Review: Sir Paul McCartney at The United Center

by: Daly Tongren

After having to postpone a month’s worth of shows, Sir Paul McCartney stopped by the United Center for one of his first performances since being hospitalized last June. The 72-year-old former Beatle/Wing powered through a 39-song set that included a Hendrix snippet, two encores, and plenty of pyrotechnics.


Before Macca took the stage, audience members at the UC were treated to very cool DJ mix of Beatles songs and covers, paired with a film-like slideshow of photos and video clips displaying old McCartney pictures, Beatles footage, and various other memories from past tours and encounters.

McCartney flawlessly executed 25 classic Beatles tunes in his set, including the opening number “Eight Days a Week” and the evening’s conclusion of the classic Abbey Road medley, “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End.”

Highlights of the all star marathon performance included:

- Wings cut “Let Me Roll It” segwaying into Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady,” which Paul spat out on lead guitar. He then recalled that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had been released on a Friday in 1967, and by the next Monday, Hendrix had learned and used it to open his show. At this same concert, Hendrix asked audience member Eric Clapton for help tuning his guitar.
- “I wrote this one for Linda,” McCartney said, before entering into a insanely strong performance of “Maybe I’m Amazed,” his second behind the piano that night - following “My Valentine,” which was dedicated to his current wife, Nancy Shevell.
- “And I Love Her“ was A Hard Day’s Night only contribution to the set list, and stood out as a particularly memorable one at that. Whether this was due to Paul’s delivery, my personal affections for the song/its home album, or both, remains to be decided.
- The amount of heat radiating from the stage during a literally fiery performance of “Live and Let Die.” I think someone forgot to notify the crew that this was an indoor venue.
- Helter friggin’ Skelter.

Hard to say if there was a dry eye in the building during the songs “Here Today,” which was dedicated

to “my friend, John,” by McCartney, and the ukulele rendition of “Something,” which was played in memory of George Harrison. These songs, matched with a gorgeous flowing collage on screen behind the stage made for incredibly moving tributes to Paul’s former band mates.

This show will easily go down as the best I have seen, exceeding every expectation I could have imagined. Being able to see one of the men responsible for the way music is listened to and created today was the greatest of honors I could have ever received. Sir Paul McCartney is a true master of his craft.