McCartney screamers

Scott Thill speculates in his blog that Paul McCartney may have enjoyed the Colbert bump to get top billing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April. He’s wondering if any screaming from McCartney is going to win him a whole new youth contingent, or if he’s going to put the Coachella crowd to sleep with yawning love songs. Now let’s see if we can put together a list of screamers for the Coachella crowd. Let’s face it, Paul McCartney doesn’t have the voice he once had. He has had to drop the vocal exercise that is “Maybe I’m Amazed”, a song that has been on his live repertoir since the first Wings tour in 1971. When I’ve seen him in the later years, he has also had big problems with his more tender songs, like “Jenny Wren” on the 2005 tour, but he keeps on struggling through songs like “Here Today”. The screamers is a different matter, he seems to still have the ability to belt them out, almost like the old days.

1. Venus and Mars/Rockshow (from the 1976 tour)
2. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. Only Mama Knows (performed last year in Kiev, Quebec and Israel)
4. Jet (a McCartney concert favourite)
5. Back In The USSR (he’s been playing it for a while)
6. Nothing Too Much Just Outta Sight (the recent Fireman opener)
7. All My Loving (no screamer, but a crowd pleaser anywhere)
8. Flaming Pie (a short song with his screaming voice)
9. Angry (how about resurrecting this 1986 pearl)
10. Stranglehold (ditto)
11. Got To Get You Into My Life (also performed last year)
12. Lucille (last heard from in 1979)
13. Band On The Run (it needs to be included)
14. Get Back (a teaser for the new DeLuxe Let It Be DVD? I think not)
15. Lonely Road (from the Back in the US tour 2002-3)
16. Run Devil Run (from the short 1999 tour)
17. Get Out Of My Way (from the 1993 tour)
18. Twenty Flight Rock (historically important)
19. That Was Me (from the 2007 secret gigs, the last verse is the screamer)
20. Figure of Eight (the opener from the 1989 comeback tour)
21. Party Party (OK, maybe not) I’ve Got A Feeling
22. Not Such A Bad Boy (Broad Street, never performed live before)
23. Ballroom Dancing (Tug of War, ditto, I can hear him scream the title)
24. Old Siam, Sir (from the 1979 UK tour)
25. Helter Skelter (part of the set list from 2004-)
26. Hippy Hippy Shake (a pleasant surprise in Liverpool last year)
27. Live And Let Die (pyrotechnics time)
of course, then he has to wind down a bit for the encore, starting with:
27. I Saw Her Standing There (goes without saying)
28. Yesterday (he has to)
29. Lady Madonna (also performed in recent years)
30. Hey Jude (audience participation time)
and another fake “goodbye” before the last encore:
31. I’m Down (he sang it in NYC in 2001, too bad he didn’t at Shea last year)
32. Sgt Pepper’s (reprise)/The End

Paul McCartney plays the Coachella Festival on Friday the 17th of April. Tickets
Artist page