Paul McCartney
The Center at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
August 19, 2010

Final show of 2010 "Up and Coming Tour"

Source: Audio Technica AT-899 omnis => Edirol R-09 (24/48)
Transfer: R-09 => WAV => Audition 1.5 (dither to 16-bit) => WAV => Magix Audio Cleaning Lab => WAV => FLAC (level 8)

Location: 13th row, just right of center

Disc one (55:20):
(1) Venus and Mars => Rockshow (2:26)
(2) Jet (5:05)
(3) All My Loving (2:38)
(4) Letting Go (4:33)
(5) Drive My Car (2:44)
(6) Paul banter (0:42)
(7) Highway (4:38)
(8) Let Me Roll It (4:29) =>
(9) Foxy Lady coda (1:41)
(10) Jimi Hendrix story (2:07)
(11) The Long and Winding Road (3:51)
(12) Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (4:19)
(13) Let 'Em In (5:25)
(14) My Love (5:09)
(15) I've Just Seen a Face (2:25)
(16) And I Love Her (3:01)

Disc two (61:19):
(1) Blackbird intro (0:47)
(2) Blackbird (3:06)
(3) Here Today intro (3:05)
(4) Here Today (2:55)
(5) Paul banter (1:15)
(6) Dance Tonight (3:41)
(7) Mrs. Vanderbilt (5:28)
(8) Eleanor Rigby (2:51)
(9) Paul banter (0:45)
(10) Ram On (1:50)
(11) Something intro (0:44)
(12) Something (4:33)
(13) Sing The Changes (4:02)
(14) Band on the Run (6:04)
(15) Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (3:39)
(16) Back in the U.S.S.R. (3:19)
(17) Paul banter (2:07)
(18) I've Got a Feeling (6:59)
(19) Paperback Writer (4:01)

Disc three (58:53):
(1) A Day in the Life => Give Peace a Chance (5:51)
(2) Let It Be (4:09)
(3) Live and Let Die (3:51)
(4) Hey Jude (7:03)
(5) Encore break (4:02)
(6) Day Tripper (4:09)
(7) Lady Madonna (3:17)
(8) Get Back (4:54)
(9) Encore break (2:54)
(10) Yesterday (2:41)
(11) Paul signs girl's thigh (3:10)
(12) Helter Skelter (4:23)
(13) Paul says thanks (2:15)
(14) Sgt. Pepper (reprise) => The End (6:07)

Md5 signature file is included. Sorry, no artwork (feel free to make some)

Comments:

I was having trouble concentrating at work on Wednesday, because I was so bothered by the fact that Paul was concluding his 2009-10 tour 700 miles away from me this week and I would not have had the opportunity to see him at all. Compounding my agitation was the fact that Paul has talked frequently during the past year about "walking away" and retiring from live performance, which could indicate that his final full-length concerts were coming to an end this week.

After extensive deliberation (and the reluctant go-ahead from my supportive and understanding wife), I bought a 13th row seat and a plane ticket 24 hours before the show, and at 8:00 last night was in my seat only a few feet from the stage. Was it worth it? Absolutely, and though I haven't talked to them about it yet I'm sure the kids will understand that they won't get new shoes for school until almost Christmastime. Amazing performance and setlist that was just shy of three hours (not bad for a 68-year-old man!) and ran the gamut of his Beatles and solo material. If this was the end, he went out in a great way. He has lost some range on his upper register, but he is still a far better showman than most artists half his age.

The taping gods were smiling on me last night; even though I had an aisle seat, there was hardly any interference due to the traffic to and from the front rows, and my neighbors were as quiet and respectful as any in recent memory. The guy next to me never spoke at all, and although his polite clapping is audible on the recording, it only surfaces during the final notes of songs or immediately after (I don't think the clapping even interferes with Paul's banter). I'm very happy with the recording overall, although hopefully there were other tapers present with more professional equipment than my stealth rig. This won't be confused with a Schoeps recording, but still sounds very good nonetheless if other sources *don't* appear.

I applying some light EQ to the raw recording in the following manner: (1) Decreased the lowest (60 hz) band moderately to eliminate some distortion on the bass drum; (2) dropped the 800 hz band slightly to compensate for some "harshness" on the vocals from the overhead PA; (3) increased the upper registries above +3 kHz to "brighten" the recording and make the vocals more predominant.

If you listen closely during the encore break, you should be able to hear the girl selected from the audience to have her thigh signed. She was in the row behind me, and the tour manager summoned her to the aisle to tell her that Paul would like her to come onstage a couple songs into the encore. She collapsed in a screaming, shaking heap on the floor while her boyfriend shook her and yelled, "You have about five minutes to pull yourself together! Snap out of it!" Apparently after she left the stage she collapsed again and was so rattled that she needed about several minutes to compose herself before she could walk back to her seat. Paul commented that if the tour had gone on any longer, he'd be signing people's butts.

Great show. Worth having if you're a Beatles fan, in my opinion. Who knows whether there will be any more -- Paul thanked the band and crew for their work during the tour, but his words didn't carry the tone of finality you'd expect if he was planning to retire.

Mp3 samples are in the comments.