I tried purchasing an album today online, and found out that I already purchased it two years ago. I cannot find it anywhere. I’ve tried emailing the site, asking to download again. Hope they agree.
I don’t have any idea how I lost that album!
Update: Found it on my computer at work!
Just got a look at the bootleg video of the concert (recorded from TV). It’s the closest thing we have for the concert in Tel-Aviv, as they were only two months apart, and both were outside. If Paul wants to make money out of his recent concerts, it would be a good idea to combine Quebec, Kiev, and Tel-Aviv in one DVD. Only if he does that, I really hope he doesn’t produce the DVD the same he has done lately. All his recent concert DVDs show more audience then Paul & band, and it’s quite annoying.
Anyway, here is a nice video from YouTube of Live and Let Die, from Quebec. There’s a part there where he misses a few notes, and bursts up laughing.
I saw Paul on the 25th of September in Tel-Aviv. What a great performance! Even my wife, who is not a known Paul fan loved the show, said it was the best she has ever seen!
The Israeli media was all over him these last few days before the show. News, newspaper, internet, everyone was excited. To the non-Israeli fans, I wanted to show the newspapers the day after the show. A small explanation – as our weekend is Friday-Saturday, and there are no newspapers on Saturday, the Friday newspaper is in a larger format. So enough talking, and let’s see some pictures!
Pic 1: The front page of 3 major Israeli newspapers. The titles read (from left to right"): “Bye Paul”, “Yesterday in Tel-Aviv”, and “Tel-Aviv, Yesterday” (yes, the last two copied from one another :-)
Pic 2: Yediot Aharonot – pages 2 + 3. The title reads “Paul-Mania”
Pic3: Ma’ariv – page 3. “Ahalan Jude” (what Paul called “Hey Jude” in the show)
Pic4: Ha’aretz – page 10 (boo!!!!). “Once in a life time: Tens of thousands watched Sir Paul with sparkling eyes”
Hope these pictures give you some sense on the interest this performance got from the Israeli media.
I just installed the new betas for Windows Live Writer, and Messenger. Messenger looks a bit like a mess. A bit too cluttered. Writer has a cool look, but it looks like not too much has changed. At least it’s now easier to insert YouTube videos, like this one:
In 2003 I flew to London to see Paul McCartney in Earl's Court. This September, Paul McCartney is flying to Israel to see us!
The only thing I am sorry about is the poor organization in terms of ticket prices and location. The venue is a huge park (Park HaYarkon) which can accommodate up to 70,000 people. There are only three ticket types.
There are two things that annoy me here. The first is that there are too few options for tickets. Assuming the VIP tickets are not for most of us (and you really can't purchase them without knowing someone on the inside), you've only got two options, one three times the other. They should have had something in the middle, perhaps dividing the area into several areas, and price them according to how close they are to the stage.
The second thing that annoys me is that they didn't provide a sitting map of the venue! So yesterday I paid 3000 Shekels for two tickets without actually knowing were the sits were! In fact, according to the map in the Internet ticket office, the marked sits were right in front of the stage (I already knew they weren't, based on articles that I read).
Anyway, today I grabbed a screenshot from a video article on a news web site, and finally I saw the map of the venue, and here it is:
The quality is not that good, but it's better than what we had before! The marked sits (which are elevated) are the two blue areas in the middle of the compound. They are 125 meters from the stage (that's quite a lot for such pricey tickets). The VIP areas are the two smaller blue areas. They are 75 meters from the stage (also too far for 1400 USD!). The grass is... well.... all the green stuff.
Anyway, that's all for my complaints now. I'm going to see Paul on Sep 25th, and I'm happy about it!
So, finally I got a chance to see it over two days. It's 90 minutes long, and it was definitely worth it. As I wrote in another post, this time Paul gives us the show from beginning to end, without any interruptions between songs, or in the middle of them, and with hearing Paul and the band, and not only the audience.
The show starts with Paul alone on the stage, the curtains are closed behind him, and he starts with Blackbird - a very intimate start. He quickly switches to the mandolin, I'm sure you can guess for what song, and the curtain opens to reveal his usual gang in the last years (Rusty, Brian, Wix, and Abe), which I got a chance to see personally in April 2003 in Earls Court.
Then come two energetic songs - Only Mama Knows, which I've waited to see in a live concert ever since I've heard it on MOF, followed by Flaming Pie. It's the first time I've heard this song in a live show, and it's a great piece for a concert. Oh, and Rusty know how to play his guitar!
The second Beatles song is next - Got to Get You Into My Life, followed by C-Moon, in a wonderful version. Oh, and I finally got an explanation on L7 (which forms a square) vs. C Moon (which forms a circle, or something like that...).
Another two Beatles ones - The Long and Winding Road, followed by I'll Follow the Sun. The latter is a bit short, so after he finishes the song, he waits, and does the ending again. And so on for three or four times :-)
Another one from MOF - That Was Me. Again, a great show for a concert, very energetic.
Next is a song that will always bring me back to 1982. A very sad and touching song - Here Today, which he wrote for John after his death.
Next comes Calico Sky, again, a song I've never heard live, and it's a very nice one.
Going back to the Beatles, we get some classic concert material - Eleanor Rigby, and Michelle. The latter is what the French audience were waiting for!
And now it's time to rock the audience, so we get Band On The Run, which gets everyone dancing, and Back in the USSR, which drives everyone insane!
Next Paul moves to the piano with another favorite of mine from MOF - House of Wax. Rusty rocks with the guitar. Paul's voice strains quite a bit on this one.
Then, a wonderful version of I've Got a Feeling. I think the last live version of it was on the roof. That is a GREAT song for concerts. And if you're wondering who is replacing John on his part, it's Rusty and Abe. Paul also added a short electric guitar segment at the end.
