Time May Change Me
Contents

Michelle

 

CDG airport was no problem. Charles de Gaulle Etoile was. Having checked into my hotel I then had to get the Metro to La Defense. That required changing at de Gaulle Etoile beneath L'Arc de Triomphe. On the way the ticket worked at both ends of the journey, but not on the transfer at the CDG Etoile. Another was having a similar issue but got through then held the exit open for me to squeeze through.

 

Once at La Defense there was a queue that went on for ages. And that was 2 and a half hours ahead of the advertised start time of 8pm (It actually started around 8:40) And I had to join it once they had turned me away from the VIP entrance (for no good reason I might add!)

 

I diligently joined the slightly shorter of the two queues, noting they would merge in a short while. And when they did merge, 2 queues that were 2 or 3 abreast rapidly became one around 20 to 30 abreast with all and sundry taking advantage and getting into the queue nearer its front than the back. It did not bother me as I knew the gig was still well over 2 hours away. It took around 45 minutes for me to get through security and into another queue for gate 33. When I got to the gate my ticket would not let me in. I was directed to the gate 34 which had no queue whatsoever. And why? Well that was the VIP gate and I was entitled to a wristband (that seemed to mean very little). I had received an email an hour or so earlier telling me the VIP Merchandise and lanyard were not available at the venue and would be separately posted to me.

 

The chaos in the queue reminded me of what happened when I queued up at Manchester Apollo for a ticket to one of my earliest concerts back.in 1979. It was a big act and tickets went on sale early on a Sunday morning. I suspected there might be a bit of a queue and I was there a few hours before the scheduled opening up of the box office.

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I got to the venue and there were a lot of people rushing towards the venue. Knowing no better I joined them to then find myself quite close to the front of the queue when everything settled. It was only then that I realised the queue had been very long and spread out during the night but as soon as someone got up and moved forward at the front of the queue it triggered a chain reaction. Everyone gets up to close the gap to avoid losing their place in the queue and I had landed at the perfect time to take advantage of the chaos that had ensued.

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And the act? It was Wings. Tonight is 45 years and 1 week since I first saw McCartney. 

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When I ordered the ticket I knew I was getting a premium view, but the seat plan was very vague as to where I was sitting. I thought it would be to the left of stage as it had been for the Who last year. I knew it was 3 rows back, but I only discovered I was exactly centre stage when I got to my seat. I think those in the rows in front had attended a lengthy VIP sound check at presumably an even more astronomical cost. Except for a handful of them I had the best seat in the house.

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The warm up was a DJ who only played Beatles numbers, although some were covers of their songs.

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McCartney was excellent. 2 and a half hours with no breaks would challenge people 3 decades younger. Yes the close-ups show quite a few cracks and I'm not convinced his face is 100% natural, but he has earned enough to pay for a bit of plastic surgery.

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On the way back getting to de Gaulle Etoile was straightforward. Alas the transfer again let me down. It took my ticket but did not give me it back. About a centimeter was protruding and I had to make several attempts to retrieve it. Eventually the machine gave in and released my ticket as well as myself to then get the right Metro. The ticket had suffered some damage as I had tugged it out but fortunately all was fine at my final destination as there was an open barrier

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He never did like the English, did he?

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Elsewhere on the politics front I left an Ireland where a general election last Friday is likely to result in a month or two of negotiations before a new government is formed. And while I was at the gig the French Prime Minister,  Michel Barnier, lost a no confidence motion - the first time this has happened since I was 1 year old. And maybe Macca had a premonition. He played Michelle, apparently for the first time in over 6 years.