Paul McCartney rocks Piedmont Park

Paul McCartney rocks Piedmont Park

There were a number of anniversaries acknowledged and celebrated Saturday night: 44 years since the Beatles performed at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, 40 years since Woodstock and the 20th anniversary of the Piedmont Park Conservancy.

It was the latter that brought Sir Paul McCartney and opening guests The Script to Midtown to perform for a crowd of about 40,000 on the restored 10th Street Meadow. McCartney played a set list heavy on Beatles classics, including a ukulele tribute to George Harrison with “Something,”

Even a 20 minute downpour couldn’t dampen the mood of the crowd who gladly sang along to everything from “Got to Get You Into My Life” to Wings’ “Mrs. Vanderbilt.” When the rain did let up, a wet crowd swayed along with fingers in the air for “Give Peace a Chance.”

The most visual of McCartney’s two-and-a-half hour energetic set included pyrotechnics choreographed to the James Bond theme song “Live and Let Die.”

In between songs, the 67-year old charmed the crowd with stories about Jimmy Hendrix learning “Sgt. Pepper” two days after it was released and how the Beatles could never hear themselves when they were playing because “all the girls were screaming,” so all the females in the audience took the hint and screamed away.
 
The green concert raised funds for Piedmont Park’s 53-acre expansion and maintenance.