The so-called “Oldchella,” which also featured The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, attracted fans of all ages and generations, and earned its promoter, Goldenvoice — the same company behind Coachella — a reported $160 million. The biggest question on fans’ minds by the end of Sunday night was: Who will they book next year?
Anyone who’s seen the British knight knows: Sir Paul McCartney and his band are always sharp live, routinely turning in nearly three hours’ worth of live music, abounding with tons of Beatles, Wings and solo faves, touching and comical stories, and impressive pyro (“Live and Let Die” marked the weekend’s ultimate fireworks burst). He didn’t change his set too much from weekend to weekend, but he did swap out “Can’t Buy Me Love” with an invigorating rendition of “Got To Get You into My Life” early in the set, and traded relative rarity “I Wanna Be Your Man” for “Birthday” in the encore, plus a quick take on Little Richard’s “Rip It Up” (“Saturday night … I couldn’t resist,” he said, referencing the relevant lyrics).
Besides, other measures were taken to illuminate the night’s significance: In addition to honoring his former wife Linda before “Maybe I’m Amazed,” he dedicated the song to two of their children, Mary and Stella McCartney, both present at the show; Later, he invited “the queen of Barbados,” Rihanna, out to sing her part on “FourFiveSeconds” (she sang live, and sounded fantastic); in two instances, he asked the audience to howl at the moon, “for the coyotes”; and he brought out Neil Young to handle John Lennon’s parts on “A Day in the Life” and the Plastic Ono Band’s “Give Peace a Chance,” then howl cheek-to-cheek via one mic on “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road” and finish with a solo so insane that Young broke all six of his strings.
Yes, the latter special guest run also occurred during weekend one, but those final string-busting notes yielded a profound sense of urgency – perhaps because it was likely the last time an on-stage collaboration between McCartney and Young will ever happen again, barring awards or tribute shows – that blew any other version of that tune out of the water.
The Fat Angel Sings 