Maggie Clarke Photography

Home

Landscapes

Bio

Purchase

Reviews

Environmental

Contact

My excellent Quebec City adventure - Macca Rules!

Maggie Clarke

The Preliminaries

Whew what an experience.  That’s what I came for (as well as the concert).  It didn’t begin propitiously, but ended very well.  I had originally planned to come to Montreal on Amtrak, but just didn't have enough time to do everything by Friday morning before the Sunday night concert, having started to plan this only a few days before, so cancelled that reservation and, after going to a friend's play downtown Manhattan, went straight to the bus station on Friday night.  I was going to leave for Montreal on a Greyhound bus from New York City possibly with Brendan and his dad from the Macca online board.  I did meet up with them at the station, but all of us ended up having to stand there for 2 hours to wait for the midnight bus since there were so many people going to Montreal on a Friday night in summer (I didn’t really consider that possibility… oh well).  There were lots of crying babies as well.  Our bus was stuffed and I could barely breathe much less sleep as far as Albany, but cut a break after that finding a 2-seater. 

It’s been a while since I crossed the border on a bus.  Train, yes, car, yes.  Everyone gets off the bus with their belongings and waits in a line while 2 fellows look at passports and ask questions.  We caught another break at Montreal, since even though we arrived 2 hours after we had planned, there were a line of Orleans buses there ready to go.  And even though the buses to Ste. Foy and Quebec City were full, another magically appeared within 2 minutes of the one that left.  These are no Greyhound coaches,  I gotta tell you.  They are luxury liners, almost as nice as a train, with very cushy seats, nice little table extensions from the seat in front with a pair of deep indented cup holders embedded, and electrical outlets too!  Brendan’s dad looked in the station briefly and said it’s a lot cleaner than NYC (no surprise). 

As I’d noted here before, I had a difficult time finding lodging in Quebec as everyone else probably did too.  Lots of people came from eastern Canada to see Paul.  (At the concert, the MC did a round at the beginning of asking where people were from – Montreal won.  I was the only one in my immediate vicinity that shouted (Yeah!) when they said United States, (and everybody turned to look!), I could barely hear others, probably Brendan and his dad).  But I digress!  I decided to get off in St. Foy, west of town since my Days Inn west was out there.  Since the only tourist office for St. Foy was nearby, I went there first and was Very lucky to be able to snag a different reservation for Saturday night in the same hotel I had managed to get 2 separate reservations for Sunday and Monday for (Hotel du Nord) in the lower town.  Looking at the map, I thought if I had to I could walk from the concert to there, but I didn’t trust my getting to and on buses out to St. Foy and then to the Days Inn and forget about getting a cab.  I had made sure that Days Inn would allow a cancellation up to 4pm the same day.  Getting a pair of city buses from St. Foy to Hotel du Nord was time consuming, and involving walking through fields and waiting in residential neighborhoods (that was interesting… speaking with some of the natives about their lovely garden).  It’s been a bit of a problem not knowing much French, but it’s not been crippling.  I’m just missing out on things like newscasts, reading the papers about the event (there have been pages and pages of articles) and stuff on TV as well, as well as talking to the Quebecers who don’t know English. 

Arriving In Quebec

The Hotel du Nord (I still haven’t figured out the right way to pronounce Nord – I’ve heard a few) is serviceable, though they missed the wakeup call the day After the show (good thing it wasn’t the day Of the show).  They also tried to overcharge on checkout, but quickly acquiesced.  It’s in the Lower Town (as distinct from the Upper town and the Old town).  Quebec City is almost like a little San Francisco in some ways what with a really high ridge running east to west along the St. Lawrence river, so lots of roads take a dive at steep angles.  Quebec (from Indian Kebec) means ‘where the river narrows’ and it narrows from 8 to less than 1 mile there, making it strategically quite important in the early days (French vs. Brits, the latter winning in 1759 due to some guts on the part of Wolfe and some dumb luck according to one tour guide).  Otherwise all of Canada might be French!  My clan (the Clarks – added the “e” later) came to a farm village in southwestern Quebec near Cornwall in 1804 from northern Ireland, spending a few generations there till heading for Minnesota.

After I dropped my bags, I took a 2 hour plus bus tour, picked up from the hotel, which was extremely helpful in navigating around in the next few days.  As the tour was ending (around 6:15 or so) we turned the corner at the hotel, Chateau Frontenac (this amazing multiple green copper roofed hotel which you’ve probably seen on the promontory in pictures), and saw the throngs of people waiting to greet Paul.  Some had cameras.  I wonder how they knew.  It must have been on the radio / internet.  I went to meet up with Tam at Pub St. Alexander on St. Jean.  Though I was a half hour late, no one else from the Macca board had come.  The pub was a nice happening place.  Though our food took Forever to come, it was really good.  Tam and I walked through rue St. Jean, buying camera batteries just in case, and taking photos.  The buildings in Quebec City are so unique and charming.  Not many are older than 1759 since Wolfe bombed most of the city before he took it (cannonballs), lots are of stone.  The City Hall is beautiful and there are flowers everywhere.  All of St. Jean street is buzzing – they close it to traffic in summer evenings.  With the street background included, I took a pic of the banner overhead near the old town walls advertising the concert with that wonderful picture of Paul holding up his bass. 

