HIIIIII I just wanted to make a post about this and decided that AFF was the best place. Sry this has nothing to do with kpop but it's important to me. Just wanted to let y'all know:

At 17 years old, I SAW SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY LIVE!!!!! :DDDD 

I don't think y'all understand how much this means to me. You guys don't know this, but I literally grew up listening to the Beatles. They were the first band I ever liked/listened to. As a kid, the only music I ever knew was Kidz Bop (i know, I'm ashamed as well 😔) and my dad realized that my brother and I did not know the actual artists so one day he popped a Beatles CD into the CD player of his car. The first song that came on was Strawberry Fields Forever, then Back in the USSR, then Penny Lane, etc (I believe it's the 1967-1970 album). For most of my life, that's all I listened to: the Beatles plus some other rock bands. Together, they helped shape my eclectic music tastes. Additionally, Paul became my favorite member. He was/is an amazing musician and singer-songwriter. Growing up, I was always anxious that I would never be able to see him perform live before he died, especially since he's 74 right now. But luckily, my dad was able to get tickets to see him in Metlife Stadium, and I didn't  fully process that we were about to see THE Paul McCartney until last night. 

For those who don't know, in addition to the Beatles, Paul also has a successful solo career and worked with the Wings for some time. He ended up performing some Wings songs and a couple of his solo songs last night. 

Anyway, so Metlife Stadium can house up to 85,000 people (according to my dad, please politely correct me if that number is wrong) but the sections behind the stage were not used, so I'm estimating perhaps 80,000 seats were available (I'm bad at estimating mind you). And I kid y'all not when I say that (practically) EVERY AVAILABLE SEAT IN THE ENTIRE STADIUM WAS FILLED. From the pit to the first section of seats all the way up to the high balconies, ALL SECTIONS WERE PACKED with people of ALL races and all ages. And it was truly an experience being under the night sky, singing along with literally tens of thousands of people of all walks of life. 

Now, the concert itself was amazing. What surprised me most was the fact that most of the audience were Beatles fans. Even Paul himself pointed out that whenever he and his band played Beatles songs, the crowd lit up and went wild; but when he played either a Wings song or his more recent songs, the crowd became a "black hole" (his words, not mine). He said that he didn't care, and went on to play "another black hole" XD (his exact words: "We don't care. Here's another black hole.") To be quite honest, although I was ecstatic that he played so many Beatles songs (since I DID grow up with them, after all), I kinda wanted to hear more of his recent stuff. I LOVE his album 'NEW' from 2013 and he DID play 'Queenie Eye' and 'New', but a part of me wanted to hear 'On My Way To Work', 'Looking at Her' and 'Scared', and 'Everybody Out There', since this was, after all, a PAUL MCCARTNEY concert, not a Beatles concert. Nonetheless, I loved the concert, since I did grow up with the Beatles anyway. 

Now, truthfully, I was too far away to get clear pictures and footage of him on the stage, so I had to rely on the screens to even SEE him. In spite of this, hearing his voice, the instruments, and the screams and cheers of the audience helped the feeling of seeing him live sink in me. And I can happily say that I enjoyed seeing him live and that distance to the stage did not matter as much as I thought it would. 

Now this next part may be controversial for some hardcore kpop fans, but they are my feelings and MINE only, so if you are sensitive to any kind of criticism, LEAVE NOW.

Anyway, throughout the concert last night, Paul told stories about his experiences and the meaning behind some songs. For instance, the Beatles have a song called 'Back in the USSR' and they've always wanted to actually perform that song IN Russia. And eventually, Russia actually asked them to perform in Moscow, making them the first rock band to perform in Russia. During the concert, the Beatles met members of the Russian government, who were backstage, and many of them said that they learned to speak English from listening to Beatles' songs. Another story, Paul said that he wrote 'Blackbird' in order to give people in the southern United States in the 1960's hope, since people were hopeless in the Civil Rights' Movement and all that. He told other stories throughout but for now I'll leave it at that.

I forget if I ever mentioned this on AFF, but I saw EXO at the Prudential Center back in February. That was my first concert ever, and I loved it to say the least. But seeing Paul last night and HEARING those stories (as well as remembering my experience with seeing Art Garfunkel live last year) made me realize that I don't think I can get such an intimate connection with kpop groups. I don't quite know how to word it, but with EXO, they performed their songs and just kept saying how much they loved the fans and worked hard and all. Again, I LOVED Exo'luxion, and I don't want ANYONE to twist my words and say that I did not enjoy it. I'm pointing out that with Exo, and probably with other Kpop groups/artists as well, I don't get to hear such funny or personal stories about how a certain song came into being, or funny experiences that happened at past concerts or something. I mean, I get WHY it's like that: it's because most of the groups themselves DIDN'T write their own songs, so there are naturally no stories TO tell. And I get that EXO-L's like myself are pumped to hear them perform in front of their own eyes, and I am more than happy that I saw them live, but I don't think I could have that kind of intimate commection with them, you know?

Then again, the Beatles practically wrote most, if not all, of their somgs, so there are naturally stories to tell behind each and every song. I just thought that this revelation was worth sharing. Again, I LOVED seeing EXO live, and if I could, I would absolutely see them again. 

So once again, I AM SO FRICKIN HAPPY AND ECSTATIC THAT I SAW PAUL!!!! I doubt that I'll ever see him again, because I'm pretty sure he's gonna die soon; but at 74, he was still killing it with his energy, talent, and passion, and seeing him live at least once has satisfied me beyond expectations. :)))