2008-07-20 - An evening with Beatle Paul

I'm not usually one to bother with goals -- just wake up in the morning, go to bed at night, do something cool in between, and you'll cover plenty of ground -- but there is one thing I've always wanted to do: see a real live Beatle.

Just about anyone who knows me is aware that The Beatles are central to my musical psyche. As noted in a previous post, I once snuck into Abbey Road studios in London, just to breathe that sacred air. I've also been to the site of their last live performance (the roof of their old office building in London), scoured the back alleys of Hamburg, Germany looking for the clubs where they got their start, and made the pilgrimage to the Dakota, the New York apartment building where John Lennon lived and died, several times.

But I still haven't seen a living Beatle -- not yet, at least. On July 20, that will change.

A couple weeks ago, a post floated over the Rolling Stone magazine newsfeed. I looked quick: "Paul McCartney to play some big show." Oh yeah, that's news. He's done that before, at least a hundred times over the years. Just last month he played for 350,000 screaming Ukranians out in Kiev. But what good is some big Paul McCartney show if it's somewhere far away? Not much.

Pictures from some other big show McCartney played far away
(generously provided by the BBC)

I looked again at the news post: "Paul McCartney to play some big show in Quebec City." Hey, I live a few hours away from there. Neat. Too bad concerts like that cost $200 these days.

I kept reading: "Paul McCartney to play some big free show in Quebec City." Well now, that is interesting. But too bad they changed the border rules so you need a passport to go to Canada, and my passport expired a couple years ago.

Just for kicks, I checked the State Department web site to see how fast I could get a new passport. Oh, wait a minute. They delayed that rule about needing a passport, and you still can get in with a driver's license and birth certificate.

I stopped reading and switched to writing. Within an hour, I had contacted an old college buddy and fellow Beatle fan about carpooling, and plans were set. (In case any wish to question his credentials for this trip, his MySpace profile lists his religion as "Paul McCartneyist.")

So if you need me this weekend, you'll find me in Quebec City. Only don't go there looking for me -- if 350,000 people showed up in the Ukraine, I suspect the crowd at Macca's only North American appearance this year might be sort of large as well.