Sir Paul McCartney In Atlantic City 9/28/02: The Greatest Concert Ever

Because of my former career as an Atlantic City Hotel Casino executive and the past 30 years in talk radio … I’ve been blessed to see many of the most iconic concerts in Atlantic City history.

Without a doubt, the greatest concert of my lifetime was on Saturday, September 28, 2002 at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.

It’s hard to believe that this was almost 20 years ago.

It was Sir Paul McCartney in concert. It was McCartney’s first time back in Atlantic City (in almost 40 years) since George Hamid booked The Beatles on Sunday, August 30, 1964.

It was a Steel Pier booking, but, the concert was held in then Atlantic City Convention Hall to hold a bigger crowd.

Here is a photo of an original ticket, $ 3.90, including all taxes for a seat on the main floor from 1964:

McCartney’s 2002 Atlantic City performance was sheer masterclass. He sang for more than 2 hours. He didn’t take a break and never even took a sip of water.

I’ve never witnessed anything like it before or since.

Beyond the concert itself, which was truly epic … I had the opportunity to spend about 40 minutes with Sir Paul, in his dressing room until the moment he walked out on to the stage to perform.

A big, grateful thank you to former Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford.

Mayor Langford was allowed to bring exactly one person with him to present “The Key To Atlantic City” to McCartney and he picked me.

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McCartney was engaging and very kind during our private meet and greet. He spoke about his Mother and Father and many other personal matters.

In case you’re wondering, I wasn’t star struck at all, because McCartney was so down-to-earth during our extended time together. There was not a pretentious thing about him.

Sir Paul McCartney is one of the most humble mega superstars you could ever meet.

During this once-in-a-lifetime moment, there was only one other person in Sir Paul’s dressing room … his photographer, who took this photo.

It took many months for this photo to arrive to me by email. I thought this precious moment was “lost” forever.

I had such a profound, wide-ranging conversation with McCartney. I asked him if he remembered playing Atlantic City in 1964. He did not have any recollection of it whatsoever.

Something that he couldn’t remember is something that we will never forget.

I also shared some of the well known stories of The Beatles Atlantic City appearance, such as “The Fab 4”  being moved around in a local Barbera Fish company truck because the fans were going wild over The Beatles.

Here is a complete rundown of this amazing night of elite entertainment by one of the absolute musical giant’s of all-time:

Sir Paul McCartney complete setlist, including his two extended encores from September 28, 2002 at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.

It’s been an absolute joy to relive this memorable experience with you.

McCartney is touring this year … I’d love to see him one more time.

SOURCE: Regarding Sir Paul McCartney setlist - “The Paul McCartney Project.”