Reliving our favorite Paul McCartney Las Vegas performances
Occasionally I try to impress my friends by noting that Paul McCartney’s encores in his current live shows are longer than were entire Beatles concerts. Sometimes I’m met with, “You saw the Beatles??” No! Hey-ho!
The originals were before me time, but I have seen McCartney many times over the years, including on each of his Las Vegas Strip tour stops and his show at Hard Rock Hotel. I’ll be rocking it Friday night, too, at T-Mobile Arena with Momma Sanna, who has not seen McCartney (or the Beatles) live.
As we tune up for the next rock show, a quick list of my Top 3 McCartney shows in Vegas:
April 5, 2002, MGM Grand Garden Arena: The “Driving Rain” tour was to back a not-great album during McCartney’s not-great relationship with Heather Mills. But the show was McCartney’s first Las Vegas concert since he played Sam Boyd Stadium — yes, there were major concerts booked there — in April 1993. He was playing his first Vegas dates without his wife, Linda, who had died in 1998, on keyboards. Showing his legendary versatility, McCartney ran through many Beatles’ hits (“Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “She’s Leaving Home” and “Can’t By Me Love” in the same stretch).
Source: By John Katsilometes / Las Vegas Review-Journal
