Journey to Macca

"Review: Paul McCartney at Dodger Stadium: Fit, Giddy, and in Vintage Form"
By: Randall Roberts
Source: LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-paul-mccartney-dodger-stadium-fit-giddy-vintage-form-20140811-column.html

Photo by: Armine Kalbakian

    Former Beatle George Harrison once said, "The Beatles will exist without us". Perhaps his prediction was correct as forty-eight years after the band's concert at Dodger's Stadium in Los Angeles, in the absence of the three other members of the group, Paul McCartney performed on the same stage in front of an astounding crowd of fifty thousand fans, products of three different generations. The evening did not go on unremarked and multiple journalists were quick to publish reviews of the show. These  hold a fair share of persuasive appeals and arguable claims, as is the case with  LA Time's journalist Randall Roberts' review.
        Roberts' review possesses one major claim, accompanied by a minor one. The claim that guides the piece is a claim of value, which is detected in the line "McCartney looked and sounded great" (Roberts 1). This can be considered a claim of value, because it is the author's personal judgement based on his taste on whether or not the concert was an enjoyable one. The criteria used to back up this claim includes the lengthy set list of varied songs "Each in its own feeling, each drawing its own gasps of joy and recollection" (Roberts 1). In addition to the waves of nostalgia and emotion that were aroused within the audience, Roberts describes the show's exciting lighting effects,  as well as McCartney's fashionable vintage outfit, constant change of instrument, livelihood and down-to-earth personality. Towards the end, the author concedes to a counterargument regarding Paul McCartney's new songs and use of samples on select classic ones. It is here where Roberts makes a claim of policy by stating, "Hire a dang string quartet already. I'm sure we'd all have chipped in an extra buck to see 'Eleanor Rigby' performed as it should be, rather than with samples" (Roberts 1). He then refutes these claims by dismissing them in lieu of the overall eminence of the concert.
          Above all, the review relies on persuasive appeals, most notably pathos, to describe the concert. While the author does not explicitly state his credibility to review the event, one may assume that ethos exists in the explanation he gives about technical musical flaws. Logos is also apparent throughout the review. For example, the number of concert goers, mention of songs sung during the performance, and various highlights of the night are factual evidence that persuade readers that the night was an enjoyable one. Roberts' review holds an immense sum of pathos, however. He describes the emotional tole the songs had on the audience that evening, and uses words like "nostalgia", "recollection", and "joy". Roberts uses lyrics from multiple songs to highlight this effect, as the songs often reach out to listeners with the use of "you". He concludes the review with a question from the song "Eleanor Rigby" that he believes applies to the entire audience, and answers it with a particularly emotional response that reiterates his initial claim about the concert: "In a perfect world, within these songs, and awash in this feeling" (Roberts 1).