Associated Press

WASHINGTON — If the first British invasion of the White House ended with the house afire, the latest had Barack and Michelle Obama and their kids rocking out in their seats Wednesday night at a tribute concert for former Beatle Paul McCartney.

The setting was the ornate East Room, chandeliers overhead, George and Martha Washington portraits on the walls and an all-star lineup of performers cranking out some of McCartney’s greatest hits.

Stevie Wonder had the Obamas clapping to “We Can Work It Out.” The Jonas Brothers did “Baby You Can Drive My Car.” Corinne Bailey Rae slowed things down with “Blackbird.” And Faith Hill stroked “Long and Winding Road.”

It was McCartney himself who brought down the house by belting out “Michelle,” aiming his words straight at a first lady named Michelle.
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Paul McCartney watched the rehearsals for the Beatles’ “Love” show from Cirque du Soleil and this is one thing he had to say: “We were a great f-ing band.”

This moment is captured in the documentary “All Together Now,” which seems like it was supposed to have come out last fall, did or didn’t, and is being pushed this week. Regardless, I watched it over the weekend, and it’s wonderful. Beatles fans will just eat this up. What a pleasure.

First of all, you get a real sense of the main players involved: George Martin, who deserves a purple heart; his devoted and talented son Giles; McCartney, of course; and Ringo Starr. You also get a real sense of Olivia Harrison, George’s incredibly loyal and devoted widow; and Yoko Ono. And there are the people from Cirque du Soleil: from creators Guy Laliberte and director Dominic Champagne, to a South African dancer who’s struggling to fit in.

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Quentin Tarantino and his Basterds made quite a splash on Saturday afternoon.

The whole gang — Tarantino, Eli Roth, Golden Globe nominee Christoph Waltz, producer Lawrence Bender – appeared at BAFTA/LA’s annual afternoon tea at the Beverly Hills Hotel and wowed the crowd.

Among the superstars who were eager to meet them: both Sir Paul McCartney (with pretty gf Nancy Shevell) and Jane Fonda, who was introduced to Sir Paul by her bf Richard Perry, McCartney’s longtime pal and sometime record producer.

Pretty cool.

Also around the room were Jacqueline Bisset, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, Jason Reitman, Christian McKay, Jeremy Renner, Joan Collins and hubby Percy Gibson, all of the great supporting cast from “The Office,” Anna Kendrick from “Up in the Air” — who was too nervous to meet Fonda, as well as Bob Balaban, Evan Handler (from “Californication”), Peter Jacobson (of “House” fame), and pop star/soap star Rick Springfield.

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Believe it or not, Sir Paul McCartney (age 67 but looking ten years younger at least) finally got to perform on Broadway last night after 50 years in showbiz.

The occasion was one of those rare, memorable nights in the theater: an Actors Fund tribute to the late, famed songwriter-composer Frank Loesser, the man behind “Guys and Dolls,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Tying” and countless other songs and shows including the Oscar winner “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”  Loesser’s life was cut short by lung cancer in 1969 when he was just 59 years old.

McCartney has owned the Loesser catalog for some time as part of his MPL Communications. He and Loesser’s widow, the fabled Jo Sullivan, cooked up the idea of the tribute together. Then they set about organizing an amazing array of Broadway talent to pull it off. Annette Bening — sporting short short hair, and pitching in like a sport — co-hosted the night  with Jonathan Tisch and Kevin McCollum. Chita Rivera kicked off the night by telling a story of how she got caught wearing no panties on stage one night early in her career.

Among the stars who came to the Minskoff Theater and performed: the simply astounding Audra McDonald (totally wasted in her TV series, if you ask me). She showed her star power singing “Can’t Stop Talking” from the 1950 film “Let’s Dance” and later with  Marc Kudisch (fresh from “Nine to Five”) in “My Heart Is So Full of You.”

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Those very high priced Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows on Oct. 29 and 30 are quietly adding some unannounced special guests to the already published roster.

