Right: Tony Kishman as "Paul"

I'm a sucker when it comes to Beatles tribute bands - and I've seen many over the years, some good and some bad. When I heard about "Live and Let Die: The Music of Paul McCartney with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra" I was so there. "Live and Let Die" features a four piece band with Tony Kishman as "Paul", accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. The goal is to present the music of McCartney as close to every detail of the record - so, for instance, you get "The Long and Winding Road" with REAL strings, not synths. And, with the current exorbitant prices to see Sir Paul live, this is the chance to hear his music live without having to sell a kidney for tickets!

The first half of the show featured only the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra playing interpretations of McCartney's songs, with a healthy dose from his whole career, not just the "hits". Starting off with "Eleanor Rigby", you got a whole orchestra, instead of just the string quartet heard on the original. This was followed by "Blackbird", which had a very interesting arrangement of what was originally just an acoustic guitar and vocal song, complete with "blackbird noises". Next was "A Leaf", from Paul's second classical album, "Working Classical". Hearing one of Paul's classical pieces live made me wish I could hear the entirety of one of his classical pieces live!

The conductor introduced the next selection as, "featuring our cello section. We've renamed the song...wait for it...Cello Submarine." I was pleasantly surprised as their version of "Yellow Submarine" even included sound effects, mimicking the record! The next songs were introduced as, "four songs for Linda (McCartney) that Paul said were inspired by her": "Warm And Beautiful" (one of my favorite McCartney songs!), "Golden Earth Girl", "Calico Skies", and "My Love". The orchestra segment ended with a rousing version of "Lady Madonna".

The second half of the show opened with a symphonic version of the "A Day In The Life" orchestra buildup into a truncated version of "Band On The Run"(the rest of the songs in the program would be the complete versions), followed by "Hello Goodbye". Tony Kishman was the only one in "Paul costume", with black pants, white shirt and vest (and I believe Beatle boots if I saw them correctly from my seat). Unfortunately, the lead guitar's sound level was way too low on the first two, but luckily was corrected for the rest of the show.

Next, confusion on the stage! "Paul" said, "this next song is from Sgt. Pepper", started to play a note then said, "we'll do this one" - playing "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey". It was sublime hearing all the strings just like the record, but it was weird not hearing a Linda vocal (female vocal harmony) on the song. "Paul" joked, "now one from Sgt Pepper, we're determined to do this song", leading to "When I'm 64". Tony Kishman has all the stage mannerisms of the real Paul, especially the interaction with the audience! The next two songs played were Wings songs: "Jet" and "Silly Love Songs". It was great hearing REAL horns on "Silly" just like Wings' 1976 tour!

A Beatles standard, "I Saw her Standing There" was next and the audience came in both times on the "woooo". The song had GREAT on-the-spot lead guitar by John Merjavie! Then another Beatles song, as the audience heard the familiar acoustic guitar intro to "Yesterday". But, Tony started singing the words to Barry Manilow's "Feelings", saying "just making sure your paying attention". As the audience was still laughing, he began the correct version of "Yesterday".

The next four songs had me in Beatles heaven, starting with "The Long and winding Road". It was fantastic hearing the song with a full orchestra, but without choirs. Then "Live and Let Die", which HAS to be heard with a full orchestra! I was blown away by "Let It Be" and the Phil-Spector-version guitar solo! John Merjavie did a fantastic job on all the leads this evening, not flubbing one note to my critical ear. As part of the Abbey Road medley started with "Golden Slumbers", and I was wondering if the would play all the way through to "The End"? Well, it was definitely a highlight as "Carry That Weight" and then, "The End" was played complete with the Chris Camilleri's impressive Ringo drum solo and two dueling guitar solos (instead of 3 like on the record) by John Merjavie and Jim owen!

This was a hard song to follow and I would have been happy if the show stopped here - but after leaving the stage, the band returned playing, "Hey Jude". This version was complete with audience interaction of "everybody sing with us", then "just the ladies", then "just the fellas", then "just the people over 30", "now everybody". Finally, "Can't Buy Me Love" had everybody up on their feet, singing along.

Overall, it was a fantastic show, and Tony Kishman is easily the best "Paul" I have seen. And full orchestra is the only way to hear some of the classic songs, so a splendid time was guaranteed for all!