Good Evening New York City (2009)

 

Disc One
  1. Drive My Car
  2. Jet
  3. Only Mama Knows
  4. Flaming Pie
  5. Got to Get You Into My Life
  6. Let Me Roll It
  7. Highway
  8. The Long and Winding Road
  9. My Love
  10.Blackbird
  11.Here Today
  12.Dance Tonight
  13.Calico Skies
  14.Mrs. Vandebilt
  15.Eleanor Rigby
  16.Sing the Changes
  17.Band on the Run
  
Disc Two
  1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
  2. I'm Down
  3. Something
  4. I've Got a Feeling
  5. Paperback Writer
  6. A Day in the Life (Give Peace a Chance)
  7. Let it Be
  8. Live and Let Die
  9. Hey Jude
  10.Day Tripper
  11.Lady Madonna
  12.I Saw Her Standing There
  13.Yesterday
  14.Helter Skelter
  15.Get Back
  16.Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

 

To be quite fair, there's not a lot here that is different than his last three or four live releases. The formula is old by now: some new songs, some solo hits from the recent past, a couple of surprises, and a butt load of Beatles songs. Yes, it does seem a bit tiresome, but if you actually went to a McCartney concert and paid $250 for a ticket (the face price, not a scalper price), this is exactly what 99% of the people would expect to hear. So you can't fault Paul for this formula.

This album is slightly different than the other live albums in a couple of small, but significant, areas. For one, this is from only one performance - not a selection of the "best songs" from the tour. Also, the concert was from New York City's famous brand new Citi Field, which essentially replaced the old Shea Stadium, which really became famous when Paul and The Beatles sold the place out 43 years ago in 1965. So this concert was a sort of homecoming.

Wow. 43 years ago. So when you do the math, that means Paul was 66 years of age when he played this show, and he probably has more energy and excitement in his performance than he did as a mere 23 year old. You can't say that Paul didn't give the fans their money's worth. Not when he plays for over two and a half hours. The real treat is the DVD of this package (the CDs of the concert are included). Watching the excitement of the performance is slightly more rewarding than just the audio performance.

Anytime I see a musical act where the performers are well into their sixties (McCartney, The Rolling Stones, etc.), I'm convinced that it has to be the last time I'll ever see/hear them. They have to retire now. Right? And I'm always proven wrong. I honestly don't know if we'll ever see something of this magnitude again from Paul, but if not, this was a great way to cap off a magnificent career.

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