennon on screen, thanks to Peter Jackson, director of "Get Back."  Paul also sang a song written after John's death, "Here Today."  In memory of George Harrison, he played "Something" on ukelele, one of George's favorite instruments. 

The finale featured Springsteen coming out to join Paul and his guitarists dueling leads on "The End." I knew this number was coming since Macca usually plays this at the end of his concerts, and it did not disappoint! 

All in all, I was awestruck and joyous seeing and hearing this legend, an iconic entertainer still going strong 65 years later.  Will he get back next year? I am hoping so.