Well, I finally did it … I saw (what’s left of) the Beatles in person. That is … if you consider being a half-mile away the same as “in person!” Here’s my story from last weekend.
I put the date on my calendar for Paul McCartney’s concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills … the same day as the Penn State – Michigan football game. I purposely did not buy a ticket to either event, so as to leave my options open. Watching the first half of the football game on TV, I actually fell asleep. The score was 3-0 at half-time and, despite there being another good football game on (Southern Cal at Notre Dame) plus the baseball playoffs, I decided to make the trek to Auburn Hills.
For the benefit of those who have not been there, the Palace is 72 miles each way from my condo. Friday nights are the worst, with a combination of trucks, fudgies (city folk going up north for the weekend), and commuters making it slow for those going to games or concerts at the Palace. Saturday night is not nearly as bad, and I arrived at the entrance at 7:15 for an 8:00 curtain.
The resale market for concert tickets is much more subtle than it is for sporting events, but it wasn’t long before I found my seller. I had researched the prices and seat location pretty well, and I set a budget at $50-60 for my ticket. Face value started at $52, jumped to $92, and headed north from there. This guy had one $92 ticket to sell. I asked how much he wanted, and he said $100. I gave my normal polite snicker and, before I could blink, he asked for $60. The conversation turned to football, traffic, and so on … and then I went for the kill. I offered $50, and he took it.
One would think that a seat one row from the top in the farthest corner of the arena from the stage would be a $52 ticket, not a $92 ticket. Silly me. There I sat at 7:30, knowing the concert would not begin on time, wondering how all those games were going. Soon, I noticed a <palacenet.com> scoreboard showing — one at a time, of course — scores from the NHL, the NBA preseason, and every college football game played in the US that day. There was no rhyme or reason to the order of the scores. Central Connecticut State over Robert Morris … Morehead State beating Austin Peay … Bethune-Cookman trouncing Savannah State … and Penn wiping out Columbia.
Hey … wait a minute! Penn over Columbia … what’s up with that?! I thought Penn played Lehigh the first seven weeks of the season. It seems like every time I see the scores from the East, Penn is beating Lehigh. Anyway, then it hit me. Southern Cal over Notre Dame 31-28 … Michigan over Penn State 27-25 … and the Astros over the Cardinals 4-3. I had missed a comeback win by Southern Cal, a high-scoring second half in Ann Arbor, and a one-run baseball game. Instead, I was out $50 and, from my vantage point, I figured I had a better chance of seeing George Harrison up close than I did of seeing Paul McCartney … if he ever showed up on the stage!
Oh … I failed to mention that parking at the Palace is now $15 for a car or truck. I’m thinking that, for $15, I should get a complete cleaning, inside and out. Gone are the days when my daughter and I had our own secret FREE parking place in the adjacent lot. So, I was down $65, not $50. I also noticed that concert programs were available for $25. Let’s see … you pay your $25 for a program to tell you what you already knew … that the performer would be Paul McCartney. Does Auburn Hills have its own currency? Is each program autographed by Paul … AND John Lennon? Needless to say, I did not pop for the program.
I hope you’re still with me, as I really do intend to write about the concert. The video portion began at 8:40, and it was very good. There were lots of shots of Paul as a child, comments on his report cards, family photos, and, of course, those of the early Beatles. When he was finally introduced, the crowd was ready. With only one or two exceptions, the first hour included songs that I knew either casually or not at all. Most in the crowd knew many more songs than I did. I figured there would be an intermission, and I could leave, satisfied I had been in the same building as one of the Beatles. Heck, if I had been close to the aisle, I could leave any time. I would gladly settle for GET BACK, PENNY LANE, ELEANOR RIGBY, YESTERDAY, or THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD.
Then, Paul and friends sang BAND ON THE RUN, and the mood changed dramatically. After that, it seemed that every number they did — many of which were solo with him at the piano — energized the crowd even more. For nearly two hours, I enjoyed a great, great performance, and I was genuinely glad that there was no intermission (or other easy way for me to leave). He sang all five of the songs listed above … HEY JUDE (complete with the crowd standing with hundreds of lighters, matches, and cell phones in tribute) … and many others. One encore led to another, and he finished at 11:30 with SGT PEPPER (a nice bookend to the first song, MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR). The video, light show, and fireworks only enhanced the experience. (When Paul was thanking his crew, he said it takes 140 people to manage each stop on the tour.)
Paul McCartney is an icon, the surpassing musician of at least two generations. It was worth all the time, money, and everything else to be at the concert. He is a master showman, great at “working the crowd,” and someone worthy of the knighthood he received many years ago.
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