PAUL McCARTNEY SECRET SHOW - LOS ANGELES

Paul McCartney secret show - Wednesday night, 27th June at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles to celebrate the release of his new album 'Memory Almost Full'.

Limited number of free wristbands available from 12.30pm (LA local time) at Amoeba Music. First come, first served.

Doors for the show open at 6.30pm.

5 pairs of wristbands are to be given away through www.paulmccartney.com - please check the news section for details.

Amoeba Music
6400 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90018
www.amoebamusic.com

Just want to bounce this up to the top of the stack for the benefit of any Macca fans in Southern California who may be interested in this performance. The store is being closed for 4 hours on Wednesday to accommodate the performance. The L.A. Times didn't mention a peep of this show in today's edition. I'm aware that it's off-topic but I know that there are some Macca fans among us. Thanks

Damn! I don't have any personal days left at work!! I can't get a wristband :-(....

does anyone know if it's just a performance...or is it also a signing? What did he do at the other secret gigs?

Here is a review from the New York Times of Macca's "surprise" show in Manhattan. Don't know if he will be signing at Amoeba, but it will be a performance. You can enter to win a pair of wristbands at www.amoebamusic.com.

I love this writer's description of Macca's bass lines: "so melodically inventive they’re almost evil."


McCartney, Almost Within Touching Distance

By BEN RATLIFF

Published: June 15, 2007

“I love you, Paul,” someone shouted, halfway through Paul McCartney’s unadvertised set at the Highline Ballroom on Wednesday night. Well, more than one: A lot of people were shouting that. They couldn’t help themselves. He was right in front of them.

Mr. McCartney struck a formal facsimile of intimacy: 90 minutes on stage in a 700-capacity room full of reporters, assorted V.I.P.s, contest winners and stand-in-line-for-a-long-timers who heard about the show only a day or two before.

“I love you too,” Mr. McCartney answered, but almost as a defensive block. He put on a Tony Soprano accent, and he kept a straight face. “It’s the beauty of these intimate shows, you know,” he followed, dryly. “You get to have intimate conversations with the audience. How ya doin’? You’re the man! Naw, you’re the man!”

Cheery, but essentially trying to get his work done, Mr. McCartney presided over a formal facsimile of intimacy: 90 minutes long, in a 700-capacity room full of press, assorted V.I.P.’s, contest winners and stand-in-line-for-a-long-timers who had heard about the show only a day or two before.

The gig was a promotion for his new album, “Memory Almost Full” (Hear Music), and he put on a similar show at the Electric Ballroom, a slightly larger club, in London last week. (He has not announced plans for a proper tour.) It’s not unusual these days for big acts to play a promotional show at clubs they’ve outgrown; the same night in New York Franz Ferdinand played a secret gig at the Bowery Ballroom, and ditto with Interpol last week.

But for Mr. McCartney, who can sell out stadiums at hundreds of dollars a ticket, this was unusual. He used no pyro or video backdrop, and the audience stood close enough to its hero that it could hold nonconversations with him. He played beautifully, in tight control of his voice (even in high range) and his musicianship, through a clutch of new songs and some of the oldest Beatles repertory.

But some of what was special about hearing Paul McCartney in a place like this was counteracted by the glibness of his touring band, almost the same crew that backed him on his stadium tour last year. These musicians — two guitarists, a keyboardist and a drummer — were accurate, reliable, in the pocket and kind of flavorless.

Mr. McCartney is a fascinating alloy of raw and slick, eccentricity and efficiency. When you hear the tracks on “Memory Almost Full” in which he plays all the instruments — his drumming one step ahead of primitive, his bass lines so melodically inventive they’re almost evil — you wish he could just multiply himself for performances. When the band replicated old parts, touching on the tiniest details of Beatles songs like “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “Lady Madonna” and “Hey Jude,” the show felt something like a homage to composition and production, rather than the great thing that performances can be: two-way rituals between band and audience.

But something about the joy and simplicity of the new songs buoyed the set. There were five of them, including “Dance Tonight,” a naïvely sweet call for fun, with Mr. McCartney’s mandolin strumming as the through line; “Nod Your Head,” a slow, chugging rock song; and “That Was Me,” full of spry astonishment at looking back on a strange and notable life. (It went over big in the V.I.P. section, where people are often prone to similar thoughts.)

