“What if it rained? We didn’t care.”– “My Valentine,” Paul McCartney.
I’ve seen some great concerts this year. Gregg and I kicked off the summer concert-going season with the Stones and just saw David Gilmour at Madison Square Garden. But sadly, once again, one of my all-time favorites, Paul McCartney, wasn’t playing in our area. I frequently check his tour schedule as we’ve traveled to see him, most recently to Orlando in 2022.
So, imagine my surprise and excitement when I recently checked his website and saw that he was playing in San José, Costa Rica on November 5th. Gregg and I were going to be in Costa Rica then! But we were staying on the other side of the country. Sigh. I did some research and found out that the Estadio Nacional was about a 4–5-hour drive from our resort. That was doable! There was NO WAY I was going to miss him! When I proposed the idea of going to the concert to our friends that we were vacationing with, thankfully they were as excited to see him as I was! We hired a driver and made the trek across the country to San José.
San José was a big city and the traffic was brutal. The ride there ended up taking 6 hours. Our driver Don was very patient the entire way and as the stadium came into view, we hopped out of the car as quickly as we could to get in line. We ran up to the first gate we saw and tried to enter the stadium. UGH, the entrance for our section was on the other side of the stadium! They told us we had to walk around the entire building. You couldn’t enter and walk around on the inside; it didn’t go all the way around. So, we started walking. Briskly. As we went, we dodged the street vendors selling ponchos and concert t-shirts; the aroma of grilled skewered meats and the sounds of “carne” filled the air. As we were walking in, we heard Paul coming on – he was singing “A Hard Day’s Night.” We got to our seats during the second song, “Junior’s Farm.” There was no time for food, beer, or a bathroom break. We had to see Paul!
Rain began to fall, and as we stood at our seats screaming our heads off, I was surprised that the Costa Rican crowd wasn’t as vocal as us. Everyone was singing, bopping their heads, and tapping their feet, but only occasionally stood up and danced, at least in our section. But the phone lights came out for “Let it Be” and “Hey Jude” just like in Philly.
He played for about 2 and a half hours, somewhat shorter than his U.S. shows, but we were told that concerts typically end at 10 p.m. at the stadium. All in all, it was a solid set that featured Beatles’ faves, classic Wings’ hits, and a good number of newer songs. He’s recently been including tributes to John Lennon and George Harrison, and he included them. There were a few songs I could have done without, namely, “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.” I would much rather have heard “Elenore Rigby” or something from Venus and Mars. It’s my favorite Wings album and he rarely plays anything from it. One song glaringly missing from the setlist was “Yesterday.” He almost ALWAYS plays it. Not sure why he didn’t but I sure missed hearing him sing it.
All in all, I am soo glad that we went to the show. I might not have many more opportunities to experience the pure joy that a McCartney concert provides.
I found the setlist from the show somewhere online in case you’re wondering what he played; a total of 37 songs!
1. A Hard Day’s Night
2. Junior’s Farm
3. Letting Go
4. Drive My Car
5. Got To Get You Into My Life
6. Come On To Me
7. Let Me Roll It
8. Getting Better
9. Let’ Em In
10. My Valentine
11. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
12. Maybe I’m Amazed
13. I’ve Just Seen A Face
14. In Spite Of All The Danger
15. Love Me Do
16. Dance Tonight
17. Blackbird
18. Here Today
19. Now And Then
20. New
21. Lady Madonna
22. Jet
23. Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite
24. Something
25. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
26. Band On The Run
27. Get Back
28. Let It Be
29. Live And Let Die
30. Hey Jude
31. I’ve Got A Feeling
32. I Saw Her Standing There (DEBUT)
33. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
34. Helter Skelter
35. Golden Slumbers
36. Carry That Weight
37. The End