Moline • Tuesday, June 11, 2019

About

From The Gazette, June 12, 2019:

[…] With those dreamy eyes and that boyish grin, “the cute Beatle” charmed a screaming, multigenerational throng at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline with three hours of monster music and a few sweet stories sprinkled here and there. […]

Every song was greeted with the same enthusiasm at the downbeat, whether it was a hit for The Beatles or for Wings. His new music off the recently released “Egypt Station” album is just as captivating. The evening’s most intimate moment swirled through “My Valentine,” from his 2012 album, “Kisses on the Bottom.” He penned this melty, romantic swoon for his wife, Nancy, who was at Moline to savor the serenade. […]

The horns set the songs on fire. One minute they were onstage, looking all sharp and polished, moving in sync. And the next, they were out in the audience, jamming in the first-tier aisles on “All My Lovin.’” The combination of blistering trumpet, blazing trombone and rotating saxes added sparks and sparkle throughout the show.

Vintage photographs and trippy videos danced across the screens above, behind and flanking the stage. But always, the focus was on the music and on the fans, reveling in the evening’s reciprocal love-in. […]

From Paul McCartney.com, June 21, 2019:

“McCartney concert to make QC history…”

Every Paul McCartney show is a moment in musical history.  Then there are those shows that are event that affect and embrace entire populaces of geographical regions—people who never imagined that Paul would be playing within driving distance, let alone in their very backyard.

Such was Freshen Up’s stop in Moline, Illnois. Moreover, Paul’s first visit to the Quad Cities: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline in northwestern Illinois. Though the concert itself would take place at Moline’s TaxSlayer Center, this was a night that belonged to everyone in the Quad City region.

And what did the locals have to say about Paul’s QC debut? “It’s a new day for a new knight atop my ‘best concert ever’ pedestal,” said the GAZETTE. “No one will ever come close to toppling Sir Paul McCartney from my personal pinnacle.

“I’ve never heard anyone play 38 songs in concert, nonstop, for three solid hours…

“Every song was greeted with the same enthusiasm at the downbeat, whether it was a hit for The Beatles or for Wings. His new music off the recently released Egypt Station album is just as captivating…

“Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the event — and it was an event — was McCartney’s vocal stamina. A lesser musician would have front-loaded the concert with the songs that showcased his soaring tenor. Not Sir Paul. He saved ‘Hey Jude’ for number 32…

What an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime event. My 5-year-old self was transported, beginning to end.”

As the lights came up, local TV coverage was instantly abuzz with chatter about everything from the show’s record-breaking box office take to the windfall it generated for local businesses.  Truly a life-changing event for everyone in earshot… and in CQ history.

From Steve Martin, Paul’s US Publicist

Last updated on June 22, 2019

TaxSlayer Center

This was the 1st and only concert played at TaxSlayer Center.

Setlist for the soundcheck

Setlist for the concert