On November 25, my friend Jim and I made our way to the United Center in Chicago for the final stop on Paul McCartney’s Got Back North America tour. This would be Jim’s first time seeing the former Beatle. I have now seen Sir Paul in concert fourteen times, with the first being at the Rosemont Horizon (now Allstate Arena) with my brother-in-law Al in December, 1989. I have seen him in Chicago seven times – at the Rosemont Horizon, Soldier Field, Wrigley Field and now four times at the United Center; three times in Indianapolis, at the old Market Square Arena, and twice at what is now known as Gainbridge Fieldhouse, twice in Milwaukee at the old County Stadium and Summerfest, and once in St. Louis at the old Busch Memorial Stadium, and Moline, at what is now known as Vibrant Arena. Five of the concerts have been held in outdoor stadiums, with the remaining nine in indoor arenas.
It’s hard to over-emphasize how much of a part of my life that the music of the Beatles, and the now 83-year-old McCartney, has been. Many of their songs take me back to wonderful memories in my life. I never was able to see John Lennon in concert, who was murdered in 1980, but did see George Harrison in St. Louis in 1974 on his lone U.S. tour, and Ringo Starr, with his All-Starr Band, also in St. Louis in 2014. Continue reading →