Paul on the piano again, this time for Live and Let Die, with the usual flashing lights and explosions. They all go crazy, and Abe looks a bit tired at the end :-)
Next comes Hey Jude, with all the na na na stuff. The audience loves it, and I a little less. Paul and the band go off the stage. Will they come back? Yes! For some more na na na na.
But then, how can he not, we move to Let it Be, which I'll never be tired of. Then comes the sweet and short Lady Madonna, but it's not over yet. Paul says the next one goes way way back, and I'm thinking, I Saw Her Standing There? Yes! A great way to end the show, but the audience know their job, and so, Paul returns with another one straight from the roof - Get Back. At last, Brian gets a chance to shine with the guitar solos.
The concert ends, and what a concert it was, and as I said at the beginning, a great production. They should take it as it is, without all of the "extras" of his last DVDs, add a DD 5.1/DTS soundtrack, and I'll be visiting Amazon!
That's it for my longest post yet.
So, apart from Live at Olympia, I now have two other, which are a bit rare: Lightspeed - DVD 1 and DVD 2. Now, these are a bit old and contain the following:
Up to now I've only had a brief chance to look at them. One Hand Clapping is pretty cool. I've never had a chance to see Wings in action (apart from Rockshow), and seeing them recording in a studio, is much different from seeing them in a concert.
I'm planning on seeing some of them this Friday. I think I'll start with Live at Olympia. Be sure I'll report back!
This blog is supposed to be mainly on TV shows. My last post was a week ago. This is what I haven't seen yet:
2 X Desperate Housewives
2 X Heroes
2 X Survivor
My better half is falling asleep early so we hardly see anything. I hope for a better TV week next week...
So for now, I'm hearing some new and old stuff. I got a hold of some Beatles bootlegs from the recordings of Let it Be. Some interesting stuff there.
I also got the new Neil Young CD - Chrome Dreams II. I like it quite a bit. I already have songs which are playing in my head. Some of the songs do not sound new, and have bits and pieces from his older songs.
For some reason, "The Way" sounds to me a bit like the "Weeds" theme song.
MS have a new feature for their Live Search, which is currently in Beta. It's called Celebrity xRank - they rank celebrities based on the amount of searches. You can search for your favorite celebrity, compare them to others, see trend charts, and so on.
So, I've done a little research, both in the music and TV areas. First we have a showdown between some of my favorite musicians. (drum-roll) And here are the charts:
| Musician | xRank |
| Beatles | |
| Paul McCartney | 97 |
| John Lennon | 113 |
| George Harrison | 437 |
| Ringo Starr | 1027 |
| Neil Young | 119 |
| Elvis Costello | 934 |
So, the biggest looser here is Ringo, while the winner is Paul McCartney. But surprisingly and sadly, Costello is so near the bottom of the list.
And now, the TV showdown - tonight we have Battlestar Galactica against Lost. I searched the xRank of the main characters, but in both shows, not all of them had an xRank. Both are not running right now, so expect low results:
| Actor | Character | xRank |
| Tricia Helfer | Number Six | 1252 |
| Katee Sackhoff | Starbuck | 2157 |
| Jamie Bamber | Apollo | 2467 |
| Edward James Olmos | Admiral Adama | 2550 |
| Mary McDonnell | President Roslin | 5222 |
| Battlestar Galactica | Average | 2730 |
| Elizabeth Mitchell | Juliet | 1253 |
| Matthew Fox | Jack | 2706 |
| Dominic Monaghan | Charlie | 4121 |
| Daniel Dae Kim | Jin | 4553 |
| Terry O'Quinn | John | 5517 |
| Naveen Andrews | Sayid | 5884 |
| Lost | Average | 4006 |
The winner of the two is BSG (no doubt about it!). The rating of BSGs stars is pretty clear. What is strange are the Lost results, where Juliet (sad puppy look) was ranked higher than anyone by far, followed by Jack, 1500 points away. However, the big mystery is how Juliet is only one point below BSGs favorite Cylon! Coincidence, or not...
I just got a quick look at McCartney's show at the Olympia (Paris). Overall this looks much better than his previous DVDs, which is great! You see little of the audience, and good shots at Paul and the band. I saw House of Wax and Only Mama Knows from his last album. Both were great! Although, his voice is not as good as it used to be (on the CD he also sounds better), he still gives a good performance.
If this comes out on a DVD, it'd be on my purchase list.
Update: my full review is online.
McCartney knows how to create music. He also knows how to perform (seen him myself in London, four years ago).
What he doesn't know is how to create concert movies. Every concert movie he is ever made (after Wings' Rockshow) have had the same basic problems:
I've bought a concert video in the late 80s and a DVD a few years ago. I guess it only got worse!
So, the fans want to see Rockshow on DVD, but they have to settle for illegal VCDs, because it is not made available on DVD. Some of it made it on DVD for Paul's latest DVD ("The McCartney Years"), but only a few songs. I think I will wait for the full version.
I was a huge fan of Paul McCartney when I was younger. Had all of his albums, posters on the wall, etc. Today I'm still enjoying listening to him from time to time.
Five months ago he came out with a new album, called Memory Almost Full. A very nice album. There are a few great songs, such as Only Mama Knows and Mr. Bellamy, and the album as a whole is indeed good.
There were two versions of the CD. A regular one, and a Deluxe one, which included 3 extra songs, and an interview about the songs. You can guess which version was purchased by his loyal fans (me not included).
Now, fives months after, there is another Deluxe version, with almost the same content as the previous one + DVD with videos and live recording of some of the songs. You can guess who is the target audience of this version, and what they think of this. Some examples are in the Amazon reviews.