The onlooker’s stupid reflex, after decades of Beatleology and Paul-versus-John studies, is to scrutinize Mr. McCartney for honesty, whatever that is. But all he had to do was play two songs alone with guitar — “Blackbird” and “I’ll Follow the Sun” — and he seemed as guileless as the next guy. Later, he sang “Here Today,” an elegiac song he wrote after John Lennon’s death, and dedicated it to “our fallen heroes: John, George and Linda.”

When he finished, he stopped the flow of his own efficiency and thought out loud. “It’s good to play that song in the town John loved,” he said. “And where Linda was born in. And where we played the Ed Sullivan show.”

Correction: June 19, 2007
A music review in Weekend on Friday about Paul McCartney, at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan, misidentified the instrument he played when he sang “Here Today.” It was an acoustic guitar, not a piano.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-26 20:44 by Monkeylad.

Here's the original post from Monday, with all of the details. I entered the long-shot bid to get a pair of wristbands by writing a lil' essay about my favorite Macca song.

There's already 200people waiting outside;

[news.yahoo.com]



Hard day's night for camping McCartney fans ahead of LA gig 2 hours, 49 minutes ago



HOLLYWOOD, United States (AFP) - It's not exactly Beatlemania but news of an impromptu concert by Paul McCartney at a Los Angeles record store triggered feverish anticipation among hardcore fans here Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT



Around 200 devotees of the British music legend began camping outside Hollywood's famous Amoeba records store on Sunset Boulevard late Monday after it was confirmed McCartney would give a free concert at the venue on Wednesday.

With tickets being distributed on the night, fans of 65-year-old McCartney scrambled from as far afield as Tokyo to get in line for the latest in a series of intimate shows planned by the superstar singer-songwriter.

"I heard there might be a concert in Los Angeles last week and as soon as I started hearing rumors it would be this Wednesday I booked a ticket," said Masahiro Sendai, a 35-year-old care-giver who flew to the US from Tokyo.

Asked why he was such a devoted fan of McCartney, Sendai replied: "It's like asking why you love your children. I can't explain it. He feels like family."

Many fans waited for tickets swaddled in blankets and sleeping bags, and they monitored McCartney's official website several times an hour until the concert details were confirmed.

"We'd been checking it every five minutes until we found out when it was happening," said 43-year-old San Francisco resident Sharon White.

"My husband came down to LA on Saturday and booked a hotel, and as soon as we found where and when it was happening he came to the store and got in line."

White, who first saw McCartney perform live with his band Wings in the 1970s, gave a simple explanation for her fanatical support of the former Beatle: "It's Paul McCartney, dude. He wrote the music of our lives."

The concert is part of a grass-roots marketing campaign for his latest album "Memory Almost Full," which was released by coffee chain Starbucks earlier this month. The album went straight into the US charts at No.3 where it has remained since its release.

McCartney gave a similar small concert at the Highline Ballroom in New York two weeks ago and performed in a small-scale event at London's Electric Ballroom in front of 1,000 fans the same week

They took down the names of the first 300 in the line this afternoon and will give out wristbands tomorrow to those 300. I was #247, so I'll return tomorrow for my wristband and see the show at 7:30. Did anyone else get in?

I'm waiting to see if my inane essay about my favorite Macca song is good enough to snag one of the pair of wristbands that will be picked Wednesday morning. Amoeba is very close to my home, so I'll check out the sidewalk antics outside the store tomorrow.

I don't want to hold myself up to public humiliation by revealing the song I wrote about (yet) but it's one that doesn't get a lot of respect these days. I do love a lot of Macca/Wings stuff between 1970 and 1975, and his work in that other band before Wings is not too shabby, either. I've seen Macca perform several times from 1976 onward, and fortunately he seems to be aware of what his audience wants to hear, with an occasional misstep ("Soily" and "Say Say Say" were not the songs I chose to write about in the Amoeba essay contest).

So if I get into the show tomorrow, I will be happy and will probably buy a copy of Memory Almost Full as a way to remember the experience. Otherwise, I'll continue to enjoy his 70s work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-27 05:50 by Monkeylad.

Monkeylad, EBONY AND IVORY, correct?.... look....no...one is.....laughing......(wait, hold on)......no one is......laughing....around ...here dude....really,...I swear.........