(The banner was gone 2 days later, probably to some gutsy fan.)  We then headed over to the Plains of Abraham, the event site (named after Abraham Martin, an early settler and also as a uniting gesture between Catholic and Protestant.)  The easternmost entry, near the Quebec provincial Parliament, was very nice looking… but small… no one was waiting there.  There were just the curious, like us, that came and went.  The next one west was near the big Tourist center.  Again, nothing much going on.  It was further west, near the Hotel Concorde, with the rotating restaurant on top that we first heard, then saw, the action.  There were maybe 100 fans there already.  It was 10pm Saturday.  They were singing and had a couple of guitars.  It looked just like the scene often is at Strawberry Fields in Central Park.  They looked ready to be there for the whole time.  We chatted with a young couple from Gatineau (which is across the river from Ottawa, who I never saw again).  Folks liked my Chaos and creation in the backyard burgundy shirt.  I don’t know if Macca made it to Canada for that tour, but nobody had seen the shirt.  I should have worn that the second day too as it’s a better shirt than my Paul McCartney at the Cavern shirt.  We went back into the old town and stocked up on provisions for the next day – juice boxes, brownie, small yogurts, and upon leaving the hotel the next morning, grabbed a couple of croissants.

The next morning I got up and out, getting to the site by 6:30.  I’d never thought I’d need to get there that early, but I underestimated how very popular Paul is in Quebec (and how starved they were to see him).  I called Tam, but there was no answer, so I knew I was on my own.  There were maybe 2 or 3 hundred by the time I got there…  still a manageable number.  I weaved my way to the exact spot I left the Gatineau couple, but they were not there.  In no time I met up quickly with some friendly Montrealers who were happy to have me in their gang.  Paul, Maude, another friend of theirs who showed up later, and Nelson, who we adopted, who lives an hour outside of Quebec City.  I think he said Rimouski.  I'd like to contact him.  Paul and Maude and their friend were of the 2^nd generation of fans.  I’d say half the crowd at that point were second gen (mostly 30 give or take several years). 

Things were casual.  It looked like it would be a good day, with overcast, pleasant temperatures, no wind, and situated under some trees.  There was a chance of rain, but we were lucky in that regard.  I started some singalongs after the guitarists started breaking strings and putting away their instruments (amazing…  they played until the 6 string had 3 and the 12 string had about 6).  I’d wanted to play (I do six hours at a time during Beatlefests), but was a little bit shy about asking to borrow a guitar at that point.  Paul did and broke a string. 

But just singing, a capella, later, I became an instant celebrity (because I knew all the words to all the songs (well, most), kept the right tempo, and could easily sing everything).  I could see that some of them had learned some English via the Beatles songs.  Paul and Maude (pronounced Mode) had brought some folding chairs that they were prepared to leave behind, so I rested while I could as we rotated using the chairs.  It was going to be a long day. 

After we’d been there a few hours, things became chummy.  Well, it had to or we all would have been miserable packed in so close.  We looked out for each other.  Nelson is a nice guy, going on a beer run (before they locked us into the site at about 10am, which forced later comers to go way west to get in, ensuring that we, who had arrived early, would be first).  As with any crowd, there were all types.  There had been a guy who had been drinking all day and had been standing up on the picnic table near where we were crammed, and though he liked me (kept saying, in French, how my singing was right on time), I was clobbered a couple of times when he fell off the table – the second time was in the head as I was leaning over to tighten my shoe laces in preparation for the running I knew was to come.    It was in the morning around 10 that there was the first false start.  The security had been messing with the barricades, and some in front of us must have thought that they were going to let us in… (as if!).  But this meant that we were much more crammed for the rest of the wait.  I feared we wouldn’t be able to use the chairs.  Some had actually prematurely thrown their chairs into a small dumpster that they brought by (on the other side the barricades), but I saw the dumpster later had been moved inside near the relocated portable toilets. 

By about 10 am they had hooked the local radio station into the PA, system and we listened to Macca and Beatles songs inbetween the patter all day.  That was Very nice.  For a while everyone sang along.  They really played an eclectic mix.  There were some Wings songs I hadn’t heard for 30 years (e.g. Don’t Say Goodnight tonight, Girl I love you so bad).  The DJ was a bit much to take, we all ignored him.  He kept trying to get us to behave like parrots, exhorting us to repeat after him to sing various lines to Beatles / Macca songs.  I missed out on so much not knowing much French, but thankfully I got the essential information translated by some of the bilingual people I met.  Nearby was another very nice couple, my age, from Gatineau.  I gave away lots of my Maggie Clarke Photography cards, which have three tiny pictures along with my contact info (and one of those pix is one I took of Macca in 2005).  

