Paul McCartney released Good Evening New York City in the United States on November 17, 2009, through Hear Music/Concord Music Group. The double live album and concert film drew on his July 17, 18 and 21 shows at New York’s Citi Field, the stadium’s first concerts. Across 33 tracks, the package connected the new ballpark with a history stretching back to The Beatles at Shea Stadium.
McCartney had played Shea with The Beatles in 1965, when their set lasted about 34 minutes. Citi Field stood beside the former stadium’s site, and “I’m Down” gave the return a direct musical connection. McCartney included the song from that earlier set and, in a November 2009 Q&A on his website, explained that performing it made him think about both occasions at once. He regarded playing it again in that setting as a tribute to the earlier concert.
Billy Joel supplied another connection between the stadiums. McCartney had joined him for Shea’s final rock concert in 2008; Joel returned the favor at the first Citi Field show. Their performance of “I Saw Her Standing There” made the album, with Joel contributing piano and additional vocals. Both musicians had helped close the old venue, then shared the stage during the new one’s opening run.
The set also made room for music McCartney had released much closer to those concerts. Alongside Wings songs such as “Jet” and “Band on the Run,” the album included “Highway” and “Sing the Changes” from The Fireman’s 2008 album Electric Arguments. Asked that November which track he particularly looked forward to playing, McCartney singled out “Sing the Changes.” The newer songs gave the recording a connection to his studio work of the previous year, alongside the material associated with his earlier bands.
Capturing the show also meant finding a way to film it from inside the audience. The production used 15 cameras and incorporated footage from 75 Flip cameras handed to fans across the three nights. McCartney explained that receiving one of the small cameras as a gift had prompted the idea of “capturing the atmosphere from the audience point of view.” That approach gave the concert film perspectives beyond the professional camera positions. He also explained that stadium shows required bigger visual thinking, with screens helping people at the back see the performance and feel involved.
The standard edition paired two CDs with the concert DVD. A deluxe edition added a second DVD containing seven songs from McCartney’s July 15 performance on the Ed Sullivan Theater marquee for Late Show with David Letterman, including material omitted from the television broadcast. That appearance supplied another New York return: The Beatles had performed inside the theater in 1964. The expanded package also included the audience documentary Good Evening People, extending its attention to the people who came to see him.
One Citi Field recording went on to receive an award of its own. The album’s performance of “Helter Skelter” earned McCartney Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance at the 2011 Grammy Awards.
