Unlike its 2002 predecessor,
Back in the U.S./Back in the World,
Good Evening New York City doesn’t cherrypick highlights from a tour, it commemorates a specific event: the inauguration of Citi Field -- the replacement for the now-defunct Shea Stadium, where
the Beatles played a legendary show in 1965 -- in the summer of 2009. The circumstances may be different -- different enough to lead to a
Billy Joel cameo on “I Saw Her Standing There," the piano man returning a favor from
Paul, who played at
Billy’s Shea-closing shows in 2008 -- and
McCartney might have two strong albums of new material to draw upon, but as an album,
Good Evening New York City plays a lot like
Back in the U.S. with a whopping 17 of its 35 tracks shared between the two titles. More importantly, the vibe is the same, with
Macca delivering an expertly balanced and sequenced set with all the skill of the old pro that he is. Apart from the inclusion of “Mrs. Vanderbilt” and “I’m Down,” there are no surprises, either in song selection or performance, but no surprises doesn’t mean no satisfaction, and this is plenty entertaining…provided that it’s not played too close after hearing
Back in the U.S.