Since there was so much time to spend, it was a major event of the day choosing the right time to make one’s way through the crowd to get to the toilet line.  In the morning they made an announcement (by bullhorn) that they moved three toilets from those situated way further back to closer to us.  Originally, they had put them on a flatbed truck and were trying to move them towards where we were, through the throng of the crowd, which was sort of comical, so they had to back up and go another way.  

But it was a good thing they did move them.  It would have been next to impossible for all of us to get around the major roadblock (of truculent people) between us and the main row of them.  Most, sitting on the ground wouldn’t mind if we moved past, but this bunch of people were well known to all.  It’s as if we had set up a new city right there in the Plains of Abraham, with little neighborhoods and commercial strips (the sales tents).  Though, at least, there were (not enough and not well distributed) sanitation facilities, there was no provision for garbage or recycling, so the garbage level built up over the day.  It’s a shame we had that initial false start because once they closed the gates near the Concorde, no one else could come in and there was lots of room that we could have spread out into.  (But who knew, just a few yards away in the most ‘urbanized’ part of the new city.) 

Nice gardens to our west, barricaaded for their protection, taken from the line

Later, as I passed the line (which became an hour and a half wait at times, but I’d gone early so only 45 minutes) as I went in search of a T-shirt, I met Carol from the Macca board. Oddly, I was the only person there with a Beatles-style haircut J  Brendan was there in line too.  Getting around the logjam took some doing – people in my gang were surprised I would undertake the journey; this is not for the timid, and quite an art deciding which route to take jumping from one bit of grass to another, deciding who to ask to move against someone else, using trees and lampposts for navigation to find your way around.  There were maybe 50 people clustered around the only T-shirt stand.  Early word was that they were down to small and medium only.  I was there around 1:15 pm. They had 3 styles that I can remember – the one I wanted, in black, of an oblique photo of Paul, looking quite young, but probably taken in Liverpool or Kiev, holding up his bass on the front of the shirt and in back a silhouette, in colors of blue and chartreuse, with 400^th anniversary ribbons motif.  I was contemplating getting one of the smaller ones and maybe having some material added since I needed a larger shirt.  As I waited (and I could have been more aggressive in pushing forward), all the shirts sold out as I was standing there.  The person in front of me got the last one.  This was SO heartbreaking, I can’t tell you.  All styles sold out at the same time – even the pretty one in off-white with pinkish Paul rear silhouette and Quebec 400^th ribbons motif, labeled as English – I guess since the words were in English.  People couldn’t believe they sold out so fast, when I got back to our community.  A few younger kids had one on, so I snapped a photo.

Smoking turned out to be an unexpected atmospheric degradation.  My compatriots and some nearby were chain smokers.  At least for a couple of hours in the afternoon they managed to open their chairs and sleep off the effects of the beer.  But at times during the concert I was surrounded, at arms length, by as many as five smokers. I was thinking that I had as much exposure to second hand tobacco smoke this day as I’ve had in all of 10 years. The cigarette companies must be very happy with Quebec.  Oh, and it wasn’t just tobacco.  There was so much of it, I was thinking there was as much at this concert as all of my concerts in the last 15 years.  I’ve even seen it smoked on the streets in the days after.  It was an irritant all day.

At about 3:45 there was yet another false start.  During the afternoon they had said the concert would start 45 minutes sooner than advertised (though sound check and gates were to open still at 5 as they’d said all day).  But Paul started a little later than advertised closer to 9:30 and ended close to midnight.  This false start at 3:45 crushed us now so that we could only stand, packed in like sardines, and wait as the temperature started to rise in the heat of the afternoon.  Shortly after this we were entertained by the sound checks.  We’d seen a group of about 10 being led onto the site before this and I expect they won some radio contest or other to witness the sound check.  At first they said the other groups would do their sound check.  I don’t think theirs lasted too long.  Macca played for quite a while.  The sound was distant and muffled.  I noticed that the loudspeakers, up on poles, were covered in plastic, for the expected rain, I guess.  What a misery if it had rained!  Somehow I didn’t realize it was Paul doing Honey Don’t, but ok.  Eleanor Rigby was good.  I guess they do so many in part because of the need to test out all the various levels and instruments.  Abe (the drummer) gets to sing at the front on that one, so that’s one more variation.  We were more than ready to go by the time they opened the barricades.  Just before they opened the gate, some big guy was pushing his way through backwards, leading a sick-looking young lady out.  Our community medical tent was near the toilets.

When push comes to shove.

