 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Transcending generations
By BABITA PERSAUD, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- He's a grandfather of eight, father of four, retired and living in Redington Beach. But Thomas Cherry clearly remembers seeing the Beatles at the Miami Beach Convention Center in 1964. The cost per ticket: $4. "A dollar per Beatle," said Cherry, 66. The top ticket price Wednesday night at the Ice Palace, where Paul McCartney was the headliner: $250. Many of the concertgoers drove up in Jaguars or minivans. Some held hands with their spouses. Others were accompanied by children or grandchildren. Quite a few looked like they had just come from work, including Scott Sherwood, who is a securities broker. He's seen McCartney 16 times. "Never boring," he said. Why? "He has a message in everything, and that message is love," said Jeff Boszak, 48, a firefighter from Orlando. "He's the best bass player, best songwriter," said Ric Volpe, 49. "He might charge an arm and a leg for a T-shirt (the going rate was $30 Wednesday night) but he's a prophet for peace." Some in the crowd said McCartney changed their lives. A few said they became vegetarians because that's what he did. Paul Santa Maria learned to play guitar left-handed. "When you're as brilliant as he is, people are going to follow," said Santa Maria, 49, from Melbourne. "I remember seeing McCartney and the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show," said Linda Nelly, who, like McCartney, is 59 (He turns 60 next month). "They had those square haircuts and those black suits," Nelly said. She remembers turning to her husband and saying, "Oh, those are the British guys." Last night, she was at the concert with her two grown sons and Hannah, her 9-year-old granddaughter. Hannah has been listening to her friends talk about Britney Spears, their musical hero. "I'm luckier," she told them. "I'm getting to see Paul McCartney."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the wire |
