Cloaca Melodia

My life in concerts, by Mike Sauter.

12/21/1989

Little Feat/The Neville Brothers/Bonnie Raitt

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

sorry, I haven't yet written about this show... add your own comments if you were also there!

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12/12/1989

Paul McCartney

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

After seeing the concert the night before, I was grateful to have been offered a ticket to this night by my Ithaca-based Beatles friends Marge & Mario. It was very fascinating to see McCartney on two consecutive nights. (Something I've done only occasionally with a handful of bands I dig, like King Missile or the Avett Brothers.) 

Everything was exactly the same, from the set list to the between-song comments I would have sworn were ad-libs the evening before. And it makes sense; Paul has always wanted to feel in control -- armchair psychologists, if not professional ones, would probably say the impulse goes back to insecurity after his mom died.


Set list:
Figure of Eight
Jet
Rough Ride
Got to Get You Into My Life
Band on the Run
Ebony and Ivory
We Got Married
Maybe I'm Amazed
The Long and Winding Road
The Fool on the Hill
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Good Day Sunshine
Can't Buy Me Love
Put It There
Hello, Goodbye
Things We Said Today
Eleanor Rigby
This One
My Brave Face
Back in the U.S.S.R.
I Saw Her Standing There
Twenty Flight Rock
Coming Up
Let It Be
Ain't That a Shame
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude
(encore break)
Yesterday
Get Back
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End





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12/11/1989

Paul McCartney

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

It was McCartney's first U.S. tour since the "Wings Over America" go-'round, and for all I knew it could be my last opportunity to see a Beatle perform live in concert. I simply had to go to this show!

post continues....

I was still working for the U.S. Postal Service in Whippany, NJ, when tickets went on sale, so I took the morning off and went to Scotti's Records in Millburn to buy my tickets. Although I was there before the appointed time when the tickets went on sale, others were there before me. I waited patiently in line, eager for my turn--I was going to buy the maximum number of tickets allowed (four) and sell the others to a few friends (at face value, of course). 



Of course, it didn't work out that way. Just before I got up to the counter to buy tickets, the show sold out. I was angry and disappointed. I had to get tickets. So I went to a ticket broker. I bought a pair for $110 each, although that seemed absolutely outrageous (which seems hilarious now, when face value tickets can easily run much higher than that). Fortunately, I was just recently done with college, was living with my parents, and had a full-time job. So I had some cash to spare. But still...

I went with my friend Danny, and when the lights went down for the pre-show film by Richard Lester, it was like I fell into a dream-state. There was a palpable sense of excitement. The film displayed a year and then had a montage of footage from that time period on each of the three screens. After the film montages had progressed to the recent past, all three screens faded to black. Then each screen slowly and dramatically lit back up with one letter each: N... O... W...

When that "W" lit up and everybody realized that meant the film was over and the show was about to begin, the place went nuts. And then, there was Paul. He walked out onstage, almost casually, waving to the audience, as the rest of the band came out and took their places on stage. The band kicked off with their latest single "Figure of Eight."


Setlist:




Figure of Eight
Jet
Rough Ride
Got to Get You Into My Life
Band on the Run
Ebony and Ivory
We Got Married
Maybe I'm Amazed
The Long and Winding Road
The Fool on the Hill
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Good Day Sunshine
Can't Buy Me Love
Put It There
Hello, Goodbye
Things We Said Today
Eleanor Rigby
This One
My Brave Face
Back in the U.S.S.R.
I Saw Her Standing There
Twenty Flight Rock
Coming Up
Let It Be
Ain't That a Shame
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude
(encore break)
Yesterday
Get Back
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End







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