Podcast: Is the hunt for Paul McCartney tickets the new musical reality in Hamilton?
But if you were one of those who went online to get a pair last week, chances are you were
gobsmacked
– that was a word used in a Spectator article about the experience – not just at the number of people who had the same idea but the prices, if you made it far enough to actually pull out the credit card.
The cheap tickets cost hundreds of dollars. The not-so-cheap ones cost thousands.
Was this a one-off because it's McCartney and opening night for the reimagined arena or is this the future of concerts here in Hamilton? Is this city a secondary market with secondary-market prices or should folks around here be bracing themselves for high fees every time someone plays here?
This podcast explores issues about the city and stories of interest to those who call it home. Every week, Spectator columnist Scott Radley will dive into hot-button topics with newsmakers, explore stories with the reporters covering them, and chat with those who add to the fabric of this community.
Whether it's serious or lighthearted, Placeline Hamilton will keep you informed and engaged.
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CNN
a day ago
- CNN
Paul McCartney's 1985 Live Aid performance, his first live show in five years, was nearly derailed by a tech glitch
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch CNN Original Series 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took On the World,' celebrating the definitive story of how two rockstars inspired the largest global music events in history. The four-part series continues Sunday, July 27 at 9pm ET/PT. Paul McCartney hadn't taken the stage in over five years when he sat down at his piano to sing 'Let It Be' for Live Aid on July 13, 1985, in a performance that was almost totally derailed by a single tech glitch. There the music legend was – performing live for the first time since his post-Beatles band Wings had broken up, and his lifelong friend and Beatles bandmate John Lennon had been assassinated – to sing 'Let It Be,' one of the last songs the Fab Four ever released… and minutes into the performance, McCartney's microphone died. 'One guy. A mic and a piano (and) a mic for the voice. Really simple. What happened?' Live Aid organizer and musician Bob Geldof recalled thinking at the time in CNN's 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took On the World.' Geldof added that he thought, 'Oh no, it's going to be a disaster.' All of the estimated 1.8 billion viewers tuning into the mega benefit concert couldn't even hear McCartney, let alone the massive crowd that stood before him at London's Wembley Stadium. Then something magical happened: the crowd started to sing along and help pick up the song for McCartney. But it wasn't just the crowd who saw that McCartney needed help, either. 'There were a bunch of people standing around and either Pete (Townshend, of The Who) or David (Bowie) said to me, 'Come on, let's help him.' Literally if you can think of a moment where 'I am not worthy' is beyond true, it's that moment,' Geldof recalled. Townshend, Bowie, Geldof and singer Alison Moyet huddled behind McCartney on stage to help him sing the song's final verses when the microphones started to work again, allowing the impromptu quintet – along with the singing Wembley crowd – to complete the song. Afterward, Townshend and McCartney hoisted Geldof on their shoulders before the Wembley Stadium headliners, including George Michael, Bono, members of The Who, Bowie, McCartney, Queen and many more, all joined together on stage to sing Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas' to close out the show. The Live Aid benefit was organized by musicians Geldof and Midge Ure to draw attention to a famine in Ethiopia. It spanned multiple locations, drew nearly two billion viewers around the world and raised more than $125 million for relief efforts. While Geldof had already secured a lineup of the most famous and revered rock 'n roll musicians for Live Aid, he said in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock earlier this month that he felt he needed a Beatle to participate and wrote McCartney a letter at the time outlining his case, asking him to play one song at the end of the show. 'I knew he must get a hundred requests to do things, but I really felt like the program would not be complete without him there. I was not writing to Paul McCartney, the man, I said, but to PAUL MCCARTNEY, the phenomenon,' Geldof explained. 'If he played, millions would watch who would not otherwise watch. That would mean money would come in that would not otherwise come in.' McCartney and his band Wings hadn't performed since 1979's Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, and shortly thereafter disbanded in 1981. McCartney hadn't taken the stage after that but did continue to release new music over the next few years. So when Geldof approached him about Live Aid, McCartney recalled telling him, 'I can't Bob, I haven't got a band together now.' Geldof, according to McCartney, didn't find that to be a problem at all, telling him, 'Well, you just sit at the piano and play your own number.' Ultimately, McCartney agreed. 'I just had to come. Simple as that,' McCartney said, adding that Geldof was also the person who chose the song that McCartney would sing. 'He's running the whole bloody show!' Geldof told Ultimate Classic Rock that 'there is a hierarchy in rock 'n' roll,' with the Beatles being at the top. 'So he goes on, one song, to give us the benediction, to give us the Beatles imprimatur, and of course it's 'Let It Be,' which I had asked him to do.' Live Aid wound up not just being McCartney's return for a one-off performance. He's been touring regularly ever since – even up until today, as McCartney, now 83, is set to continue his Get Back tour in the US this fall. Turns out, the legendary musician isn't quite ready to just let it be.