This was a test of speed and endurance. It was a miracle that our gang was able to stick together.  It was a miracle more were not hurt as it was a true stampede.  Coming out of the gate, there was a steady push behind me just to get to the security chutes.  The length of the crowd behind us was at least half a mile long and half that wide.  There were probably about 10 barricaded lines for us to go through to be evaluated by security guards.  They did not separate us into those with and without bags as had been rumored and as would have made sense.  There were a few in front of me with bags, which slowed my chosen gate up quite a bit, as I saw those to the right of me whizzing through the gates.  But when she glanced at me and said “C’est Bon”, I knew I was good and started running.  This was a true road race.  The young would win, weaving at high speed in and out, with others running, jogging at various speeds.  It would have been an interesting video shoot to get this.  It was a recipe for disaster though, but it turned out ok for the most part, though I know there were injuries.  I was encumbered by 2 cameras and what was left of my food stash, all crammed into pockets, and elsewhere on my person, along with my folded up bag in a pocket (done this way to earn a few seconds at the gate).  I wore my rain jacket over everything, at least for the first foot race, just in case they decided that they wouldn’t let cameras in after all.. Choosing a faster chute would have saved me some time.  My compromised knee, from injury in April, didn’t complain as I ran, also weaving in and out when I had to, fending off one woman who was unnecessarily pushing me to one side as we ran next to each other, until hitting the next logjam, working my way around the left side of it to advance some more, and miraculously finding Maude, Nelson, and Paul (pronunciation almost like Poy – the crowd chanted this quite a bit before he came out.)  

We waited there at another fence smooshed up again for ½ to ¾ hour, as I fretted, hoping that we would still be at the front of the stage after all this.  I wrapped the rain jacket around my middle and baked in the sun.  I saw an older fellow with a scrape on his forehead being led away, dazed, at one point.  For some reason (probably having to do with space) our “city” had been established quite some distance west of the stage, while there were the two entrances further east and closer to the stage, near the Parliament building.  The word had been they would be allowed to enter later than we, and that stayed true.  I’m glad that all our earlier research and the all day waiting worked out for us.  And though I couldn’t understand why there should be one race and then another at the time, on retrospect, it was a good thing I had plenty of time to catch my breath before the final dash.  This last road race, running down to the rear of the stage and around to the front was a shorter distance and a bit more controlled was still enough to get me out of breath at the end.  Everyone had to stay alert what with needing to jump curbs (we couldn't see them through the throng).  Falling down could be fatal.  I didn’t stop to get a T-shirt and knew that once embedded in front of the stage, there would be no leaving and returning.  Again, miraculously, I kept within sight of the gang and we were all together in front of the stage, fairly central – right in front of Paul’s piano on the right side, maybe 15 feet back.  There were maybe 7 or 8 or 10? people in front of us (hard to count since we were packed randomly), but there was space in front of the crowd for the video crew).  I was really pleased at where I ended up.

After we got settled in the pack, I saw the fellow from Gatineau nearby, probably right in front of Paul a little closer to him, trying to find his wife after we had gotten to the stage, waving his cap, hopefully.  He had lost her after the first run.  I planned on being a bit dehydrated at this point, since I didn’t want to risk the other extreme alternative!  Even so, that last juice box and final few bites of brownie came in real handy about this time.  It was so hot and we had been crammed in for so long (and standing still).  There was no breeze.  My feet and knees were complaining, standing in place for so long.  The crowd got impatient a few times.  They sang a song which I was later told is something they sing at hockey matches – O Way O Way O Way o Way; O Wee, O Way).  I know that in Quebec French, Oui (yes) is pronounced Way, not Wee. 

Le Spectacle

The front was now maybe ¾ younger generation, the road races having weeded out the slow and the sick.  I’m glad that I used to run road races (oh, back in 1980) so had some experience with running in big crowds.  You have to be deft. 

Shortly after I got settled into my spot, at about 5:55pm I took four shots, wide-angle, front, right, back, left.  This was long before everyone had arrived, but it was impressive how fast it filled up.

On the last shot you can see printing on the left screen.  They kept cycling information about the buses that would be there to take people home (where to find them after the show, etc.).  There were several buses, going east and west.  Very organized!

Once we got rid of the DJ announcer (who Would Not Leave! and mentioned Paul’s name maybe 20 times so that the crowd would roar), (6:05pm)

The Stills started up.  This was your loud, fuzzy, current version of rock and roll – interesting presentation on one, with tom toms out front being beaten by people wearing disturbing masks, but songwriting was sorely lacking (in both melody and lyric).   They did do a verse of Two of Us but I didn’t care for the rest.  Down in front, there were some tall guys, one that was often between me and the lead singer was a full head above the rest of the guys.  Oh yes, lots of tall Scots in Canada!  The second act was more palatable, with a young female guitarist lead singer, supported by talented lead guitarist, who performed seated, bassist and drummer. 

