Music Monday with Sir Paul

Did you see Sir Paul McCartney on TV Saturday night, as part of the big benefit concert?  He sang “Lady Madonna” and talked about how his mother Mary was a nurse and midwife.



I may have mentioned (more than once) that the very first concert ever presented at Citi Field, on July 17, 2009, was Sir Paul McCartney.

And that I was there.

July 17, 2009 was the very first time I went to Citi Field.    I’ve been there so many times over the years to see Mets games, but my first visit was to see Sir Paul. 

The NY Mets played the 2008 season at the famed Shea Stadium, after which it was torn down.  They began to play at Citi Field, which had been built in the Shea parking lot, in 2009.    

Native New Yorker Billy Joel played two concerts at Shea in July 2008, famously billed as The Last Play At Shea.  And his special guest at the second concert was Sir Paul McCartney, who in 1965 had played the very first concert at Shea as part of The Beatles.  Sir Paul closed the show with a Beatles song, “Let It Be.”

I was heartbroken that I could not get tickets to see Billy Joel.

So when Sir Paul announced that he’d do three concerts at the newly-opened Citi Field, I was determined to go.

I got tickets for that first show.

My blog post from 2009 doesn’t do the concert justice.

Two days before the show at Citi Field, on a Wednesday afternoon, Sir Paul did an impromptu set on the marquee of The Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan, followed by an appearance on Letterman, which only built the excitement for the concert.  

And then finally it was Friday night.

(These are photos from various baseball games, but you get the idea...)

After a forgettable opening act, Sir Paul took the stage at 9 PM.  And he sang for 2 1/2 hours.  Beatles hits.  Wings hits.  Solo hits.  Tributes to John Lennon and George Harrison.

Concert was everything I’d hoped for.

And then ...

And then...

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Billy Joel.”

Our native son.

The crowd went wild.

I could barely contain my excitement.

They sang a duet, “I Saw Her Standing There”, the same song Billy and Sir Paul performed at Shea the previous summer.

The Citi Field concerts were released as a CD/DVD  called Good Evening New York City.

Here are some of the highlights.

Yeah, pyrotechnics at Citi Field...

Yes, I believe in Yesterday....