2nd Night At Dome (no label)
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan – March 5th, 1990
Disc 1 (77:12): Figure Of Eight, Jet, Got To Get You Into My Life, Rough Ride, Band On The Run, We Got Married, Let ‘Em In, The Long And Winding Road, The Fool On The Hill, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Good Day Sunshine, Can’t Buy Me Love, Put It There, Things We Said Today, Eleanor Rigby, This One, My Brave Face
Disc 2 (53:22): Back In The U.S.S.R., I Saw Her Standing There, Coming Up, Let It Be, Ain’t That A Shame, Live And Let Die, The Hustle, Hey Jude, Yesterday, Get Back, Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End
Paul McCartney’s six date tour of Japan was not only his first visit since the sixties, but is the fulfillment of several frustrating attempts to play there in the days with Wings. They were denied access in 1975 because of a drug conviction and of course the incident in 1979 which effectively ended Wings’ career. All of these shows carry an air of triumph.
2nd Night At Dome is, as the title suggests, the second show at the Big Egg on the tour. The recording is somewhat distant from the stage but picks up the atmosphere very well. There are cuts at 3:46 “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” 1:08 to 1:51 in “Good Day Sunshine,” 3:51 in “Let It Be” and at 1:46 in “Ain’t That A Shame.” The cuts are filled by another very good to excellent sounding tape with very smooth edits to provide continuity.
Flowers In The Dirt was a grand comeback not only in terms of popularity (receiving platinum and gold certification), but in McCartney’s artistic muse. He left the mid eighties experimenting with different forms of music to return to his strength, composing optimistic songs with catchy melodies. The songs themselves deal with themes like marriage and friendship.
As strong as the new material was the weight of the show rested upon Beatles and Wings hits, some of them being played live for the first time and in new arrangements. The opening three numbers, Flower In The Dirt‘s first single “Figure Of Eight,” “Jet” and “Got To Get You Into My Life” are staked from the different eras of his career. The new song “We Got Married” is followed by “Let ‘Em In” which lacks the big horn arrangement in the first half of the song.
“Now we’re gonna go back through the mists of time to a place called the sixties” Paul says before playing a string of five Beatle numbers. “The Long And Winding Road” sounds like a cross between the Specter and McCartney Nakedversions. In future tours the string arrangements would be tossed for the more traditional approach. “Fool On The Hill” has the Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech excerpt and is followed by the seven minute long “Sgt Pepper’s” medley which includes the first and second verses enveloping a long, heavy metal sounding guitar break. “Things We Said Today” ends with a gorgeous instrumental which segues into “Eleanor Rigby.”
McCartney singles out the drummer, Chris Whitten, who is “gonna thrash about in a meaningful way” on “Coming Up.” It was a hit in 1980 as an almost new wave interpretation of funk but this arrangement emphasizes its roots in the seventies. The clavinet is loud in the mix, but the song belongs to the drummer as he gives the most energetic performance on the night
Before “Let It Be” McCartney gives a short speech about “Friends Of The Earth,” the charity organization he sponsored for this tour and is followed by the Fats Domino cover “Ain’t That A Shame.” Before the final song of the night “Hey Jude” they play about a minute of “The Hustle” as a joke, a game McCartney had been playing (and still plays) since the mid seventies. The lengthy encore set begins with “Yesterday” and ends with the latter half of the side two medley from Abbey Road. Overall the pacing and selection of songs is impressive, giving a breath taking summery of his career and this recording is recommended.
