Hello Fellow Travelers!
Near the end of last summer my beloved threw out the idea that we owed it to ourselves and to the memory of "Beatles Gone By" to go to Golden Gate Park and see "Out There" an all day-long event in August, 2013 culminating in a two-hour set by the "cute" Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney himself. I couldn't think of a reason not to go and thought I might never get another chance to see him. I might die, he might, someone might.
Well, we braved a lot of strange smelling clouds, a lot of weird people (?? Somethings trying way too hard to recapture their youth) and a long wait for a perfunctory set that was as predictable as well as economical! The vaguely satisfied crowd applauded dutifully and filed politely out of the park promptly at 11:00 p.m. I mentally crossed it off my "to-do" list and moved on.
I just found out that Patient Spouse harbors a not-so-secret desire to go to the closing events at Candlestick Park. In 2014. My year! And guess who's going to be there? At the "Stick". In my year. Yep, Sir Paul! Oh, come on, I saw him already! Wearing a freaking wheelchair no less! (Me, not Sir Paul) Going to the freezing "Stick" is probably something I need to do but.I don't feel any particular need to see Sir Paul again. and he just isn't "Out There", he's everywhere. McCartney has become the musical equivalent of VISA.
I receive weekly e-mails from U-Tube with his upcoming shows. Hospital opening? He'll be there. Natural disaster? He'll be there too! Just added a show! Wal Mart opening? Not yet but hope remains eternal! He's like "Where's Waldo?". He's that ubiquitous (also=everywhere but then I wouldn't have an excuse to throw around a perfectly good two dollar word like "ubiquitous" and what fun would that be?)
Seriously, you can't tote a deceased feline without tripping over news/dates of Sir Paul!
To be fair, he's promoting his son's career (his youngest son, James, is a musician) so he's just doing what dads do, helping his kid. I get that, I really do, James is a lucky kid! (Don't you think he hears that about a trillion times a day?) Why can't they wheel out some other musician who's "bucket worthy"?
I'll tell you why, in rock-and-roll there just aren't that many acts that are "bucket worthy" . Certainly, there is a seemingly bottomless supply of bottom feeding "retro" acts that have a zillion fans, Everything from "The Steve Miller Band" to "The Beach Boys" without Brian Wilson. I wouldn't be bothered these days to see anyone unless I could walk there (or skip) unless that person was really special, Paul McCartney is that special! And he delivers! Only U2 could be more worthy because they're an entire band they still make awesome music. That they sell. And they care about the planet!
So all Sir Paul's presence does is drive up the price of tickets for the rest of us! I'll probably go to the last night ceremonies at Candlestick Park and see Sir Paul (it is the 50th anniversary of The Beatles playing Candlestick) but I'd rather see Bono, What's Sting up to?
PS- My favorite gift-that-keeps-giving, Toronto Mayor, Rob Ford is going into rehab. For smoking crack. Again. Good Luck and Godspeed, but I think I speak for all Americans when I say,"We'll miss you, Dude!"
Near the end of last summer my beloved threw out the idea that we owed it to ourselves and to the memory of "Beatles Gone By" to go to Golden Gate Park and see "Out There" an all day-long event in August, 2013 culminating in a two-hour set by the "cute" Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney himself. I couldn't think of a reason not to go and thought I might never get another chance to see him. I might die, he might, someone might.
Well, we braved a lot of strange smelling clouds, a lot of weird people (?? Somethings trying way too hard to recapture their youth) and a long wait for a perfunctory set that was as predictable as well as economical! The vaguely satisfied crowd applauded dutifully and filed politely out of the park promptly at 11:00 p.m. I mentally crossed it off my "to-do" list and moved on.
I just found out that Patient Spouse harbors a not-so-secret desire to go to the closing events at Candlestick Park. In 2014. My year! And guess who's going to be there? At the "Stick". In my year. Yep, Sir Paul! Oh, come on, I saw him already! Wearing a freaking wheelchair no less! (Me, not Sir Paul) Going to the freezing "Stick" is probably something I need to do but.I don't feel any particular need to see Sir Paul again. and he just isn't "Out There", he's everywhere. McCartney has become the musical equivalent of VISA.
I receive weekly e-mails from U-Tube with his upcoming shows. Hospital opening? He'll be there. Natural disaster? He'll be there too! Just added a show! Wal Mart opening? Not yet but hope remains eternal! He's like "Where's Waldo?". He's that ubiquitous (also=everywhere but then I wouldn't have an excuse to throw around a perfectly good two dollar word like "ubiquitous" and what fun would that be?)
Seriously, you can't tote a deceased feline without tripping over news/dates of Sir Paul!
To be fair, he's promoting his son's career (his youngest son, James, is a musician) so he's just doing what dads do, helping his kid. I get that, I really do, James is a lucky kid! (Don't you think he hears that about a trillion times a day?) Why can't they wheel out some other musician who's "bucket worthy"?
I'll tell you why, in rock-and-roll there just aren't that many acts that are "bucket worthy" . Certainly, there is a seemingly bottomless supply of bottom feeding "retro" acts that have a zillion fans, Everything from "The Steve Miller Band" to "The Beach Boys" without Brian Wilson. I wouldn't be bothered these days to see anyone unless I could walk there (or skip) unless that person was really special, Paul McCartney is that special! And he delivers! Only U2 could be more worthy because they're an entire band they still make awesome music. That they sell. And they care about the planet!
So all Sir Paul's presence does is drive up the price of tickets for the rest of us! I'll probably go to the last night ceremonies at Candlestick Park and see Sir Paul (it is the 50th anniversary of The Beatles playing Candlestick) but I'd rather see Bono, What's Sting up to?
PS- My favorite gift-that-keeps-giving, Toronto Mayor, Rob Ford is going into rehab. For smoking crack. Again. Good Luck and Godspeed, but I think I speak for all Americans when I say,"We'll miss you, Dude!"
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