I met more people there…  a young woman (early 20s) who had come up on the bus in the middle of her visit to NYC from Quebec earlier that day – maybe 1pm, and was going to leave for NYC after the show!   It shows you the handicap (as in golf) for older people.  We needed to get there over six hours before a younger person who runs fast and maybe had a faster gate…  Right after this she would head back to NYC and on a Route 66 adventure to San Francisco.   After a while, though I never saw her that day, Tam’s beach balls started to make the rounds during the opening acts.  It was a good thing (comic relief) as many of us were getting quite bored. 

I took a cue from some around me and sat on the ground for a while.  Why not?  Get strength to give Paul my all.  I also took a pic or two of the crowd with the nice pink sunset and some of the intro acts (just to get used to the scene).  Taking clear shots from the middle of a packed, dancing concert is no easy feat.  Nelson was a prince.  He helped me up both times I sat down and navigated his way to the front to get all of us bottles of cold water from the seller with the tray, and would not take any money for it.   

It was great to see Macca.  I’d missed not seeing him for the 3 years since the last concerts (I’d managed to miss last year’s NYC Highline concert since I never got the email that many did get).  I think he may have been a little nervous; he didn’t smile as much as I'd seen before.  He was sweating from the get go as well.  I’m sure we had to be a lot hotter than he packed in like sardines, just having run two road races.  But he was under pressure for sure.  He said quite a few things in French, and had things written on the stage that he’d stare down at for quite a while.  Word had it that he had done a cram course in French, but there was little he said that I couldn’t have said – very simple phrases.  I think he said some of the same things in French at the Paris concert, if I’m not mistaken.  I have a feeling he was too preoccupied with the enormity of the event to try anything too fancy (hence displaying more elaborate messages in French in big words behind him on the screen).  He performed just about everything I would have wanted, though I must admit getting tired of the five endings to I’ll Follow the Sun (but I understand the Quebecois have never seen this).  Live and Let Die pyrotechnics was absolutely Fantastic.  They keep varying this.  I remember one tour when the fire was behind Abe and he had to wear a towel on his head to keep himself from getting burned.  This time, the whole front of the stage was lined with sources of giant fire, but there were other sources as well.  I got one shot of the entire stage up to the lights just full of conflagration… the only thing you can see onstage is Brian Ray as a silhouette and everything else is one big ball of fire..  They also varied when they set off the charges.  I’m sure to those seeing it the first time they must have been shocked.  Paul played Birthday and they set off some fireworks from the sides of the stage, and the crowd went BANANAS!  A really nice gesture!  They were bonkers too when, for one of the encores, he came out with the giant Quebec flag, the beautiful blue and white with fleur de lis.  Everybody loved singing Michelle.  I knew he would include that.    He even came out wearing a sweatshirt with Quebec on it at one point.  The audience singing on every song was pretty boisterous.  I’d heard on this board about Mrs. Vanderbilt having been in the earlier shows, but I hadn’t heard this song since it came out.  The audience around me sure knew it from the get go, with all of us singing – Ho, Hey Ho!  Ho, Hey Ho!   It was like Beatlemania with screaming when he did ‘I saw her standing there’.  I don’t think I’d ever seen the guitar he had this time.  It looks like it was covered with artwork or something.  During the Hey Jude sing a long (and he asked everyone to sing with him – I understood that in French, but then I’ve heard it in English a few times) when he asks only the men to sing – le Homme – everyone sang – I told Maude – le Homme!  By the time he got to the women, la Femme, it was just them, and the sound was great!  At one point he asked how the folks back on the hill liked it.  And you could (with sound delay, as if they were on another planet) hear them well.  I just love listening to songs like Calico Skies, Flaming Pie, Too Many People (pulled and pushed around, waiting for that lucky break J), and Only Mama knows.  Not many knew that one.  It was probably the same lineup as the previous free shows.    I think there were at least 3 encores.  Yesterday was the final song with the old, right-handed guitar. 

The sound was great -- clear, and loud but not too loud.  The shrieking of the young woman traveler I met – a la early Beatles – was pretty loud at times J.  I had earlier been worried about the sound, since with the sound check, it sounded a bit muffled with many loudspeakers having been covered in plastic up until the show. The quality of the video was outstanding.  I’ve rarely seen such extreme close-ups on concert video, and they were quite frequent.  From my vantage point, I could see the video screens on both sides of the stage, but at a severe angle.  It looked like it was vertical orientation.  There was an expert deciding which cameraman’s shot to project at any given moment.  He switched from performer to performer quite often.  And a still photographer was allowed onstage during the show (a woman, not his usual photographer, Bill).  He posed for her a few times as she crouched below him on the stage, and she was gone.  (Her photos are now on Paul McCartney's site - poor angle, IMHO).  Am I envious (especially knowing I have the chops to shoot very good concert photos what with my years of experience shooting the Moody Blues and others).  I’ve long since learned to avoid common mistakes in concert photography.  I wish I knew how to introduce Paul and the media to my photos.  But I digress!

