Paul McCartney at Sacramento Golden 1 Center Lives Up to Hype

Magnificent light show at the Golden 1 Center for Paul McCartney.

When I bought our tickets for Paul McCartney at Sacramento Golden 1 Center, the individual seats and rows were not available for viewing, just the sections. So I picked Section 121, just to the left of the stage but still in front, and bought tickets for Row B, thinking it was the second row.

Just so you know, the rows begin at AA and run through FF before A. You know, in case you’re buying tickets at some future date for the Golden 1 Center. Still, I am not complaining about our seat location when there is so much to complain about the seats themselves.

I’d rather fly in classe de economia to Miami than sit in these seats, and I almost never fly in coach in anymore because it’s too darned uncomfortable. At the Sacramento Golden 1 Center, there is no room between your knees and the seat in front of you. I am a small person, and I pretty much had to stand up to cross my legs before sitting back down. If you don’t mind sitting with both feet firmly planted on the floor with your hands in your lap, you won’t mind the space. The seats are so hard you could bounce quarters off the surface.

Elizabeth Weintraub at dinner at Brasserie Capitale before Paul McCartney concert in Sacramento.

Here I am just before dinner and the concert. We could not get reservations at Ella so we settled for our second choice across the street, Brasserie Capitale, which is a French restaurant we love. Just to celebrate the fact that all of the restaurants in town were featuring vegetarian selections to “honor” Paul McCartney, including Golden 1 Center, I ordered the filet de boeuf au vin de cahors, which was medium rare, served with a red wine and demi glace. Not to mention the wonderful fingerling potatoes fried in duck fat. Because that’s how I roll.

NE entrance at night to the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

You could not help but feel the air of electricity circulating on the streets and sidewalks, leading up to the Golden 1 Center. Everybody seemed excited and happy. Except for the religious guys, whom we used to call Jesus Freaks in the old days, holding up signs and shouting about Hell is Horrible, and our favorite phrase of the evening, “This is not the Ed Sullivan Show.”

Sacramento Mayor-elect Darrell Steinberg and Sacramento Kings’ owner work the crowd.

We could not really complain our location in the arena, well, I think I already did, but it wasn’t that bad because the two rows in front of us seemed to be filled with family and friends of our new mayor elect and the Kings’ owner Vivek Ranadivé. They were shaking hands and hugging everybody in sight. Later on, our present mayor, Kevin Johnson, came by, too, and hugged a few people.

Then, after an hour into the show, the people in the two rows in front of us abruptly departed. That allowed me to hang my feet over the seats in front of me and stretch a little. Hey, it was after my bedtime, too, but I wasn’t about to leave Paul McCartney at Sacramento Golden 1 Center.

Here is a quick 30-minute video of the opening song, Hard Day’s Night:

Video screens captured all the action on stage at Paul McCartney concert.

After the two rows in front split, I thought about using my Kings App to order a drink. We didn’t grab anything liquid while making our way down to our seats, and I was not planning on leaving the show just to get a drink. At that point, even a bottle of water would have been welcome, and I am not a huge water consumer like most people. However, when I clicked on the order button, I received a message that reported beverage service was unavailable for this event. Darn.

Paul McCartney performs Blackbird on raised flower power platform.

Not having looked at the set list before the concert, I had imagined Paul McCartney would play a lot of his newer stuff, but he didn’t. He sang many early Beatles’ songs and worked his way through top hits from a variety of early albums, which clearly delighted fans. At one point Sir McCartney said that every time he sang a song everybody knew, he spotted a sea of shining cellphones, and when he sang a new song, there was nothing but a black hole.

There is a feature on the Kings App for a lighter, and the guy in front of me was trying to use it, except it didn’t do anything but show an old-fashioned box lighter with a flame. It wasn’t even bright. He must not go to concerts much because it took him a while to figure out he needed to illuminate the flashlight and turn his cellphone around.

Paul McCartney and Band One on One Tour Golden 1 Center

As for the guys in the band at Paul McCartney at Sacramento Golden 1 Center performance, I can’t tell you exactly who they are, but I can tell you who I thought they were. Directly behind Paul McCartney, with the blond hair, you’ve got Kato Kaelin. Next to him, Mr. Clean from the 1960s TV commercials. The guy with the brown hair is Jackson Browne; I’ve always had a crush on Jackson Browne, who hasn’t and, behind him, on accordion and keyboards, that DEA agent from Breaking Bad.

Paul McCartney performed for 3 hours. He is only 10 years older than me, and I hope I have his stamina when I’m that age. Loved the show. It was 50 years of music in one place, and you don’t get that every day.

Two quick notes to end upon, maybe the most touching part was when a 12-year-old girl came up on stage with her mom holding a sign that read I want to hold your hand. Paul held her hand, kissed her cheek and tears flew out of her eyes. You couldn’t help but tear up yourself watching that.

The other was the blowing up of what I think was the British Parliament, coupled with this pyro effect of startling large and jutting flames from the front of the stage while Paul sang Live and Let Die. Everything exploded very loudly on the words “Let Die.” Paul has a fun streak! It’s not all Hey Jude.

Photos: © Elizabeth Weintraub