Naw, HelterSkelter, my Macca pick came way before Ebony and Ivory.

Besides, I would be reluctant to be too critical of anything that Stevie Wonder was associated with creating. That man is a genius, and a show of his I saw at the House of Blues in L.A. several years ago was one of the greatest live music experiences of my life.

Maybe in our lifetime that scrapped Stones/Stevie live album from the 1972 performances will be released.

Yeah, I saw Stevie 4 times in 72 ... 2 opening for the Stones (San Diego and LA) and once opening for Joe Cocker and then a one day festival, the man was great... oh yeah, also the MOTOWN 25th Anniversary TV special when Jackson did his famous moonwalk thing for the first time during Billie Jean... they taped it at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium...went on for 5 hours, cut down to 2 or 2 and a half for television.... Great night, I wonder if that whole show ever made it to DVD, don't think so.....gotta check AMAZON.... The 1972 live album would be nice, have the official front and back cover in one of my 100's of Stones books, kinda remember it slightly - cool cover.....

Halup,

I am lucky to be #216 for Amoeba. Friends are in the 227 and another couple might be right around you. I'll try to remember to say hi on Wednesday.

rumor of a "secret" show in milwaukee coming up.


IORR............but I like it!

so which bank is he playing for?

*and i'm just like that bird - singing just for you*

HelterSkelter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah, I saw Stevie 4 times in 72 ... 2 opening for
> the Stones (San Diego and LA) and once opening for
> Joe Cocker and then a one day festival, the man
> was great... oh yeah, also the MOTOWN 25th
> Anniversary TV special when Jackson did his famous
> moonwalk thing for the first time during Billie
> Jean... they taped it at the Pasadena Civic
> Auditorium...went on for 5 hours, cut down to 2 or
> 2 and a half for television.... Great night, I
> wonder if that whole show ever made it to DVD,
> don't think so....

So did you see the infamous moment (edited from the broadcast show) where
Diana Ross pushed Mary Wilson aside during the Supremes reunion? I read that the
the entire crowd gasped in disbelief....and that Berry Gordy has the sole master tape documenting that moment locked up in a vault!

My wife (at that time my girlfriend) and I almost went down there that night because we read that day that they might have a few extra tickets...decided we didn't want to hassle with it. When we saw the show on TV, boy were we sorry. A few months earlier we had seen The Temptations reunion show, (with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick) at the Greek. We had front row seats. That was a great night. Missing the Motown 25 taping is one of my big concert regrets.

As for Paul's show tonight, enjoy the show everybody. Get there early, as I'm sure it will be a zoo...

loog droog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HelterSkelter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----

> So did you see the infamous moment (edited from
> the broadcast show) where
> Diana Ross pushed Mary Wilson aside during the
> Supremes reunion? I read that the
> the entire crowd gasped in disbelief....and that
> Berry Gordy has the sole master tape documenting
> that moment locked up in a vault!
>

As I recall, doesn't Mary step right on Diana's fur, which is lying on the floor from the previous number? That's classic stuff.

Well, Amoeba's website reports that the contest winners for wristbands for tonight's Macca performance have been chosen. My feeble entry on behalf of "Junior's Farm" was a crashing failure.

I know I should have gone with "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" instead.

I still love "Junior's Farm."

>I don't want to hold myself up to public humiliation by revealing the song I wrote about (yet) but it's one that doesn't get a lot of respect these days.

Are you talking about "Junior's Farm"? Respect from whom? I think it rocks, my favorite Wings song.

Yeah, "Junior's Farm" is a great song. Maybe it's not forgotten after all; after all, it was included on the Hits disc of "Wingspan."

At three minutes long, "Junior's Farm" flies by in a flash, and I have to hit repeat and hear it again.

Compare that to "Let 'Em In" or "Silly Love Songs," which are five or six minutes long and feel like 20. Or "With a Little Luck" --I don't think that song EVER reaches the end.

If Macca recorded with his touring band, I bet magic would happen.

Yeah Monkeylad. I'm another one who like's Junior's Farm. I loved the rcoking Wings stuff like JF and Gonna Get Hi,Hi,Hi........and Venus and Mars Rock show. Wings was like my 2nd or third concert ever. Still remember parts of it 30 yrs later.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"