The local Quebec Macca fan group had their signs for Paul, and during the concert as the many videographers who were doing their bit for the big monitors would pan the audience, not just those in front of the stage either, I could see from backgrounds that there were remote cameras, showing all the hands waving back and forth in unison – thousands in each shot.  This was projected behind Paul at times, and I got a shot or two of that.  There were often hands that would go up between me and stage as well – lots of peace signs.  It was Quite a show.  I missed Woodstock, being in Europe that summer, but am sure glad I got to this.  It was the next best thing, Quebec style.  I sure hope all the video feeds were saved for posterity and that Paul releases it.  I know someone will accurately estimate how many showed up.  Helicopters had been buzzing all day and during the show there were often two over us at a time.  While there was still light, I took pix holding a camera up and shooting to the sides, back and front of the crowd.  From this we could see that the Plains were full to the hilltops looking east, and locals had told me that no one would be on some of those hills, but they were.  And those were just the ones we could see.  There were even more fans on the west side of the stage, where most of us had been waiting all day, and off-site nearby as well as across the river in Levis as well watching the big screens with their own sets of loudspeakers. 

Nelson disappeared halfway through.  I expect he had to visit the washroom.  Optimizing this experience required a good bladder and good planning in that regard as well.  I was amazed that the Montreal duo did so well considering how much beer they consumed (they brought in 3 cases of beer that morning – gave away quite a bit though.)

I got quite a few great photos of the show and the temporary Quebec Macca City, probably something like 300 with the big camera and some more on the smaller one (with 12x zoom).  I’d just bought a new 70-300 lens for my Pentax K10D (35 mm equivalent, multiply by 1.5) which worked pretty well.  But there are shots not only of Paul, but also Brian and Rusty, and a couple of cute shots of Wix with his accordion.  They didn’t put much light on Abe and I couldn’t really photograph him what with the blockages etc..  Brian seemed to be having great fun, smiling the most, though I got some great smiles from Rusty and Paul as well.  

After the show, I saw the Gatineau couple, Marcel and Lise, and Brendan as I was working against the tide moving towards the sales tents to find that elusive T-shirt.  But they had closed, having run out of shirts.  They only had glowsticks left.  I staggered out (man, what a lot of garbage on the ground, but then this is normal for an event of this type, and a line of people in wheelchairs who were struggling to get out).  Since I was not ready to go to the Hotel yet, and really needed to sit down and get some food and water, I decided to go to where the nightlife is (Grand Allee).  On the way I found the last souvenir tent that I’d heard about, but could not get to since we were locked on the site.  They’d long since closed too, and the guard said they ran out of shirts at 2.  I went into one of the restaurants that didn’t have much of a line.  A fellow, on his own, who had been to the show and saw my “Paul McCartney at the Cavern” T-shirt came over and we talked about the show, looking at my photos, as we waited forever for some service.  Without him, I probably would not have been served at all.  When I asked for water, the waiter said the kitchen was closed (a non sequiter if I ever heard one).   

My only regret (and I’ll live) is that I couldn’t get a concert T-shirt.  It’s beautiful with a picture of Paul that makes him look like he’s in his 40s, holding up his bass, with the wonderful colorful ribbons that have been used as the ubiquitous logo for the 400^th anniversary, (and by this I mean, these ribbons were in many color combinations, on everything from bookmarks given out, to T-shirts, the back and sides of delivery trucks, pasted on storefronts, on the buses, basically here, there, and everywhere). 

The Aftermath

The day after the concert, I got no wakeup call, so got a very late start.  The next morning at breakfast in the hotel I saw a clip of the show on the TV news.  Though I couldn’t understand the French, they showed a lot of nice bits of the concert.  In the crawl underneath, I was looking for the number of people, but that wasn’t shown.  What was shown, was there were 6 arrests during the show.  I guess that’s par for the course.  Recall the drunk guy on our picnic table.  And I suppose in a newly created, densely packed town of 300,000 that’s being pulled and pushed around, there’s bound to be a little friction here and there. 

I took a cab to where the 400^th anniversary buildings were clustered.  For once I decided to take my time, enjoyed the market, got some gifts (things were expensive), and checked out the nearby train/bus station for tomorrow’s departure back to Montreal.  Since it was only $2/day, I got on the 400 bus to ride along the river and check out the new bike path that goes for many miles, most of the way to St. Foy (Fwah).  I remember the last time I was in Quebec City, in 1986, it was a weeklong bike tour and there were almost no bikepaths.  Now they are everywhere and well used by the locals.

