I would be negligent in my duties as an Elite Unilocaler if I would fail to mention that Paul McCartney is my absolute favorite musical artist of all times. However, I will stand by my 5 star review of his October 11th concert, as in my opinion, it was the best concert I have ever had the pleasure of attending. For those fans who were unable to attend, I am sorry to say that you missed a truly historic venue. And speaking of history, for song number 5(Paperback Writer), McCartney played on the actual guitar he recorded Paperback Writer back in 1966. How’s that for cool? I consider myself lucky to have seen Paul McCartney in concert in the Superdome back in the early 1993, but his October 11th show at the New Orleans Smoothie King Center was the one to see. When McCartney took the stage, he did not look, move or sing like a 72 year old man. He played for three straight hours and sang 39 songs without ever taking a break or even getting a drink of water. This guy is a phenom; better yet, a living musical legend. Everyone knows that Paul McCartney is a talented bass guitarist. But I never knew the skills he had as a lead guitarist. And he treated the fans to something really special as he played lead guitar for several songs. I’m not talking simple chords here. I’m talking about amp howling riffs that would rival the greats. To hear him playing Jimmy Hendrix’s «Foxy Lady» was a real treat, and it sounded bad a$$. He was very interactive with the crowd and shared stories between songs. He showed his humorous side by announcing as he took off his jacket that this was gonna be his one and only wardrobe change. It was funny to hear him spouting New Orleans phrases like your mom & dem, Who dat and where y’at. And kudos to him acknowledging Allen Toussaint’s Sea Saint studio her in New Orleans, which is where he recorded«Listen to What the Man Says» when he was with Wings. I grew up only a few blocks from this studio and was lucky enough to have toured the studio as a guest when I was a kid; but unfortunately not when McCartney was there. He payed homage to John Lennon and sang«Here Today» which was written 2 years after Lennon was killed and described McCartney’s relationship with Lennon in the form of an imaginary conversation But it was his tribute to George Harrison and the accompanying video slide show on the big screens that captured the crowd and showed just how«human» he really is. The concert was a perfect mix of McCartney’s newer material, his solo material and Beatles hit to appeal to everyone. The crowd’s participation in «Hey Jude» was truly chilling and was something I’ll never forget. Just looking at the below 39 song setlist has me reminiscing back to October 11th when all was right in my world. Set list 1. Eight Days a Week 2. Save Us 3. All My Loving 4. Listen to What the Man Said 5. Let Me Roll It 6. Paperback Writer 7. My Valentine 8. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five 9. The Long and Winding Road 10. Maybe I’m Amazed 11. I’ve Just Seen a Face 12. We Can Work It Out 13. Another Day 14. And I Love Her 15. Blackbird 16. Here Today 17. New 18. Queenie Eye 19. Lady Madonna 20. All Together Now 21. Lovely Rita 22. Everybody Out There 23. Eleanor Rigby 24. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! 25. Something 26. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 27. Band on the Run 28. Back in the U.S.S.R. 29. Let It Be 30. Live and Let Die 31. Hey Jude First encore: 32. Day Tripper 33. Birthday 34. Get Back Second encore: 35. Yesterday 36. Helter Skelter 37. Golden Slumbers 38. Carry That Weight 39. The End