​What do you do when you are the Cute Beatle approaching 70? Age—and those decades of inhaling herb—is finally catching up to those pipes, yet vanity or stubbornness prevents you from simply clipping on that capo to sing your classics in a lower key. Oh, and your name is Sir Paul and you're the only survivor of pop's most valuable (in every sense) conglomerate who is not Ringo.

There are some obvious choices. A reality show? Been there, done that. A Rick Rubin-produced warts and all expose? You would find that Paulie's gritty is everyone else's pretty. As the son of a dance hall bandleader, James Paul McCartney always deferred to the Great American Songbook's greatness. Moving from the stadiums (where, for a $500 ticket, he will do his damndest to hit a younger bloke's high notes) to LA's Capitol studios, where he crooned into Nat Cole's old mic, he is not only aging with dignity but with a subtle beauty young Paul may have missed a few decades ago, when the temptation to show off his octaves (and Little Richard-inspired holler) would be too great.

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​This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a moment in American history that was pretty horrifying for reasons that have been enumerated countless times. (Especially in recent days.) Their effects on pop music weren't as tragic, to be sure, but they were pretty unfortunate—artists on both sides of the aisle manned their battlestations and put forth musical invective and sloganeering pap that diminished everyone involved, and turned the radio into a potential lightning rod for angry disagreements about the state of American politics. Even Aaron Carter got into the fray, which probably gives you an idea of how dire things got. Our nine picks for the most offensive pieces of music brought forth by the attacks below.

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Paul McCartney
Yankee Stadium
Friday, July 15

Better than: Watching Let It Be.

"Who's this Derek Jeter guy?" Paul McCartney said after "Jet," the fourth song the opening night (of two) at Yankee Stadium. "I hear he's got more hits than me." That's debatable, as Macca put in a rather astounding amount of work proving. Dude is 70 years old, almost twice my age, and although his voice got a little scratchy toward the end, that fucker can belt, and in the physical-grace department, my blind guess of his age might have been more like a very agile 50. I could barely stand in front of my center field seat, which proved necessary pretty much the entire time.

Paul reminds people who can afford $275 tickets of their fabulous youth. That's a lot of youth: the crowd was genuinely intergenerational, and if prices had skewed lower there'd probably have been more kids in our section. There were plenty anyway. Paul must know it, because he began with "Hello Goodbye," oft-derided as one of his fluffier numbers but completely irresistible to me—a perfect opening storybook opening. He also threw in "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da" near the end of the main set—not counting a pair of three-song encores, he played between 35 and 40 numbers, depending on how you count.

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Tickets to Paul McCartney's July 15 concert at the new Yankee Stadium, which will serve as something of a b-side to the concerts he played at the Mets' new home in 2009, go on sale at 11 a.m. today, with post-service-charge prices ranging from $42.25 to $293.90; there are also a bunch of VIP packages for people who think that the proper way to honor a Beatle is to spend a lot of money on seeing him perform a concert. (And yes, the dinner that comes along with the highest-echelon VIP packages is a vegetarian one.)

UPDATE: The show sold out quickly enough that a second gig's been added for July 16. Tickets are on sale now. (Is it worth pointing out that the Yankees are out of town from July 10 through July 21? Maybe!)

Though the gala was weeks ago, CBS just got around to airing the annual Kennedy Center Honors award show. Among the honorees? Bill T. Jones, Jerry Herman, Merle Haggard, Oprah Winrey, and Paul McCartney, to whom Steven Tyler can be seen paying awkward, shrill tribute to above. Which makes us wonder. Did the Beatles end up winning 2010 somehow?

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​Yes, that's right -- showtime at the Apollo, starring Sir Paul, vocalist for what is, as I type this, the 56th most popular song on iTunes ("Let It Be"). "The legend plans to perform selections from his solo career and other familiar tunes," the venue promises, on December 13. Sounds awesome. Just one catch, though.

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No Billie Joel cameo this time, which is fine, fine, fine

Paul McCartney
Citi Field
Tuesday, July 21

I'd like to publicly thank the usher in section 314 for physically blocking my path to the bathroom during the opening strains of "Live and Let Die" because he didn't want me to miss the fireworks. I suppose I should also apologize for the solid 15 seconds wherein I had no idea what he was talking about.

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The author's view

Paul McCartney
Ed Sullivan Theater Marquee Roof
Wednesday, July 15

Like everybody else, the helicopters await Paul. First one, chopping ambiently over Broadway, then two more. When the 67-year old ex-Beatle finally comes onto the marquee roof of the David Letterman-occupied Ed Sullivan Theater a little before 5:30, he waves at them fondly, rooftop crowds, and everybody else. High-pitched screams roll with each move, Beatlemania rendered as comedy.

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