I got off at the ferry / old port area to explore Petit Champlain, a narrow pedestrian street with 300 artisans and shops.  The street is really attractive with flowers dripping from everything, the shops and street of stone, just too lovely for words (I took lots of artsy pix).   Since I had the day, I enjoyed leisurely talks with storekeepers who had been to the concert.  For this I was back to my purple Chaos and Creation shirt.  At Bois Dormant (old wood), I had a great chat about American politics as well as the show.  It seems they are keeping Very close track (and have been horrified at our recent choices, but hopeful for the future).  The shopkeeper had had a bad day on Sunday, ending at 9 so she walked up to the Plains and was so happy.  She, and others I talked to, kept using the word generous about Paul and his concert.  At the T-shirt shop I went into to get one of those 400^th anniversary ribbon shirts, we chatted about the concert.  The shopkeeper said she couldn’t go, but watched on TV (and screamed at the TV!).  Her husband said, “he can’t hear you!”.  The T-shirt lady had been lucky to see Paul wave from his car near the old port around 5:15 pm the day of the show.  That would have been after his sound check.  I lamented to her that I couldn’t get a concert shirt.  She asked if I really wanted one, (Oh yes) so she gave me a business card of the person who came by the afternoon of the concert after they had sold out (having only ordered Five Hundred Shirts!!!) giving out business cards for those who asked about the shirts.  Let’s hope that I (and others) can get them (I’ll believe it when it’s in my hands).  Man… Five hundred shirts.  For a concert of 310,000?  I got this count from one of the people I’d talked to who said this was in the paper, and it includes 40,000 at the site across the river in Levis.  Has this ever been done before?  I know Paul invents so many new things.  This time it’s remote concerts.  I imagine that they had the loudspeakers as well as the impressive video feed.

After Petit Champlain, I headed over to the Visionnaires rooftop garden.  It’s a terraced rooftop where they grow food for the hungry – lots of different vegetables.  From there it was a short walk to the Mill show.  Projected onto 4 banks of grain elevators (several to a bank) was an “experience” describing the history of Quebec and Canada … showing how the place developed, first by water, then land, then rail, then air, then media and internet.  This was quite innovative and included sound and other effects – 40 minutes, free, an audience of a thousand or so.  It was pretty breezy, damp and chilly unlike the night before.  But there was still no rain despite predictions of 70%.  Since this event has been going on all summer, there were lots of #400 buses waiting in a line.  I got on one just before it left and got maybe 1/3 to ½ the way back to the hotel this way (still a long walk on largely empty streets, but as they say in Quebec, it’s been years since they’ve had a murder).  Upon getting back to the hotel, I showed the clerk and a guest some pix from my camera.  Both had been to the show.  I think most of Quebec City either went or watched on TV.  The clerk had walked back to the hotel from the Plains (she had arrived at 3, an hour after me!).  I’m so glad I found a cab when / where I did and had had the brains to take it.

As I write these notes the night after the show, it’s been amusing to watch the endless news loops of LCN (like CNN) of Macca playing, the shopkeepers and restaurateurs on Grand Allee talk about the number of patrons they had (showing empty beer, soda, water and chips shelves during the day, and lots of customers after the show).  They clearly were not prepared.  Then there’s the repetition of Celine Dion’s interview.  She must have mentioned Paul’s name 6 or 8 times in her interview and she seemed to be more than a little bit pissed off.  I’ve heard since that it’s her husband that has been behind some of the dischord about where Paul should site his show, and so forth.  Renee is not held in such high regard.  Other than Paul’s name, I can’t tell you what she said, but maybe this has now become a competition.  She probably thought that she would be the only blockbuster show (spectacle in French, pronounced spectac, emphasis second syllable) and now she’s being compared to Paul. 

The second day after the show on the news I saw a press conference .. four people, various officials.  I heard from Lyselle on the Macca board that they were still in shock from what had happened.  I can imagine.  The fact that they managed to pull it off in such short time with little going wrong is a supreme testament to management (and luck).  And they don’t even have a subway system to bring people to and from.  I don’t know if they could have done as well even in NYC on such short notice (20 days).  For one, the powers that be often deny requests for use of Central Park.

I saw Paul’s Bike!  As I walked along rue St Paul near the Mills, I went into a bike shop to see if there were any neat accessories.  They saw my shirt and pointed to this yellow bike, labeled Paul’s Bike, and with what looked like a newspaper article -- a page of explanation.  I didn’t have time to read it, so took a couple of photos.  According to them, Paul was staying at the Frontenac and wanted to rent one there, but they didn’t have one his size there, so they ordered one from the store I was at.  He rode it around on the morning of the show.  It’s now sitting there with the article taped to it.  I wonder if they will ever rent it again or use it as a showpiece.  It’s part of Quebec history.