I’m told that Van Morrison, Smokey Robinson, James Taylor, Sting, Jeff Beck, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt are among those who will pop during the two nights.

They will join Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, U2, Metallica and Aretha Franklin.

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Paul McCartney and Beatles producer George Martin once each tried to give fledgling band U2 pep talks. Bono once fell asleep on Frank Sinatra’s couch after being out-drunk by the legendary crooner. U2’s producer Steve Lillywhite often prods Bono in the studio by saying: “How long is the song Bono? Why do you want to kill yourself? Do your job!”

These are just a few of the nuggets of inside info that came out last night during Elvis Costello’s interview with Bono and the Edge for the second season of his Sundance channel talk show, “Spectacle.” Costello, once the Angry Young Man of punk rock, is now the Charlie Rose of popular music. Brilliant!

The taping was held at MTV’s 360-seat Masonic Temple here in Toronto, under tight secrecy. For a week, the names of Costello’s guests were kept quiet, although down the street, at a local church, one pastor was preparing a homily called “No Line on the Horizon: The Theology of U2.” The Irish superstar band starts its world tour here this week.

Costello, trimmed down to a size that Kirstie Alley would give cheesecake for, opened the show by playing two U2 songs — “Mysterious Ways,” “Please” and “Dirty Day” — with his own group, the Imposters. By the end of the two and half hours, Bono and Edge did an unplugged version of their song, “Stay,” and joined Costello for a soulful rendition of the host’s “Alison” — a nod to Bono’s wife, Ali — as well as U2’s “Stuck in a Moment,” and a medley of Costello’s “Pump it Up” and U2’s “Get on Your Boots.” Bono also sang a bluesy number he once wrote for Frank Sinatra, called “Two Shots.”

“It was recorded eventually by a Sinatra,” he said, “Nancy.”

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There’s nothing simple about what the Beatles are releasing today. You may feel like there’s a lot of studying to be done, in fact, in order to understand it all.

Basically, there are two box sets: one in mono, one in stereo. This is because back in 1987, when the only set of Beatles CDs were released prior to today, the mixes were all screwed up. The stereo wasn’t true stereo, the mono wasn’t true mono. And, on top of that, the mastering — think of it as shellacking — wasn’t nearly as good is it is now.

The Beatles Mono Box Set is already sold out, but Capitol/Apple is going to make some more. In the meantime, what you can buy today is the Stereo Box Set. All the Beatles albums are now remastered in perfect stereo, not something created by “folding in” or “folding out” mono mixes.

Confused? I haven’t heard the stereo box yet, but I have heard the mono one. In particular, the mono box focuses on “Sgt. Pepper.” That’s because for reasons no one can explain, the guys only stuck around for the mono mix back in 1967, and never worked on the stereo one. Stereo was new then, and there were complications. The stereo version of “Sgt. Pepper” on CD which we’re all used to sounds fine, and a remastered version will sound even better. But the mono is another story.

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So what’s going on in the Hamptons? Basically, everyone’s cramming into the Blue Parrot in East Hampton, a little Mexican joint in a parking lot co-owned by Jon Bon Jovi, Ronald Perelman and maybe Jimmy Buffet.

Paul McCartney was in there twice last week, with girlfriend Nancy Shevell. He missed ex-wife Heather Mills, who made a splash at the Saturday Bridgehampton Polo matches sponsored by Mercedes Benz.

Blue Parrot is also hosting movie premiere dinners, and lots of other celebs. But the people who seem to be getting the most press this summer are the Real Housewives of New York. They go everywhere and get a lot of attention, at Blue Parrot, at Polo’s Blue Star Jets Field, and so on. I don’t watch the show, but maybe you do: Kelly Bensimon, Bettheny Frankel, Ramona Singer, Alex McCord — they all want attention, and they’re getting it.

Also seen at Polo this summer, and around town: Lindsay Lohan’s bad news dad, Michael. He is not a celebrity.

