Hot and Crazy about McCartney

Jordan Ziff: It all starts back to when I was a kid. I loved the Beatles so much, I connected to them on some sort of spiritual level. I’ve always wanted to see any of the Beatles play but it took me until I was nearly 28 years old. It’s unbelievable considering how big of an influence they’ve had on me.

The year was 2019, Paul McCartney was playing at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, AZ. There was so much electricity in the air. I’ve never felt that type of energy at a concert before. Finally, Paul comes onto the stage and the arena roars as the band rips into “Hard Day’s Night.” Hearing Paul’s voice immediately brought tears to my eyes. It was such a spiritual moment for me and the funny thing is I know it was spiritual for so many others around me.

I was so infatuated with how good he and his band sounded. They are all such world class musicians and bring something uniquely their own to the table. It was such a great assortment of Paul’s solo work as well as Beatles. I was in aural heaven which doesn’t happen often. I’m so nit-picky most of the time when I see artists live but this time I really was just purely enjoying it like a giddy fan, it’s a feeling I haven’t felt since I was a child.

This type of experience reminds us of why we become musicians in the first place. We want to spread that type of joy and make music that people can connect to on a deep level. Paul did and does music the way that he wants to and that is something to greatly appreciate. There was no trying to write hits, he was writing things that please himself. That is a lesson in itself. If you want to connect to people deeply, write music that you connect to deeply.

All in all I was just so impressed by Paul and the band playing and singing for 3 hours. I’ve never seen anything like that before. Needless to say probably more than 5 songs made me teary eyed that night. I have no shame in saying so. I’m more inspired than ever in my life to write songs that people can sing along to. I’ll never forget that night. I’ll also never forget how to just be a fan and enjoy music that I love.