Chicago Tribune Review
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Rock review, Paul McCartney at the United Center
By Greg Kot
On Wednesday, the 31st anniversary of the Beatles break-up, Paul McCartney held aloft a violin-shaped Hofner bass that made the years melt away.
Trouble has always rolled off McCartney's Teflon shoulders, and he made it all look easy as he cherry-picked songs, many of them classics, from five decades of recording in the first of two sold-out shows at the United Center.
He devoted more than half the concert-20 songs-to the Beatles, and he did not find room on the generous set list for "Silly Love Songs." Sometimes, life spoils us.
Paul McCartney at the United Center.
Tribune photo by Heather Stone.
Even skeptics had to be grinning themselves silly midway through the second song. McCartney rubbed some vinegar into "Jet," prodded by the ballistic tom-tom volleys of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., one of four unknowns who backed the best left-handed bassist in rock history. The last time McCartney performed in concert with a band this good, he was playing the rooftop of Abbey Road studios with three pals from Liverpool.
Guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray were rough and rowdy at the right moments, and Paul "Wix" Wickens conjured the sound of strings and horns on his synthesizers, let his gospel organ roar, or added a tasteful dollop of accordion to McCartney's acoustic finger-picking. The sound through most of the hall was shockingly pristine-I've never heard a mix better at this acoustically challenged sports arena-and the modular video screens ringing the stage provided an attractive counterpoint to the show's essence: the music.
The master of ceremonies was a relaxed, affable presence, especially when offering a Rutles-like explanation for the origins of his reggae-tinged 1972 B-side, "C Moon." It was the most obscure of 36 songs he performed in a two-and-a-half hour concert, and one of only a handful that fell relatively flat amid the cavalcade of hits, which leaned heavily on his '60s and '70s catalogue.
He was in fine voice, making no concessions to his 59 years by singing even the most vocally challenging Beatles songs ("Hello, Goodbye") in their original high keys without much apparent strain. Though he fumbled a lyric here and there, it only served to demonstrate how he refuses to rely on such now-common props as pre-recorded backing tracks and special effects (there was only one series of gratuitous pyro explosions, during "Live and Let Die," which incongruously followed the Sept. 11 tribute "Freedom").
This was McCartney as the leader of a tight rock 'n' roll combo, eager recruits who performed some of the sturdiest pop songs of the last half-century. Nearly every dramatic opportunity was exploited: the crashing entrance of Ray's 12-string acoustic guitar during the final section of the "Band on the Run" suite, the radiant three-part harmonies on "Maybe I'm Amazed," the escalating fury of the drum and guitar solos that close off "The End."
McCartney alternated among bass, acoustic and electric guitars, grand piano and electric keyboard. He effectively deployed the band to create a variety of moods, from the rampaging "Jet" and "Back in the USSR" to contemplative, unplugged treatments of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Here, There and Everywhere."
A midconcert solo set found McCartney skipping some of the more difficult acoustic finger-picking on "Blackbird" and "Mother Nature's Son," and turning one of his finest, most complex compositions, "You Never Give Me Your Money," into a lounge piano ballad that would have been vastly improved by a full-blooded band treatment. But his tributes to John Lennon ("Here Today") and George Harrison ("Something," performed on ukulele, an instrument the late guitarist cherished) were enhanced by the intimacy.
McCartney offered credible versions of his most recent songs, culled from the "Driving Rain" album and the "Vanilla Sky" movie soundtrack. Of these, "Lonely Road" fared best with McCartney bursting into some gritty shouting during the fade. But in this blue-eyed soul vein he was even better on the slow-burn "Let Me Roll It" and the ring-down-Valhalla hymn "Let It Be."
There are few sights more joyous than McCartney clutching his Hofner and singing "I Saw Her Standing There," complete with scream, an echo of four long-ago mop-tops driving themselves and several continents into a frenzy.
The singer performed the dance tune, as he does just about everything, with a smile that radiated a nonjudgmental warmth. The words in most of the songs he performed shied from introspection, instead offering solace: "You can make it, stick with me"; "this is your time, this is your day, you've got it all, don't blow it away"; "take a sad song and make it better."
Tribune photo by Heather Stone.
The backdrop for all this abundant goodwill was some of the priciest tickets in concert history, ranging as high as $268, including service fees. A concert program was $30, a T-shirt $35. It was a reflection of cold business reality, at odds with a performer who has spent most of his life writing songs designed to make that reality more bearable.
But businessman McCartney was nowhere to be found inside the arena. Even if he is no longer writing quality songs as consistently as he once did, he projects a charisma that charms and a potent musicality that continues to defy aging and command awe. To those who can afford him on this tour, McCartney is proving that he's still worth every cent.