Savanna’s restaurant in Southampton is also still hopping, which is a tribute to its longevity. Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky are regulars, so is Nobu’s Richie Notar, our old pal Rosanna Scotto from Fox 5 here in New York, and Howard Lutnick, who lost his brother and most of his employees tragically in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

No, it’s not the Hamptons of yore, that’s for sure. You’re not going to find Eugene O’Neill, John Reed, and Louise Bryant frolicking on the beach, or James Jones, Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller trading quips. Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock are long gone. But Sir Paul is still pretty exciting. And the drinks at the Polo matches are always mixed just right.

P.S. Out on Shelter Island, check out the Boltax Gallery. Summer is a good time to pick up deals at galleries (like you didn’t know). In New York, this is a good time to visit the Jim Kempner Gallery on Tenth Avenue, and Mary Ryan Gallery on West 25th St.

Those Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows set for October at Madison Square Garden: they’re already causing controversy.

Missing from the rosters on both nights are just about everyone important: Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Elton John, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, The Eagles, Billy Joel, Steve Winwood, not to mention the Kinks and the Who, Fleetwood Mac, and so on.

The listings omit both women and blacks with the exception of Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin. How sad, and stupid. Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Gladys Knight, Lionel Richie–all missing. Al Green, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Sam Moore, Booker T, Mavis Staples, Gene Chandler, Percy Sledge, all the doo-wop groups, Dion and the Belmonts– missing.

What this is: a Rolling Stone magazine celebration cloaked as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Otherwise, Chubby Checker would start the show with “The Twist.” But he’s not even in the Rock Hall. So there!

And where are the chicks, so to speak? Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, who made Rolling Stone so big in the 70s? Or all the punky rock groups from the Phil Spector era, or Darlene Love? Something tells me there are going to be lots of medleys led by the indefatigable Paul Shaffer, in between the big acts already announced. It will be like one of those hideous PBS singalongs from Pittsburgh.

And what of the O’Jays, the Dells, the Chi Lites, the Stylistics and Earth Wind and Fire? Blondie, the Cars, the Ramones, the Pretenders and Talking Heads? Elvis Costello? Patti Smith? George Clinton?

And Joel Peresman gets $376,000 a year. It boggles the mind.

Rock stars invaded the tri-state area this weekend:

Sting, free of The Police, played a sold-out solo show on Saturday night at Foxwoods MGM Grand Casino in northern Connecticut. Luckily, someone told him it was Connecticut, because he was going to announce, “Hello, Massachusetts!” (Well, it’s close.)

The night before, the Police captain had wowed 120,000 fans at the Quebec Summer Music Festival. At Foxwoods, the show was more intimate. Sting even sang birthday wishes to an 87-year-old fan named Celia who sent a message up to the stage. Solo Sting meant the reappearance of his many hits away from The Police including “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” “Fragile,” “Fields of Gold,” and “If You Love Somebody (Set them Free).” How nice to hear them all again, as strong as ever. (Isn’t it time for a new Sting rock album?)

Anyway, even the Police songs he performed were rearranged to excellent effect, including a reworked bluesy “King of Pain” and a punchier “Roxanne.” It must have been a pleasure to stretch out again after The Police’s 16-month reunion tour…

And at New York’s Citi Field, Paul McCartney’s second show was devoid of the pounding rain and 100 percent humidity of the preceeding night. Same show, same set, but dry as McCartney’s humor. And the anecdotes he tried to tell on Friday could actually be heard. In the audience this time: NBC chief Jeff Zucker. And, guarded conspicuously by his own security people, Mets owner Fred Wilpon and his wife.

And: because Macca is a vegetarian, Drew Nieporent’s staff had to prepare a meat-free buffet dinner for luminaries at his glassed-in Acela restaurant. It was about a thousand times healthier than the sodium-laced (but yummy) Shake Shack meal we had on Friday night!