Just watched Paul McCartney perform "Jet" on Saturday Night Live, and am wondering: "...at what point did Paul McCartney start just dialing it in?". Paul, and the band, looked like they were either bored with, or completely tired of, performing. And Paul seemed to just "shout" the notes out, rarely on key. In fact, NONE of the band members seemed to be singing on key, or even relative to each other.

Paul McCartney is a legend. But this performance on SNL was painful to watch (...or listen to). I'm wondering if he, or anyone else, noticed?

Was making some tea and walked past the TV and my dad was watching it and...

yeah, lousy. Was Paul's mic not turned up? Shit was quiet. Boring. Off. Embarassing.

"Band on The Run" wasn't as bad, though he was still straining. But I guess at 68, we should be grateful that he's still around. The guy has been rocking and rolling for a while now.

shonenjoe said:

Was making some tea and walked past the TV and my dad was watching it and...

yeah, lousy. Was Paul's mic not turned up? Shit was quiet. Boring. Off. Embarassing.

It sounded like they had his mic mixed way-under the other guys that were singing, perhaps to hide the fact that he wasn't hitting any of the right notes. Problem was; they weren't singing any better. Heartbreaking!

If you'd been singing the same songs thousands of times for decades, you probably wouldn't be that excited about it either. Basically Paul's just a high priced "oldies" act just like The Rolling Stones or The Eagles. Their audience only wants to hear the hits and not new songs or obscure album tracks. Before the 1990's Paul performed few if any Beatles songs, now they're most of his show. I don't think he performs any "Fireman" songs or any other recent stuff. I doubt Mick Jagger is really that interested in singing Satisfaction, Aretha Franklin in Respect, nor The Time in performing The Bird.

Yep he's sounded better. Even on Fallon his voice was weak. I guess he's been promoing the BOTR CD, so has has to sing. He just needs some rest. He kept looking a the keyboard player, like they were laughing how bad they sounded.

MickyDolenz said:

If you'd been singing the same songs thousands of times for decades, you probably wouldn't be that excited about it either.

I really, REALLY feel that, lol. Seriously, I could almost see all the miles that man must have traveled... on his face. He looked sooooo tired. My heart really goes out to him.

I like your point of him being a high priced "oldies" act. Most people are probably pleased to even be able to just see him live and in person on a stage. The fact that he's not singing like he used to is probably forgivable.

JoeBala said:

Yep he's sounded better. Even on Fallon his voice was weak. I guess he's been promoting the BOTR CD, so he has to sing. He just needs some rest. He kept looking a the keyboard player, like they were laughing how bad they sounded.

They seemed REAL happy when they came to the end of each song too, lol. I never noticed before either how minimally he seems to even play the bass.

The voice ages as one ages. You cannot expect him to sing like he did during his Paul McCartney and Wings era.

luv4u said:

The voice ages as one ages. You cannot expect him to sing like he did during his Paul McCartney and Wings era.

That's so true. I'm sure a big part of what disturbed me about his performance was that it highlighted how I myself have grown so much older since the first time I heard him sing those songs.

SIRIUS-XM'll be broadcasting his Apollo show, live, tomorrow night.

He sounded terrible. At that point, you should just have some integrity and say no to performance requests.

That's why artists like Neil Young are smart - he sounded like he was ancient right from the beginning!

[Edited 12/12/10 7:16am]

MendesCity said:

He sounded terrible. At that point, you should just have some integrity and say no to performance requests.

As I was watching, I was seriously wondering if I could possibly be the only one that was noticing. It was also rather painful watching him try to jump around and ACT like he was full of energy, when his face was telling a completely different story.

Another thought crossed my mind as I was watching: I hope Prince never performs this far past his ability. I find it sad enough that he's already retired his high-heeled boots & thong, from masturbating microphones, and from jumping off pianos, lol. I'd rather see him become a recluse in some castle in the South of France, hand-painting porcelain doves or some shit, lol. Or maybe if/when Prince gets to that point, he can just kick back and release one or two albums a year from his vault. Maybe that's been his retirement plan all along.

Why should anyone retire if they like what they are doing? It's not like Paul needs the money. B.B. King is 85 and still tours and records, but he can't stand long periods of time because of diabetes, so he sits on a stool.

