McCartney concert a celebration

All hail Sir Paul!

Paul McCartney's appearance last night in the Tacoma Dome was more than just another superstar concert. It was a celebration of a spectacular 40-year career, and a chance for fans to show their appreciation and respect.

Flanked by 20 video screens displaying the live action as well as vintage film clips of The Beatles and Wings, McCartney looked younger than his 60 years. He had an animated, charming way with the crowd, leading his four bandmates through his amazing song catalog with confidence and ease.

"Oh, Tacoma, Sea-AT-le, we have come to rock tonight," he said, as the capacity crowd stood and cheered.

Opening, appropriately, with "Hello Goodbye," he emphasized Beatles classics, the best of Wings, but only a few songs from his new album, "Driving Rain."

The second song, Wings' "Jet," kept the crowd excited, as the did The Beatles' warm, easy-swinging "All My Loving."

"Oh yeah, oh yeah," McCartney drawled, "I get the feeling we're gonna have a good time here tonight."

Part of the appeal was hearing McCartney's own take on some of pop's most enduring songs. He explained, for instance, that he was performing a Beatles song for the first time on this tour, before singing "Getting Better."

Then came Wings' lively "Coming Up" and the slow-rocking, slinky love song "Let Me Roll It."

The first sampling of songs from the new album included "Lonely Road," "Driving Rain" and, "For My Lovely Lady, Heather" (whom he married in June, and who was in the audience), "Your Loving Flame."

Later he sang a song written for his late wife, Linda, the much better "My Love."

The best-received new song came later. "Freedom," which he wrote for The Concert for New York after 9/11, which, in effect, made him an honorary American.

A long acoustic portion, with McCartney playing guitar and keyboards alone on stage, strengthened his bond with the audience. He explained that "Blackbird" was written during the civil-rights movement, "about the plight of young black women." After "Every Night" and "We Can Work It Out" on guitar, he switched to a psychedelic-colored keyboard for "Carry That Weight," during which he seemed to forget the words, making the audience laugh (seems he's forgotten the words at all the concerts on this tour). Perhaps the best of the acoustic set was "Fool On the Hill."

Especially moving were songs dedicated to John Lennon ("Here Today," which included the line, "I love you, John") and George Harrison ("Something," with McCartney playing a ukulele which he said had belonged to Harrison). As he played the songs, images of his old Beatlemates played on the video screens.

He went from fast songs ("Band on the Run," "Back in the U.S.S.R," "Can't Buy Me Love," the pyro-drenched "Live and Let Die") to slow ones ("Here, There and Everywhere," "Michele," "Maybe I'm Amazed," with McCartney at the grand piano).

After closing the main set with an audience singalong of "Hey Jude," McCartney and band returned for two supercharged encores, which included "Lady Madonna," "I Saw Her Standing There," "Yesterday" and a finale of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." The generous set lasted more than 2-1/2 hours.

McCartney's relatively young band was remarkable. Drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. added a punk-edged kick to many songs, while remaining faithful to Ringo Starr's original Beatles patterns in key places. Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray were expert guitarists and capable harmony singers. Longtime McCartney friend Wix Wickens played keyboards, sometimes supplying sounds of strings (as during "She's Leaving Home") or horns (real ones would've worked better).