August 16, 2009
The Top of the Slide
The presence of canes, limps, and the occasional walker ambulating down 10th Street toward Piedmont Park on a sweltering Atlanta evening told the tale: a rock concert was in the offing. And not just any rock concert: it was a baby boomer concert. In this case Paul McCartney, which I attended with Key and my sister and brother-in-law.
Now I love concerts like this, because even though P Mac is the Lesser Beatle, he's a consummate showman who loves to put on a great fucking two and a half hour rock and roll show. And he thankfully did not play The Girl is Mine in tribute to that recently deceased white woman.
Paul did mention, however, that the evening was the 45th anniversary of the legendary Beatles concert at Shea Stadium (it was actually the 44th anniversary, but Paul's an old fart now, so he can be forgiven a lapse or two). He also mentioned it was the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. He did not mention it was also the 40th anniversary (plus a few days) of the Manson Family murders. But he did play Helter Skelter as an encore, so I would like to think he was just pointing it out with a wink and a nod.
As there was a competing Poison/Def Leppard/Cheap Trick concert at Lakewood Amphitheater the average age at P Mac's was pretty ancient. A lot of parents taking their teen and even twenty-something kids. I, too, enjoy that kind of living in the past, but it was certainly a sad thing to see the current state of my generation, all flabby and gray and buttfucking ugly. Especially so when I would remember from time to time I was older than a few of them, even as I would think to myself how's that narcissism working out for you now? Nice your kid's wearing a tee shirt from a twenty thousand dollar a year Atlanta prep school, but he doesn't look very happy. Probably the same expression I would have had if my parents had taken me to see Hoagy Carmichael in 1974.
Here's a picture Key took of a corpulent homosexual roaming the concert as a blue Hawaiian fairy, or something. I didn't get it, but then I'm always just ahead of gay culture, or slightly behind. I'm never sure.
I tihnk the only thing better than being at the top of the slide is being at the bottom, and being able to go back to the top of the slide, and doing it again.
Paul's my favorite--don't call him a Lesser Beatle! John is overrated.
Posted by: Belinda at August 16, 2009 6:22 PMWell, Paul was certainly the Greater Beatle last night. Unles there was a seance I missed.
Posted by: Velociman at August 16, 2009 6:29 PMMe thinks you are right. McCartney is the lesser Beatle. Considering that Lennon was married to Yoko Ono, that definitely means that McCartney is the lesser insane of the two.
Posted by: Tbird at August 16, 2009 7:08 PMPffft! I've had enough of silly love songs. . .
Posted by: Joan of Argghh! at August 16, 2009 7:53 PMGeorge was the best Beatle, IMO. Overlooked on account of the two attention whores.
Posted by: PeggyU at August 16, 2009 10:10 PMRingo was my fav. Anyone who was able to tap Barbra Bach, back in the day, and has remained married to her to this day, has to be a force to be reckoned with.
Posted by: Guy S at August 16, 2009 11:49 PMNot so much a 'Beatles' fan (I was slightly younger than they, and their crest passed me by before I had a chance to put away the stronger stuff), but definitely a P Mac (who came up with that acronym anyways?) fan. Junior's Farm, then Live and Let Die, and this one, found on the back side of a 45, which stirred my nascent political interests. I'll bet he didn't play that one.
Posted by: serr8d at August 17, 2009 1:01 AMOh, I meant to ask...do you not supply eye bleach when you do things like that to your readers? )
Posted by: serr8d at August 17, 2009 1:03 AMVanderleun: You may not be able to unsee it. But perhaps this will help you to forget it! (Courtesy of LisaK ...) ;)
Posted by: PeggyU at August 17, 2009 3:58 AM
Queer Eye for the Blind Tasteless Guy
Posted by: j3 at August 17, 2009 7:39 AMI gotta go with with George Harrison, based solely upon the Traveling Wilburys.
As far as the fat douche bag goes. I suppose Kelly and I will be seeing him at Fantasy Fest this year as well. Hey, maybe we'll con him into pulling the top off...
Posted by: dick at August 17, 2009 7:49 AMI don't like the Beatles.
Posted by: rob sama at August 17, 2009 9:57 AMPaul was the most talented of all the Beatles. He was certainly the best musician. Just remember that on Baby I'm Amazed he played all of the instruments, including the drums. Unfortunately, Paul or John separately did not write as well as Paul and John together. Ringo? When they first started recording, the record dudes wanted someone besides Ringo to play drums. George? Very overrated. Lost a copyright suit over My Sweet Lord. John? Two words. Yoko Ono. He really didn't do much memorable work after the breakup of the Beatles. I wasn't a big fan of Wings. Linda McCartney? GMAFB! Gotta hand it to Paul. He's still rocking after all these years and he played a 2.5 hour set.
Posted by: Denny at August 17, 2009 2:51 PMIf given a choice, I'd recommend you follow behind any gay culture. I mean, just from what I've gathered over the years.
Of course, that dirndl thing (sp?) gives me pause.
Posted by: LauraB at August 17, 2009 3:14 PMFunny thing, Rob: the Beatles don't like you either. If you play that bit in "The End" backwards it says "Sama's been slain in a bloody car crash."
Posted by: Velociman at August 17, 2009 5:36 PMThe Missus and I saw Pablito 16 years ago in Houston. Same basic show, except Linda McCartney was still walking the planet then, so we hadda put up with her presence on stage. Started off with Drive My Car and blasted through a (yep) 2-and-a-half hour set that was heavy on Beatles classics (thank Gawd) and light on Wings material (thank Gawd again). Great show... but now that we've seen it, we didn't feel like dropping about two bills for the privilege of sweating, getting rained on, and devoured by mosquitoes while enjoying our Old Folks Moozik.
Glad you had fun, though...
Posted by: Elisson at August 17, 2009 6:32 PMI love Maybe I'm Amazed. Paul sounds like kind of a dog behind closed doors... but otherwise a nice guy considering his fame and success.
That was one image that should not have been posted. Lil' Cappy don't wanna come out and play now.
Posted by: Cappy at August 17, 2009 8:34 PMUm, so there's something unusual with the photo? During my younger years flouncing around Atlanta festivities, this was a common sight. So what, Atlanta's gotten uptight and conservative since I left? My, my.
Posted by: Maimou at August 18, 2009 8:00 AM