Monday, April 25, 2011

P is for...

P is for Pretty, Pansies and Paul McCartney!

Those of you who know me understand my love for this man. I grew up listening to his songs, courtesy of my mother (who lived in London in the 60's when the Beatles were just getting started).

My lovely and dear friend Kelli sent me 2 books one year for my birthday. One was of Paul McCartney's artwork, and the other was of his poetry. These are among my favorite gifts that I've ever received simply because this girl gets me. I've pored over the pages of these books because I love the poetic way he sees the world. My favorite poem/song of his is "Blackbird." (Trivia fact - it's also my all-time-favorite song)

When we lived in Ohio, Andrew (who shares an appreciation for Sir Paul) and I heard that Paul McCartney was coming to Columbus! We looked into it only to find that the tickets were waaaaaaaaaaay out of our price range. Sad that he was going to be 20 minutes from our apartment, we resigned ourselves to purchasing the DVD of the show and pretending we were there....

A few weeks later, I got a phone call from Mandy Fessahazion (Mandy Taylor, at the time) informing me that her dad had 4 tickets to see Paul McCartney. In Columbus. At the Schottenstein.

Then...she invited Andrew and I to go with her and David.


I should have pulled my car over because I was immediately intoxicated from the excitement. We were going to see Paul McCartney!!!!! LIVE!

I blogged about it when I was on xanga.com, and here's what my experience was like. I get goosebumps reading this!

Absolutely amazing…

Where to begin…let’s start with a special thanks to Mandy for scoring the tickets to begin with! These weren’t just any tickets…they were INCREDIBLE tickets! We were no more than 100 feet away from Paul McCartney! 2nd row, in the middle on the right side of the stage…

Paul was on fire! For 63 years old, he is quite the entertainer. I was literally breathless watching him – completely in awe. I found myself with my jaw hanging unabashedly open several times. Andrew and I kept looking at each other, wide eyed and in disbelief saying “That is Paul McCartney right there!!!!!” It was hard to sit or stand still…he played all of our favorites, including a lot of his new stuff.


Then it happened. We recognized the song in the first two notes. Our favorite. “Let Me Roll It” – we were on our feet, arms entangled in one another’s, swaying to the music and belting out every word…with our eyes closed. It must’ve caught the attention of the camera man because when I realized that I was at the concert and could open my eyes and see Paul McCartney in front of me, I opened them to find a camera with a bright light on top of it filming our every dorky move. With nothing to lose, we continued to sway and wail to the song. Once he moved on, we erupted in laughter! We sooo made it on to the DVD. Paul McCartney will likely watch that DVD some day, and will see me, clad proudly in my “No More Landmines” t-shirt, singing his music.

He played for 3 hours straight. His band is absolutely incredible, but I’d have to say that my favorite is Abe, the drummer. He is so animated and sooo talented. I’m still in absolute awe. Neither Andrew or I could sleep Saturday night, we just laid awake repeating to each other “we just saw Paul McCartney…”


It was easily the of the top 10 best nights of my life.

I SAW PAUL McCARTNEY!!!!!!

I doubt I’ll be able to focus much this week, I’m still totally on a high from it. It was such a special time for Andrew and I, and we made some lasting memories. And I don’t mean to discount the amazing experience we had, but I have to say this – as enthralled as I was and as astounding as the whole event was, it wasn’t a deeply moving, spiritual experience like I have when I’m worshipping Jesus. It made me sad for the people there who will never have that, who only have the high that comes from a wonderful secular event like that. It’s almost as if I left there feeling like something was missing.

There’s nothing like looking forward to something for 6 months and not being let down! He really delivered and I will never forget it.

AND I SAW PAUL McCARTNEY!!!!!!

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