ISH CONCERT REVIEW: Paul McCartney - Hollywood Bowl

by Sheri Goldstein

Last night I went to what turned out to be most certainly one of my favorite concerts. Let me state that I am a baby boomer and have been to some pretty incredible performances in my time. I was privileged to see at the Hollywood Bowl in one night, The Youngbloods, Santana (their first LA appearance) and Janis Joplin while being completely zonked on LSD with a group of friends who all dropped acid and walked to the Hollywood Bowl. But last night at the Bowl was a unique experience. Although it was a full house of 18,000 peaceful loving people, it felt like an intimate concert with a group of friends because that was how Paul made you feel. Let me back up a little bit. I am the Executive Assistant to the President of the LA Philharmonic and was extremely fortunate that my boss asked me if I would like to join her and her Mom who was visiting Los Angeles to sit with them in her choice box to see Paul McCartney. I was overwhelmed with the invitation and extremely grateful that I had this opportunity. Not only did I get to be in one of the best boxes at the Hollywood Bowl, but because I was with the President, we didn't have to wait in the horrible traffic but got waved right through and up the hill to the venue. We were whisked right in and taken directly to our seats. This was a far cry from my Janis Joplin days. Now back to the concert and Sir Paul. Can I say how delicious he still is and how his voice is exactly the same, and what a cute butt he has (the camera kept going to a shot of him from behind and was flashed on the 2 big screens at the sides of the stage. There was no opening act, no intermission, just Paul and his band performing for three stunning hours a mixture of Beatles music along with footage, Paul's music and some Wings classics. At one point I turned to my boss and said it was like a near death experience -- my life was flashing before my eyes. With each song I remembered where I was, what I was doing, and the year I first heard that song. I realized that I have spent 46 years connected to this human being and I loved him. Some of the more touching moments were when Paul sang "My Love," a song he said was written for his late wife Linda and was dedicated to all the lovers in the audience, the song he wrote for John," Here Today," lyrically telling him the things he wished he would have told him before he died, and my favorite of the night was a story he told about how George loved the ukulele. Paul went over to George's house and played "Something" for him on the ukulele, and he did just that for us playing "Something" on that very same instrument that George had given him which segued into a full rendition with the band. I could go on and on about the concert, but what I am feeling now as I am writing this at midnight, is how much Paul has influenced my life. I remember waiting so impatiently for the day when the Beatles album was going to be released or as they say now, for the new Beatles album to "drop". We would run out and buy the album as soon as the store opened and would sit around all day long playing it over and over again, all of us enraptured. Paul paid tribute to John and George in a special way, and I'm sure by the audience response tonight, we paid tribute to him.