Watching Paul McCartney Still Bring The House Down At 82 Year Old Is A Damn Treat
As soon as Paul McCartney was announced for last night's Saturday Night Live's 50th Anniversary Special, I figured he'd probably be the one close the night, presumably with a big 'Hey Jude' singalong. Someone's gotta "send the crowd home happy" and who better than a Beatle?! So I watched the whole episode on the edge of my seat, just waiting for his performance to be introduced, but when it came time for Macca I was only half right.
Of course, he would be closing the show (nobody could follow that) but instead of 'Hey Jude' - he went with the Abbey Road medley of "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" which brought the god damn house down. It was such a perfect pick; it has the 'Carry That Weight' singalong, suuuuch a rockin drum solo/trading guitar solos that had the entire crowd going nuts, and the 'Love You Take/Love You Make' moment at the end (no pun intended) is one of those moments in music that I'm sure made everyone in that room go, "Holy shit, we're watching a Beatle right now." Just look at the smiles on the faces of every celebrity in that room....
You hear a lot of quotes nowadays about how aging is beautiful - stuff like "wrinkles indicate where smiles have been" and whatnot. I definitely agree with that, and personally see it the most in a performance like this. You can hear Paul straining really hard to hit the same notes he was hitting over fifty years ago on 'Abbey Road' at times, and he doesn't always get there. More often than not, he's right on the money, but sometimes his voice just isn't quite as strong as it used to be, and you can definitely hear how it's aged over the years - but I think that's fucking beautiful. This man is 82 years old and getting out there with no backing tracks and just going for it - and still, nobody can compare. It's a treat to watch every time. Not to mention he had THREE surprise shows in the city this week that all lasted at least two hours just for the love of the game.
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I wonder who got to smoke with Sir Paul after the show last night. I'd imagine someone like Martin Short (who famously smoked with George Harrison) is an instant invite, but do his 'Only Murders' costars Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis try to make their way into that circle? Does a young gun like Miles Teller shoot his shot? He was dancing and singing along as much as anybody in that crowd. Oh, to be a fly on the wall at that afterparty.
P.S. I really enjoyed the 50th Anniversary special as a whole. Obviously some stuff flopped hard, but I loved the Paul Simon/Sabrina Carpenter performance to kick the night off and Steve Martin's monologue was great, as was Weekend Update, Tina Fey/Amy Poehler's "Q&A" segment, Adam Sandler's tribute song, Debbie Downer, the "In Memoriam", and that great Eddie Murphy/Kenan Thompson/Will Ferrell 'Scared Straight' sketch.