Welcoming Paul McCartney with a rooftop "Get Back"

This has been quite a Beatles year in my world.

In the spring came the epic project of re-creating “Within You Without You” onstage with full Indian instrumentation (read about it here). Then, the week before Paul McCartney brought his One on One tour to Syracuse, a reporter for the Post-Standard asked if I would like to be part of a rooftop video with a bunch of great local musicians paying tribute to the Beatles' last performance, on the roof of Apple Records in 1969.

Indeed I would.

A few days later, on an unseasonably hot morning, we gathered on the roof of the media company's downtown office. Bob Halligan Jr., who in addition to being a stellar songwriter does a one-man theater show Paul the Beatle, naturally got the bass and lead vocals. Also in the band were Cathy LaManna on drums, Joe Altier on keyboards, Andrew Paul Halliday on acoustic rhythm guitar, and Paul Davie (producer of the BeatleCuse concert that included “Within You”) on electric rhythm guitar.

My assignment was to cover John Lennon's lead guitar bits—and Bob supplied me with the perfect Epiphone for the job.

This was a blast. You can read the story about the shoot here. And, holy wow, did McCartney put on a show a few days later. Here’s my review.