Paul McCartney Rocks Detroit At Comerica Park

Forty-One years after the end of the world's greatest rock band,  Paul McCartney proved last night in Detroit that he is truly one of the "best" entertainers ever.  The 69-year-old McCartney treated tens of thousands at Comerica Park to a non-stop three hour show that was absolutely amazing!  Unlike several members of his generation and stature still out on the road, Paul still has it.  He didn't need a slew of background vocalists to cover up the fact that he can no longer sing.

He has been touring with his current band for nearly as long as the Beatles were together and longer than any line-up of Wings.   I didn't have any expectations for the show beforehand, except I wanted to be able to say, I saw a Beatle.  And thanks to Paul and the generous portion of Beatle hits he sang, I can check that off my bucket list.  After avoiding his fab-four past during the 70's with the group Wings, Paul has come to terms with his past.  He now embraces all those great  songs and he played many of my favorites.  I loved "Eleanor Rigby", "Yesterday" and "The End".

Everything about the show was first-rate; the music, the sound, the lighting, the stage and the 100 foot video moniters made me feel like I paid $250 a ticket as opposed to $59.  The fact that the show was in the outfield at Comerica Park against the back-drop of the Detroit skyline made it even more amazing.  I've never been a big fan of Detroit,  but the setting last night was key to what turned out to be a magical experience.  Paul obviously liked "Motown".   Earlier in the day he said they visited the  Motown Museum.

We had a little time off today and we went to the Motown museum," McCartney told the crowd, six songs into the set. "Holy grail! When I was listening to records as a kid in Liverpool, learning the songs 'You Really Got a Hold on Me' (by the Miracles) and 'Money' (by Barrett Strong), wow! So we'd like to do a song we don't normally do, for Detroit and for Motown, one of my favorites by Mr. Marvin Gaye."   M-Live

Detroit and McCartney's hometown of Liverpool are both tough gritty blue collar cities.  Paul must have felt right at home in the motor city because he played so long it didn't like he was ever going to leave.  Along the way we were treated to several Wings classics and McCartney solo hits.  One of the highlights of the evening came when Paul was talking about George Harrison.  Paul said "Georgie" liked to play the ukulele and he had a collection of about 100 of them.   Before he died in 2001, Harrison gave Paul one of these little mini guituars.  And as the video showed several photographs of George and Paul during their Beatle days, Paul played "Something" on the ukulele.

When he finally stopped after three hours and three encores, Paul looked happy.  And the crowd at Comerica Park knew it had just witnessed one of the best shows in Detroit's long musical history.