Live On The Commons Halifax 2009 (Piccadilly Circus PCCD-74/75/76/77/78)
Halifax Commons, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada – July 11th, 2009
Disc 1 (65:58): Drive My Car, Jet, Only Mama Knows, Flaming Pie, Got To Get You Into My Life, Let Me Roll It, Highway, Long And Winding Road, My Love, Blackbird, Here Today, Dance Tonight, Calico Skies, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Eleanor Rigby
Disc 2 (54:42): Sing The Changes, Band On The Run, Back In The USSR, Something, I’ve Got A Feeling, Paperback Writer, A Day In The Life / Give Peace A Chance, Let It Be, Live And Let Die, Hey Jude
Disc 3 (74:19): Day Tripper, Lady Madonna, Mull Of Kintyre, I Saw Her Standing There, Yesterday, Helter Skelter, Get Back, Sgt. Pepper / The End. Previous day soundcheck: Nova Scotia jam, Honey Hush, Coming Up, Mull Of Kintyre. Halifax radio interviews: interview 1, interview 2, interview 3
DVD 1: Drive My Car, Jet, Only Mama Knows, Flaming Pie, Got To Get You Into My Life, Let Me Roll It, Highway, Long And Winding Road, My Love, Blackbird, Here Today, Dance Tonight, Calico Skies, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Eleanor Rigby, Sing The Changes, Band On The Run, Back In The USSR, Something, I’ve Got A Feeling, Paperback Writer, A Day In The Life / Give Peace A Chance, Let It Be, Live And Let Die, Hey Jude
DVD 2: Day Tripper, Lady Madonna, Mull Of Kintyre, I Saw Her Standing There, Yesterday, Helter Skelter, Get Back, Sgt. Pepper / The End. Bonus footage: I Saw Her Standing There (audience shot), I Saw Her Standing There (audience shot quad view), news interview (Band On The Run rehearsal)
One of the biggest events of the summer was Paul McCartney’s show in Halifax in July. Not only was it the first shows of the short tour, it was the first time in his career he visited this province in Canada and is one of the biggest shows this year, played before 50,000. Live On The Commons Halifax 2009 on Piccadilly Circus have released the ultimate document of this amazing performance using as a basis for the audio and video the EastLink Digital Pay-Per-View telecast on July 16th.
The audio discs are a crystal clear transfer of the audio and the two DVD’s contain the show in HD. Only “I Saw Her Standing There” is missing from both audio and video. On the audio Piccadilly Circus edit the song from an excellent audience tape, and on the DVD they include two bonus tracks after the main concert with audience shot footage of the song (one of the tracks in quad).
The setlist for what Paul dubs the “mini North American tour” is similar to what he’s been using for the past several tours. There is a generous mix Wings hits, lots of Beatles tunes and many new songs including those from the latest project The Firemen.
Several songs played last year like “All My Loving,” “C Moon,” “I’ll Follow The Sun” and “Despite Of All The Danger” are dropped in favor of newer material like “Highway,” “Save The Changes,” and a cover of George Harrison’s “Something.” Band On The Run “Mrs. Vanderbilt,” which made its stage debut last summer in Kiev, is retained and sounds tremendously fun live.
There are several notable occurrences in the set worth mentioning. After “Calico Skies” Paul mentions a sign in the audience saying “Paul, please sign my arm and I’ll have it permanently tattooed.” He can’t stop looking at it so he says “Well, I guess we should bring her up then.”
Members of the road crew bring up Audrey McCombs and Paul indeed signs her arm. She hugs them all and runs off the stage as Paul says, “better get it done now.” And a bit later, after “Save The Changes” he quips “The young girl is back from getting that tattoo, that was quick!” As a side note, McCombs did indeed get her tattoo done and caught another McCartney show in Atlanta.
“Something,” Paul tribute to George, is played at the beginning on ukulele before segueing into an electric arrangement. There is a big mistake at the beginning of “Paperback Writer.” The song is in G but Paul starts in A and after some laughter and embarrassment they start the song again.
And in the encores they pull out “Mull Of Kintyre.” He plays the song whenever he appears in Toronto, but it is especially poignant in Nova Scotia (New Scotland). He is joined onstage by members of the 78th Highlanders pipe band, who when they heard McCartney was coming to Halifax contacted his representatives and offered to play (and which Paul accepted).
The bonus tracks really add context to the whole event. On the audio disc two is a twenty-minute interview conducted by J.C. Douglas on Q104, the big rock station in Halifax. They speak about many different topics and what is really remarkable is that, as star struck as Douglas is, he asks several pointed questions.
Discussed are Paul’s passing through Halifax several years ago to protest the seal hunt in Newfoundland, his reaction to Michael Jackson’s death, and the speculation they are to play “Mull In Kintyre.” The bonus on DVD2 is a television interview on CBC in Nova Scotia which is a bit more lightweight but still interesting. Overall this is a superb package assembled by Piccadilly Circus. It is packaged in a five disc fatboy jewel case with high standard glossy inserts.
