Paul McCartney
2016-10-15
Desert Trip - Weekend 2
Main Stage
Indio, CA

SETLIST:

00. Pre-set DJ (not included)
01. A Hard Day’s Night
02. Jet
03. Got to Get You Into My Life
04. Letting Go
05. Day Tripper
06. Let Me Roll It
07. Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix cover)
08. I’ve Got A Feeling
09. My Valentine
10. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
11. Maybe I’m Amazed
12. We Can Work It Out
13. In Spite of All the Danger
14. I’ve Just Seen A Face
15. Love Me Do
16. And I Love Her
17. Blackbird
18. Here Today
19. Queenie Eye
20. Lady Madonna
21. FourFiveSeconds (feat. Rhianna)
22. Eleanor Rigby
23. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
24. A Day in the Life (feat. Neil Young)
25. Give Peace A Chacne (feat. Neil Young)
26. Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? (feat. Neil Young)
27. Something
28. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
29. Band on the Run
30. Back in the U.S.S.R.
31. Let It Be
32. Live and Let Die
33. Hey Jude
34. (encore break)
35. Birthday
36. Rip It Up (Little Richard cover)
37. Helter Skelter
38. Golden Slumbers
39. Carry that Weight
40. The End
41. Outro

SOURCE (AUD #2):
SP-CMC-8 (w/Mods) > SONY PCM-M10 > Sandisk MicroSD Card (16gb - Class 10)

NOTES:

This was my second time seeing Paul McCartney (first time was back in 2009 at Coachella), and prior to the event, I was ranking him as my #1 must see. Back in 2009 at Coachella when he headlined, I had waited 6+ hours at the main stage to see him on the front rail (off to the left, so not a great view), and then I made a decision that I still question to this day (and probably always will), and that was that I decided prior to Morrissey (who was playing before him) I would leave the rail and move back some and get a more centered spot about 20 people back. So that’s what I did, and a couple hours later during the first half of Paul’s set, my back and feet started to kill me (with no relief of the rail to lean on) and then I got extremely dehydrated and almost blacked out. All I can remember thinking was I needed water and a place to lay down, neither of which I had in my current spot, so I used up all the rest of the energy I had and fought my way out of the crowd before I passed out and laid down by a fence and eventually woke up right when Paul started his last encore. Needless to say, my first experience seeing Paul was ruined and I had always wanted redemption. And what better chance than at a festival and the same spot that had doomed me 7 years earlier?

As far as setlists go, compared to Coachella 2009…you could argue one was the better than the other all day long if you wished…all I know, performance wise, was this one of the best sets I’ve ever seen. I know Paul and and his band always bring it, and maybe it was because of the people I was surrounded by and the fact I had a front rail spot (in GA section of course - BUT AT LEAST I DIDN’T GIVE IT UP THIS TIME), but for these 3 hours, I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier. I mean how can you not love and enjoy 3 hours of Wings, Beatles, guest stars and more? If you can stand there with a giant smile across your face and feel the love in the air, then something is wrong with you. I only wish my sister and Dad could have been there with me (both HUGE Beatles fans - but then again, who isn’t?). I don’t know if I’ll get to see Paul again (I sure hope so), but if I don’t then I’m still extremely happy with how I got to have my final live experience with him, (he brought out Neil Young for crying out loud!). It was great redemption indeed…and all the better that I got to get a great recording of it to not only listen to as much I want, but to share with all the other fans out there.

And speaking of recording this, I promised back in my Neil Young post that I would tell the story of having to address a very loud screamer, so here it goes. As you may know, I got stuck to a lady during Neil who was SCREAMING all set long (and not just during the song breaks). As I said before, if it was Ric Flair yelling the WHOOOOOOOOO, I would have let it go, but this I couldn’t bare, and every time I heard her scream, I just thought there goes another POP on my recording. So after Neil ended, I decided it was time to do something I dont’ want to do, and address her face to face about this. I usually try to have friends on either side of me if I’m recording so they at least know not to talk to me or yell, but how was this lady to know? Now look, I do believe in the concept that this show is as much yours as it is mine. I don’t want to tell someone how to enjoy a show, or what to do, say, act, etc. It’s not my place. A person has a right to enjoy a show any which way they please, and the same applies to me. It’s the old saying at Burning Man I suppose (which I’ve never been to), let each person experience their own “burn” the way they want. But maybe being a little selfish and worrying about getting a good Paul recording (which I didn’t do back in 2009), I thought I should ask her to be quiet for my benefit and those around us (as I wasn’t the only one annoyed), so I sucked it up and did what no one else did, and tapped her on the shoulder after Neil and actually explained that I was going to record Paul’s set and that while I don’t want to tell someone how to act during a concert, if she would mind maybe keeping it down and not yell at least during the songs…if you wanted to clap and yell between song breaks, more power to you…and to my surprise, she actually apologized and explained that she was just a huge Neil nut and that’s why she was going crazy loud during his set, but wasn’t much of a Paul fan and would respect my plea to her and would keep quiet. I even explained that if she gave me her email I would send her MP3’s of the set (and Neil’s) personally as a token of my appreciation. And well, I do admit she held up her end of the bargain, as I don’t remember hearing her scream during Paul except maybe once or twice? In a way I felt bad because again who am I to tell someone to be quiet and let me record (something agains the rules), but I guess you had to have been there in person during Neil to truly understand. At the end of the day people, I want you to enjoy a concert/festival as you see fit, just so long as it doesn’t hamper everyone elses good vibes…in a case like this, I guess compromise is the word/action that comes to mind. Screamers are just part of the festival/recording scene, and I understand that, but I imagine I can’t be the first nor the last person to be in this situation and confront the person, but I hope it’s my last time. But hey, I got a good recording, she’ll get a copy of it, and I’m pretty sure we both still walked away amazed by his performance.