While last night's 54th Grammy Awards was the week's biggest music event, the show had something of a dry run on Friday night, when Paul McCartney was honored at the 22nd annual MusiCares Person of the Year gala in Los Angeles.
McCartney, the 69-year-old former Beatle and guest of honor, was treated to two hours of sometimes-surrealistic performances of his songs in a Los Angeles Convention Center ballroom. Several of the performers and guests, including McCartney, also were part of last night's Grammy Awards show.
Foo Fighters simply killed "Jet," a standout track from McCartney's late-1973 release with Wings, Band On The Run.
Dave Grohl told The Hollywood Reporter, “Paul’s rock songs are what the Foo Fighters have always aspired to be -- uptempo, melodic, catchy beautiful rock songs. There are plenty of those to choose from Paul’s catalog.”
Neil Young and Crazy Horse rode their overdrive pedals on their version of “I Saw Her Standing There,” Coldplay performed “We Can Work It Out,” Katy Perry claimed “Hey Jude” and Norah Jones did a sultry take on “Oh! Darling” from Abbey Road.
Despite the all big names, however, the night's main events were two performances by McCartney himself. Early on, he joined Cirque du Soleil on stage for “Magical Mystery Tour,” returning later to perform two songs from his new album, Kisses On The Bottom, followed by the Abbey Road medley of "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight" and "The End," featuring Grohl and Joe Walsh on guitar.
The final line from "The End" -- "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make" -- summed up the night pretty nicely.
Photo: Bob Gannon
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