Many of us dream about getting to share the stage with our music icons, but for one local man that dream recently became his Thursday night plans.
Gregg Anderson of Grand Forks travelled to New York City last week to sing on stage with former Beatle and music legend Paul McCartney on Sept. 21.
Anderson won the opportunity to travel to New York as a result of a donation he made to the David Lynch Foundation through Omaze, a company that gives people the chance to win “dream experiences” by making a donation to a charity.
The David Lynch Foundation works to promote transcendental meditation for people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Last week was a whirlwind, Anderson said, with Omaze contacting him about being a “potential winner” on Sept. 15 and breaking the news over Skype Sept. 18. He left the very next day, and spent time with McCartney up on stage during sound check for Thursday night’s show. He returned to Grand Forks on Sunday.
Anderson, a lifelong McCartney fan, said it was a dream come true to be up on stage with his Beatles idol.
“I grew up with the music around me. I don’t remember ever discovering the Beatles, it was already around me, and listening on family trips,” he said. “I have always followed from then until now.”
The short notice meant that it took a bit of cooperation from coworkers to get the time off, with one even coming in from vacation to cover for him.
“I said Gloria, I have to tell you something, I need you to come into work for me and this is why,” Anderson said. She was thrilled for him, and Anderson got the go-ahead for New York.
Anderson said he and his partner began the big day by walking around and exploring Brooklyn before checking in at Barclays Centre on Thursday evening. Backstage with the VIPs, Anderson said there was food and many other McCartney superfans, and soon it was time for sound check.
“I thought, honestly, that they would take me onstage and put me in a corner … and that’s it. I thought I would maybe shake [McCartney’s] hand, maybe,” he said.
What followed was a “surreal” experience sharing the microphone with a pop music icon while singing Beatles’ hit “Get Back.”
“They took me right up to middle stage with Paul. He could not have been more gracious, he thanked me for my donation” Anderson said. “Honestly he said other stuff but it’s a bit of a blur now.
“We started to sing, the band kicked in, people were cheering, we were at the same microphone, nose to nose. It was surreal that I was singing with my musical idol,” he said.
After the adrenaline-fueled experience of being up on stage, Anderson said McCartney gave him a handshake, a hug and let him hold the bass guitar that he has used for most of his career.
This is the second time Anderson has seen McCartney – the first was in 2012 at BC Place, when Anderson said he spent his rent money going to see McCartney for his first show in Vancouver since appearing there with the Beatles in 1964.
This experience blew that out of the water, he said.
“Just the fact that someone who transcends any pop icon we have today was letting me get right there beside him, it blew my mind. I got to talk to him, thank him for his music. I said ‘it’s been a rough year you’ve gotten me through some tough spots, thank you for everything.’”