CNN
a day ago
- CNN
Paul McCartney's 1985 Live Aid performance, his first live show in five years, was nearly derailed by a tech glitch
People in entertainment Paul McCartney Music BeatlesFacebookTweetLink Follow PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch CNN Original Series 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took On the World,' celebrating the definitive story of how two rockstars inspired the largest global music events in history. The four-part series continues Sunday, July 27 at 9pm ET/PT. Paul McCartney hadn't taken the stage in over five years when he sat down at his piano to sing 'Let It Be' for Live Aid on July 13, 1985, in a performance that was almost totally derailed by a single tech glitch. There the music legend was – performing live for the first time since his post-Beatles band Wings had broken up, and his lifelong friend and Beatles bandmate John Lennon had been assassinated – to sing 'Let It Be,' one of the last songs the Fab Four ever released… and minutes into the performance, McCartney's microphone died. 'One guy. A mic and a piano (and) a mic for the voice. Really simple. What happened?' Live Aid organizer and musician Bob Geldof recalled thinking at the time in CNN's 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took On the World.' Geldof added that he thought, 'Oh no, it's going to be a disaster.' All of the estimated 1.8 billion viewers tuning into the mega benefit concert couldn't even hear McCartney, let alone the massive crowd that stood before him at London's Wembley Stadium. Then something magical happened: the crowd started to sing along and help pick up the song for McCartney. But it wasn't just the crowd who saw that McCartney needed help, either. 'There were a bunch of people standing around and either Pete (Townshend, of The Who) or David (Bowie) said to me, 'Come on, let's help him.' Literally if you can think of a moment where 'I am not worthy' is beyond true, it's that moment,' Geldof recalled. Townshend, Bowie, Geldof and singer Alison Moyet huddled behind McCartney on stage to help him sing the song's final verses when the microphones started to work again, allowing the impromptu quintet – along with the singing Wembley crowd – to complete the song. Afterward, Townshend and McCartney hoisted Geldof on their shoulders before the Wembley Stadium headliners, including George Michael, Bono, members of The Who, Bowie, McCartney, Queen and many more, all joined together on stage to sing Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas' to close out the show. The Live Aid benefit was organized by musicians Geldof and Midge Ure to draw attention to a famine in Ethiopia. It spanned multiple locations, drew nearly two billion viewers around the world and raised more than $125 million for relief efforts. While Geldof had already secured a lineup of the most famous and revered rock 'n roll musicians for Live Aid, he said in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock earlier this month that he felt he needed a Beatle to participate and wrote McCartney a letter at the time outlining his case, asking him to play one song at the end of the show. 'I knew he must get a hundred requests to do things, but I really felt like the program would not be complete without him there. I was not writing to Paul McCartney, the man, I said, but to PAUL MCCARTNEY, the phenomenon,' Geldof explained. 'If he played, millions would watch who would not otherwise watch. That would mean money would come in that would not otherwise come in.' McCartney and his band Wings hadn't performed since 1979's Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, and shortly thereafter disbanded in 1981. McCartney hadn't taken the stage after that but did continue to release new music over the next few years. So when Geldof approached him about Live Aid, McCartney recalled telling him, 'I can't Bob, I haven't got a band together now.' Geldof, according to McCartney, didn't find that to be a problem at all, telling him, 'Well, you just sit at the piano and play your own number.' Ultimately, McCartney agreed. 'I just had to come. Simple as that,' McCartney said, adding that Geldof was also the person who chose the song that McCartney would sing. 'He's running the whole bloody show!' Geldof told Ultimate Classic Rock that 'there is a hierarchy in rock 'n' roll,' with the Beatles being at the top. 'So he goes on, one song, to give us the benediction, to give us the Beatles imprimatur, and of course it's 'Let It Be,' which I had asked him to do.' Live Aid wound up not just being McCartney's return for a one-off performance. He's been touring regularly ever since – even up until today, as McCartney, now 83, is set to continue his Get Back tour in the US this fall. Turns out, the legendary musician isn't quite ready to just let it be.
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Jazz legend Chuck Mangione, known for ‘Feels So Good,' dies at 84
NEW YORK (AP) — Two-time Grammy Award-winning musician Chuck Mangione, who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-flavored single 'Feels So Good' and later became a voice actor on the animated TV comedy 'King of the Hill,' has died. He was 84. Mangione died at his home in Rochester, New York, on Tuesday in his sleep, said his attorney, Peter S. Matorin of Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP. The musician had been retired since 2015. Perhaps his biggest hit — 'Feels So Good' — is a staple on most smooth-jazz radio stations and has been called one of the most recognized melodies since 'Michelle' by the Beatles. It hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top of the Billboard adult contemporary chart. 'It identified for a lot of people a song with an artist, even though I had a pretty strong base audience that kept us out there touring as often as we wanted to, that song just topped out there and took it to a whole other level,' Mangione told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2008. He followed that hit with 'Give It All You Got,' commissioned for the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, and he performed it at the closing ceremony. Mangione, a flugelhorn and trumpet player and jazz composer, released more than 30 albums during a career in which he built a sizable following after recording several albums, doing all the writing. He won his first Grammy Award in 1977 for his album 'Bellavia,' which was named in honor of his mother. Another album, 'Friends and Love,' was also Grammy-nominated, and he earned a best original score Golden Globe nomination and a second Grammy for the movie 'The Children of Sanchez.' Mangione introduced himself to a new audience when he appeared on the first several seasons of 'King of the Hill,' appearing as a commercial spokesman for Mega Lo Mart, where 'shopping feels so good.' Mangione, brother of jazz pianist Gap Mangione, with whom he partnered in The Jazz Brothers, started his career as a bebop jazz musician heavily inspired by Dizzy Gillespie. 'He also was one of the first musicians I saw who had a rapport with the audience by just telling the audience what he was going to play and who was in his band,' Mangione told the Post-Gazette. Mangione earned a bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music — where he would eventually return as director of the school's jazz ensemble — and left home to play with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He donated his signature brown felt hat and the score of his Grammy-winning single 'Feels So Good,' as well as albums, songbooks and other ephemera from his long and illustrious career to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 2009.
