Amoeba Music gave close to a thousand fans a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Sir Paul McCartney perform for free, Wednesday night in Hollywood. Devout fans camped out for days to gain admittance into the store, coming from all over the United States and as far as Japan. Finally around 8:00pm, their prayers were answered as the ecstatic crowd entered the music-lover's home to rousing cheers and applause from the Amoeba staff inside. The priceless appearance marked the rock icon's first show in his nearly half a century career to take place in a record store. And Sir Paul chose Amoeba Music, already home to his life's work, though now also home of a new milestone in his beyond legendary life story.
The night began with a special midweek charitable auction of gifts donated by Sir Paul - an autographed copy of his latest limited edition CD/DVD ‘Memory Almost Full’ and promotional poster, in addition to a signed lobby card from "A Hard Day's Night." One lucky fan paid $2,600 for the package, which coupled with Amoeba's pledge to match all donations up to $1,000 dollars, yielded $3,600 in support of Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts.
As the ebullient fans crowded the aisles of CDs in anticipation, they were joined by Sir Paul's mythic partner Ringo Starr and his wife Barbara Bach, George Harrison's widow Olivia, Roy Orbison's widow Barbara and a number celebrity fans such as Rick Rubin, Jeff Lynn, Alanis Morissette, Woody Harrelson, Rosanna Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Amoeba Records' first signing Brandi Shearer. All were here to pay homage to rock's greatest. Then the modern day hero surfaced.
For close to ninety minutes, Sir Paul and his supporting band delighted fans, rocking through 21 songs - including "Drive My Car," "Hey Jude," "Let It Be," "Here Today," and "Back in the USSR" - culled from his vast repertoire with The Beatles, Wings and as a solo artist - leading up to the moment with a number of selections from his latest album. It was an amazing event, those fortunate enough to be present, will never forget - Sir Paul included. After a stirring rendition of "The Long and Winding Road" he said, "I'd like to take a little moment to take this all in. I was there. I was there at Amoeba."
For the hundreds of millions of fans unable to be at Amoeba Music, in Hollywood, CA on Wednesday, June 27, 2007, they will be able to share the experience as footage from the event will be streamed on the Amoeba website and Sir Paul McCartney's website in the coming weeks. In addition, with every purchase of the ‘Memory Almost Full’ CD at Amoeba, customers will receive a special limited edition 11x17 poster designed exclusively for the event while supplies last.
Amoeba Music is the world's largest independent record store. They are dedicated to fostering a loyal community supporting the arts, freedom of expression and goodwill toward all. In their commitment, Amoeba Music sponsors every Saturday afternoon an auction of music memorabilia for local and global relief efforts such as Hurricane Katrina Rebuilding, Conservation International and the Sierra Club's LA chapter. The event is hosted by comedian Brently Heilbron.
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