NEWS
EVENTS
I attended my 18th Paul McCartney concert at the weekend
Indie | Wednesday 27th May 2015 | Carl
Last Saturday was a big day for Paul McCartney's London fans. After a short break and a successful show in Japan, the legendary bass player of The Beatles brought his Out There tour, which began almost two years ago in Brazil, to the capital. At 72 years young, the man from Liverpool rocked the O2 with a three hour set, playing Beatles, Wings and solo tunes.
At 8pm, to the sounds of screams and shouts from the audience, Paul McCartney took to the stage for his 50th London solo perfromance. He began with 'Eight Days A Week', a classic tune that made us feel like we were in the height of sixties Beatlemania. 20 minutes in and we got our first surpise, he played 'Temporary Secretary' for the first time ever! This tune was composed in1980 and is considered as one of the first electronic tracks ever made. It was crazy and fans were lucky to see such a moment live.
Paul said that this gig was an event, more a simple show. When he plays in the UK, it is always something special for him, "We traveled a lot during this tour, but it's good to be back home." he played Beatles classics like 'Paperback Writer', 'We Can Work It Out', and 'And I Love Her'. His second band Wings was also honoured with the smashing hit 'Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five'. Solo songs made the set list too; 'My Valentine' composed for his wife Nancy, 'Hope For The Future' composed for the video game Destiny, and three songs from his last solo LP New.
Every song contained emotion, which made it so special, like when Paul played 'Here Today', the song he wrote after John Lemnon passed away, on acoustic guitar. He also payed tribute to George Harrison by playing an extraordinary version of 'Something', which was originally composed by George and is considered one of the most beautiful pop songs ever written.
The bulk of the set list was made of Beatles tunes - we heard 'All Together Now' for the first time, 'Eleanor Rigby', 'Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite' and 'Back In The U.S.S.R.'. Everyone in the crowd joined in with 'Let It Be' creating a wonderful musical moment. Fireworks and flames accompanied 'Live And Let Die', and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl made an appearance and the pair performed the Beatles classic 'I Saw Her Standing There'.
At the end of the show Paul didn't want to leave. He came back on for 'Yesterday', 'Helter Skelter' and part of the 'Abbey Road Medley'. It was pure musical genius. This we can say for sure, everyone who gets to see Paul McCartney is very lucky. It's a privilege to experience his music and his genius live.