I took a walking tour of old Quebec for a couple of hours starting at 10, working our way from Frontenac and the newly excavated ruins from French times, down to the bottom, getting our guide’s view of the history. And, since I couldn’t resist heading back for one last walk in Petit Champlain, I went into another T-shirt shop and got the same story about possibly being able to order a concert shirt.  I got a card that looks the same as I’d gotten the day before except for the name of the person.  I’ve emailed the first person, but no answer so far.  I had a rabbit salad for lunch at this most beautiful café under the trees at the foot of the cliff (never had rabbit before, but it’s their specialty – tastes like duck or chicken).  It occurred to me that rabbit could be the protein of the future, since rabbit farms could be put in high rise buildings, not polluting / taking up land as cattle do… but I digress again..  Since it was sunnier than when I was there the day before, I took some more pictures of the flowers and windows.  Finally, I got back to the Plains of Abraham for one last look and photo op via the Ecolobus.  It’s this cute little thing that runs on electricity.  Free!  The stage was being dismantled; the garbage was gone, the VIP tent still there but coming down, and I imagine that everything will be back to normal soon. 

 The bus trip to Montreal was uneventful except for the fact that the people in the seats across from me went to the show and had the Monday Le Soleil 14 page color insert.  The guy let me look at (and photograph some of) it. 

Then came the huge downpours.  I’m a weather nut, but was not able to see any radars while on this trip, but the predictions had been dire for days.  It’s as if the heavens held everything and let go at once with cars having to wait on the side of the road.  (Arriving in Montreal, I saw one of the biggest thunderstorm clouds I’d ever seen.  It let loose before I could leave the bus station, but it was amusing to watch the dozens of college students running like mad, laughing like crazy as they got drenched.  These torrential downpours continued the entire way back to NYC on Amtrak.

Newspapers!  “Quebec ville conquise” with his picture was on one.  I didn’t begin to wake up to getting some newspapers until the second day after.  By this time, there wasn’t quite as much news coverage, but I did start to collect Tuesday papers and old Monday papers (some in English, some with the top cut) towards the end of the day.  But it was too late to get a copy of that 14-page color insert in Le Soleil that came out on Monday.  I spent hours trying to track one down in Montreal.  These are the ones I did get:

Le Soleil – Tuesday – p.2. an ad from Simons (department store that is quite civic-minded having bought and refurbished a huge ornate fountain and installed it in the roundabout in front of Parliament last year) with a pic of Macca, thanking him, and black and white photos and articles pages 4-8.  Pas de competition McCartney – Dion, Des ecrans a Levis pour Celine aussi, McCartney déclassé le prix de l’essence: L’ex-Beatle a ete plus populaire dans les medias que le cours du baril de petrole, Menage éclair sur les Plaines, Retour en deux heures chrono, Emerveillement mutual, Cap sur 2010: Le maire de Quebec veut capitaliser sur un tel success, Le prix de l’essence pourrait grimper, and Les compagnies d’affichage veulent etre dedommagees.

La Presse, Tuesday – article and interview in French, pp 1, 3

La Presse, Monday – front page color photo, on pages A4 and 5 great B&W pix of the whole scene from above and of the footrace as well as articles: Une vedeette fort sympathique, and Ses Paroles, C’est notre: Des milliers de fans font la queue de longues heures pour assister au concert.

Le Journal de Quebec, Tuesday – Front page color photo, some reference to Celine (and a not so nice cartoon of her and her husband on page 2) in military costume, her scowling, him going nuts looking at a calculator that says 400, showing the score on a board – Bataille des plaines – Paul 1, Celine 0.  Article and photo pages 3-5.  One article says 40,000 were at Levis.

Le Journal de Montreal, Tuesday – front page small color photo and reference to pages 2, 54 and 55.  Big color photo on page 2 with article.  Picking out a few words in French, looks like he had an entourage of 21 stay with him at Frontenac.  Other articles:  Toujours aussi simple et sympathique, La flamboyante finale a suscite la beatitude, and Le band flotte sur un nuage.

Le Devoir, Monday – front page color photo Paul McCartney a conquis Quebec with page 1 article continued on p 8

Montreal Gazette, Monday – Front page color photo (peace signs) “One Knight Stand: Sir Paul Conquers Quebec” Story page 3.  More photos at montrealgazette.com/galleries.

Article – Fete boss pinching himself.  (I may actually have 2 copies of this!)

Toronto Star, Monday small pic and ref. on page 1, to color photos and article on page 3.  One photo shows a bunch of young people running and two falling in the stampede.  Sir Paul conquers Quebec.

The Globe and Mail, Monday – Front page color photo and article – Quebeckers come together over Paul, and article and photos A3 Concert brings harmony to Plains of Abraham.

Media Matin Quebec, Tuesday, Front page color photo, “L’effet McCartney: Quebec sur un nuage”, color photos and articles pp 2-8.  Ah!  Page 8 is the article about Paul’s Bike!

Last, but certainly not least, the Gatineau couple sent me a photo they took of the front page of a Quebec City newspaper (I think it might be Le Devoir) on Monday.  

And there I am in the lower left, light brown pants, black T-shirt!  Nelson's right beside me in the white shirt. I wonder how to contact him.