Paul McCartney at The Hollywood Bowl (with Set List)

Last night I got to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine: I saw Paul McCartney live in concert.

The show was at the Hollywood Bowl, which is just about the best venue for a show imaginable. For days the news forecast lots of rain, but the skies were crisp and clear all evening (although it was bitterly cold). Our seats were almost exactly in the center of the amphitheater. There was no opening act; Paul came onstage about five minutes after eight o’clock and played until ten thirty.

He opened with a medley of the Wings classics Rock Show and Jet, kicked into The Beatles classic All My Loving, and then furiously managed to play almost every one of the hits he’s had in his 40+ year career, including a couple of songs from The Fireman. During the climax of Live and Let Die there were outrageous pyrotechnic explosions and an incredible fireworks display. (He played the first half of Something on a ukulele before switching to his electric guitar, which was awesome.) Paul must have played six different guitars — plus a mandolin — in addition to the ukulele; and he did at least a half-dozen of the songs on piano.

I took a bunch of photos with my iPhone — and even a video of Hey Jude — but throughout the performance there was a spectacular light show (with movies and archival Beatles photographs) projected onto the bowl behind the band, so most of my shots are just big blurs.

It was absolutely one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.

Here’s the set list:

1. Rock Show / Jet (medley)
2. All My Loving
3. Letting Go
4. Drive My Car
5. Highway
6. Let Me Roll It
7. The Long and Winding Road
8. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
9. Let ‘Em In
10. My Love
11. I’ve Just Seen a Face
12. And I Love Her
13. Blackbird
14. Here Today
15. Dance Tonight
16. Mrs. Vanderbilt
17. Eleanor Rigby
18. Something
19. Sing the Changes
20. Band on the Run
21. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
22. Back in the U.S.S.R.
23. I’ve Got a Feeling
24. Paperback Writer
25. A Day in the Life / Give Peace a Chance (medley)
26. Let It Be
27. Live and Let Die
28. Hey Jude (encore break)
29. Day Tripper
30. Lady Madonna
31. Get Back (encore break)
32. Yesterday
33. Helter Skelter
34. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)
35. The End