EXCLUSIVE! Girl with McCartney Halifax signature tattoo is home, says, 'I still can't believe it!'

   Audrey McCombs and her Paul McCartney
   signature tattoo. (Photo courtesy Audrey
   McCombs.)

Paul McCartney, you've made Audrey McCombs one very very happy person.

You see Audrey is the 19-year-old young lady you called up on stage in Halifax so you could sign her arm. She wanted to get a signature tattoo. And you obliged.

Her life's been a whirlwind ever since.

"It’s insane," she says over the phone Monday. "I’ve given so many interviews today to all these Canadian places. And it’s nuts."

Halifax wasn't Audrey's first McCartney show. "I saw him Nov. 7, 2005, in San Jose, Nov. 16, (2005) in Sacramento, and then I saw him last April 17 at the Coachella Music Festival," she says reeling off the dates without hesitation. 

And now this. How did she make plans to go to Halifax in the first place?

"When I found out he was playing another show, another general admission show, is what really got me. I said, ‘You know, I have the money. I’m gonna go. I don’t care if it’s in Nova Scotia. I’m going to go.'" Her grandmother volunteered to go with her.

They flew to Canada Thursday from Humboldt County, Calif., where she lived. Friday, they decided to explore Halifax.

They went to check out the Commons, headed down to the wharf and saw Hal Bruce playing some Beatle songs. "And actually, we went to dinner and then (back) went up to the Commons for some reason. I don’t remember why. We just went back up there. And about two minutes after we got there, (Paul) started his soundcheck. Which was awesome, because he played 'San Francisco Bay Blues,' 'C Moon,' 'Coming Up,' which is cool. He rehearsed 'Mull of Kintyre' with the pipe band, which was awesome, too. And ... 'Midnight Special.' So it was great. Good timing."

That night, she camped out at the Halifax Commons with other McCartney fans, where the show was to be held. "I actually slept at the gates that night overnight with some really awesome fans. Half of them were from Quebec and they only speak French and I’m from California and nobody speaks French. ... So I had no idea what they were saying. ... I was right in front for the gates. They opened and I had to sprint. I sprinted towards the front and I got second row center. So, yeah, it was pretty close."

Her sign was all ready to go. It said, "Paul, will you sign my arm so I can get it tattooed on?" "I made the sign a few days before at work when I really wasn’t doing anything ... I’ve been wanting to do for, like, three or four years now. I never thought it would happen," she says with a laugh. "And I got it laminated just in case it rained. You never know coastal weather!"

Everything happened after "Calico Skies," as Paul surveyed the signs in the crowd. ""I held it up during that song and the first time he looked at it after the first verse, he got this really puzzled look on his face like he was really confused. Then he kept looking down at me during the rest of the song and then he … " Her voice trails off and all she can say is, "Yeah, aw man…" ...

What happened after that is like a blur to McCombs.

"The next thing I knew I was jumping over the barrier," she says. "Security was bringing me toward the side of the stage. And I went up and the next thing I knew I was running towards Paul McCartney. And I gave him a hug. And he signed my arm. And I turned around and Rusty was there. And I’m going, ‘Rusty,’ and gave him a hug.

"And I went, 'Well it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the band if I didn’t give them hugs, too. So I ran over to Brian and gave him a hug. Then I couldn’t get to Abe because he was behind his set. I was like, ‘Hey Abe, I saw you last week in Oakland with Eric Clapton and you were awesome. And he laughed and he smiled. And then I went and climbed up on Wix’s keyboard place and gave him a hug, too. Then, aw man, it was great. Then they helped me off to the medic tent because I was freaking out."

Has she seen the YouTube video of her onstage?

"Yes, yes," she says, calmly. "It’s cool to watch it because it hasn’t sunk in yet. I still can’t believe it. And I watched it and I have to look at my arm and, like, is it still there? Did this really happen?"

Audrey and her grandmother got back to their hostel at 1 a.m., got two hours of sleep and left for the airport at 3 a.m. She made arrangements to get the tattoo on Sunday when they got back.

"I texted my friend while we were in the Toronto Airport and I said, ''We should look for tattoo places that are open on Sunday.’ And she did and she made the appointment for 5. And we went to the tattoo parlor and the guy had been booked for five months solid. And he heard my story and he said, ‘I have to be a part of this.' So he spent some time after work. He refused to sign my arm with us (unless we were) listening to the Beatles. So my friend had to go out and he bought the 'Anthology 1' set, the first two-disc set. And he put in the second CD. And then he was tattooing my arm and 'All My Loving' came on and I totally lost it. I was crying. He did that song in Halifax. And I was like, “Oh my gosh.'"

McCombs hopes to catch McCartney's concert at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. "I’m really close to going to Dallas because I want to stand by the gate where he drives and say, ‘You know, I got it.’" She wishes, however, he was playing another West Coast show. "You'd think he'd come to the West Coast! At least L.A.!!! Then I'd have a 14 hour drive."

 All this fame has left McCombs a bit, well, breathless.

"After the concert there were a bunch of people, like, ‘Oh my gosh it’s the girl who got signed. Can I have a picture with you?’ "And yeah, it’s weird."

But like we said, she's one very happy fan.

"I have been following him since I was 9 years old - and I'm not talking about just the Beatles. Everything he's done. I just bought a bunch of the Club Sandwich magazines, since I was too young to have gotten them when they actually came out. He is my idol, my mentor, the reason I am who I am!!!"

There are a lot of fans who feel like Audrey McCombs.  And now, she has a special souvenir from the Halifax show.

And a very unique one at that.