MickyDolenz said:

Why should anyone retire if they like what they are doing? It's not like Paul needs the money. B.B. King is 85 and still tours and records, but he can't stand long periods of time because of diabetes, so he sits on a stool.

True.

Cinnie said:

Cerebus said:

And I'm rarely impressed with SNL live sound these days. The mix is usually awful.

I understand it is "live" but there is something to be said about the mixing for sure, just comparing it to live performances from earlier SNL seasons I've seen.

MickyDolenz said:

Why should anyone retire if they like what they are doing? It's not like Paul needs the money. B.B. King is 85 and still tours and records, but he can't stand long periods of time because of diabetes, so he sits on a stool.

Well now, that's a good point, isn't it? I suppose it all does come down to a persons choice.

Ace said:

SIRIUS-XM'll be broadcasting his Apollo show, live, tomorrow night.

errant said:

Ace said:

SIRIUS-XM'll be broadcasting his Apollo show, live, tomorrow night.

Hey, now!!!

I watched it yesterday , he is a old man now so that is expected.

babybugz said:

I watched it yesterday , he is a old man now so that is expected.

Makes me wish we were all growing younger instead of older. But I guess the end result would be the same; eventually we still end up "gone". I hate that.

Interestingly enough, he sounded good on "his part" of the song A Day in The Life.

[Edited 12/12/10 19:49pm]

i saw him live in glasgow in june....he played for three hours?...and he barely had a break...that is the longest gig i have ever seen...and he is 67 !....and he sounded great live...his singing was spot on....but ...for some reason..when i see him on tv....he doesnt sound that great..?...no idea why that is...but his gig in june was great..

blackbob said:

i saw him live in glasgow in june....he played for three hours?...and he barely had a break...that is the longest gig i have ever seen...and he is 67 !....and he sounded great live...his singing was spot on....but ...for some reason..when i see him on tv....he doesnt sound that great..?...no idea why that is...but his gig in june was great..

Maybe he was well rested when you saw him in June. Because we know he CAN sing. Perhaps for his recent television appearances he was just more tired than usual. I think he's been pushing it really hard in recent times with various projects.

PDogz said:

Just watched Paul McCartney perform "Jet" on Saturday Night Live, and am wondering: "...at what point did Paul McCartney start just dialing it in?". Paul, and the band, looked like they were either bored with, or completely tired of, performing. And Paul seemed to just "shout" the notes out, rarely on key. In fact, NONE of the band members seemed to be singing on key, or even relative to each other.

Paul McCartney is a legend. But this performance on SNL was painful to watch (...or listen to). I'm wondering if he, or anyone else, noticed?

Dial it in? probably from about 1969 onwards. Can't people just accept that he had a good 5 yrs and a more visionary producer than band

PDogz said:

luv4u said:

The voice ages as one ages. You cannot expect him to sing like he did during his Paul McCartney and Wings era.

That's so true. I'm sure a big part of what disturbed me about his performance was that it highlighted how I myself have grown so much older since the first time I heard him sing those songs.

Excellent point. We are all older and sound older. It's just the way it goes. Paul looks great and sounds good. His songs are classics and at least he's actually trying to sing live, unlike so many others that don't have a clue.

Empress said:

PDogz said:

That's so true. I'm sure a big part of what disturbed me about his performance was that it highlighted how I myself have grown so much older since the first time I heard him sing those songs.

Excellent point. We are all older and sound older. It's just the way it goes. Paul looks great and sounds good. His songs are classics and at least he's actually trying to sing live, unlike so many others that don't have a clue.

Why would he need to lipsync? He's not trying to dance and sing at the same time. Anyway he comes from an era where that was not done in concerts. People lipsynced on TV shows then, but that was because it was too expensive and time consuming for shows with small budgets.

saw him in august of 2009 and he sounded fabulous

Cinnie said:

Cerebus said:

And I'm rarely impressed with SNL live sound these days. The mix is usually awful.

I understand it is "live" but there is something to be said about the mixing for sure, just comparing it to live performances from earlier SNL seasons I've seen.



I did post this here, right? Because it wasn't in My Org and the rest of my comment appears to have been deleted. Was there another thread and you copied that over? Mostly just... wth?