One More Time...

This is Paul McCartney, on stage at the Scottstrade Center in St Louis, MO. on Sunday night. This man is 70 years old. Just a reminder.....

Pat and I were in very good seats to the left of the stage, straight up. We had an excellent overall view of the performance, and were much closer than when we saw him at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Paul came on stage around 8:20pm, and did not exit for the last time (two encores) until 11:15.

So how do two 64 year old women from different cities get to a third city to see this man? Pat took a train from Homewood, IL. to Effingham, IL. I drove from Indianapolis to Effingham and picked her up. We then drove to St Louis. On Monday we simply reversed it. Except....now you know there is always an exception. Her return train to Homewood would come into Effingham at 5:49pm Central Standard time. We arrived at the station, after shopping and cruising around Effingham for hours, at 3pm. Sitting in the car to keep warm (had turned cold, folks. Really cold), we wasted another hour, then decided to use the bathroom inside the station. Which was locked. OOOPPPPS! I had planned on leaving Pat about an hour before the train was due, because I still had over a two hour drive home, and had to stop and pick up the dogs as well.

Off we go to the local Walmart and a bit more shopping. I did my grocery shopping for lack of anything else. Fortunately, by the time we got back to the train station, there was someone there and it was open. I left her, and headed home.

Was it worth it? The sound quality at this venue sucked. It's a sports palace, so that is really not surprising, except Sir Paul is a bit of a perfectionist. He probably had plenty to say. The performance was superb, as always. His band is beyond reproach, playing the hits as they were first performed. The big screens with images from the stage are excellent, giving everyone a chance to see exactly what is going on. And we stayed at the Sheraton, right across the street from the Scottstrade Center. Even though it was raining, we had a very short walk to get there.

The locals were very happy to see us. St Louis is a great city, full of warm Mid West people. All in all, it was an excellent time. We met a woman who had made her own coat from old concert tshirts. We met people seeing Paul for the first time, seeing him for the fourth or fifth. Everyone was delighted to be participating.

Lots of driving. Some confusion, when I thought I had lost my credit card (was in the car. DUH!). But the experience was priceless, and one I will treasure. You go, Paul. You keep on going....
Linda

I am a Dinosaur

In August, 1964 I was 16 years old, entering my Junior year in high school. Pat and I, along with dozens of other girls from our area, purchased tickets to see the Beatles in concert at the International Ampitheatre in Chicago. It no longer exists. Some of you may recognize it by it's common name of The Stockyards. Yeah, it was where they brought the cattle and pigs in for slaughter. The Beatles had several opening acts. They themselves were only on stage for about 30 minutes. It didn't matter. We were breathing the same air as our idols.

We also attended the 1965 Chicago concert at Comisky Park (the old park), and again at the Stockyards in 1966. When the Beatles released Sgt Pepper, we knew the touring days were gone. There was no way they could reproduce those sounds on stage. And then, it seemed in a blink, they are disbanded. No longer the Fab Four. They were now separate acts, all going their own way.

This group never lost their magic for me. The music, in my opinion, has held up over the past 48 years like no other. What our country was going through was tied into the music, and it all became something more than just listening to records.

Fast forward. Pat emailed me about 6 weeks ago, and said that Chicago was trying to get McCartney to book into Wrigley Field the end of July. To make a long story short, we got tickets at $165 each. I didn't care what it cost, I wanted to see this man perform one more time before I died. I had been a fan since the beginning, I was going out as a fan. Not that either one of us are kicking the bucket that I know of, but you get the point.

Last night was the concert. It was 98 degrees in Chicago, no lake breeze to speak of, but none of us cared. The evening was magical. It was something like 36,000 people sharing music that they knew in their souls, their hearts. We sang to every song. We yelled, we waved, we cheered, and we all left with a very large smile on our faces.

Cost of this weekend? $165 for the ticket, $60 for gas, $40 to park, and $80 for boarding the dogs. Seeing Paul McCartney, live, sweating with us, giving everything within him to entertain us? Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

Wish you all had been there.
Linda