Review: Sir Paul McCartney in Manchester
Nostalgia is a powerful thing; with enough distance, it can make the bad seem good or the mediocre unbelievable - and it's a delusion many acts of the past live off for decades beyond their prime.
But there are a few legends in the world who are able to live up to the view offered by rose-tinted glasses, and one of them is undoubtedly Sir Paul McCartney.
The former Beatles singer has been a global icon for over half a century, and despite being well into his senior years is still able to entertain a crowd of thousands for three hours on every night of his world tour, which has seen fans in over 100 countries desperate for tickets, according to Viagogo.
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I mean, it’s not hard to see why, his stamina is only matched by the hefty back catalogue he’s got to choose from, and unlike a lot of other big artists, he has no problem giving people what they want: the hits.
Kicking off the first night of the Manchester leg of his tour with the early Beatles classic ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, the crowd of 20,000 went mental - 'Yes, Paul!', 'What a legend', 'This is the best thing I've ever seen', two particularly excited fans screeched behind me, only getting more emotional as the gig went on.
And from there Macca took the packed arena on whistle-stop tour of his stacked career, flitting seamlessly between Wings tunes like 'Let Me Roll It', 'Let ‘Em In' (the postcode lottery song), 'Jet' and 'Band on the Run' while also dipping back into Beatles classics such as 'Drive My Car', 'Love Me Do' and 'Lady Madonna'.
Sir Paul's hardcore fans were also treated to a rendition of the Quarreymen's 'In Spite of All the Danger', which was the first ever song recorded by John, Paul and George back in 1958.
There was even time for some of McCartney's solo stuff, which sadly included the pretty drab love song ‘My Valentine’, dedicated to his wife Nancy, who was watching on in the audience.
The less said about it the better, the only saving grace is that it came up fairly early on, so fans had more than enough time to wipe it from their memory.
One song that did help expunge it from the room's collective consciousness was ‘Blackbird’, which saw Sir Paul raised up high on a platform with just a guitar in hand to perform it. While it may be harder for the 82-year-old to reach the higher notes in some of his songs, this classic was only made more powerful by his raspier tones, as the crowd watched on in absolute silence.
And talk about giving the people what they want, with us now well into the festive period, fans were treated to a timely rendition of ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ - its first live performance in six years - a song that defies the rule that yuletide pop is largely terrible.
The set was then rounded off with a flurry of his biggest hits, 'Get Back', 'Let It Be', 'Live And Let Die' and 'Hey Jude' before Macca returned to the stage for the encore, eventually telling fans it was time they went home after a mammoth two-and-a-half-hour set - which is fair enough, I reckon.
Not a hair out of place or seemingly a beed of sweat on his head, McCartney gave a bow and left the stage.
Anyone who has had a career like his will struggle to escape the shadow of their own success, and while many came out to see 'the Beatles legend', he gave them more than their money's worth.
Setlist:
A Hard Day’s Night
Juniors Farm
Letting Go
Drive My Car
Got To Get You Into My Life
Come On To Me
Let Me Roll It
Getting Better
Let ‘Em In
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
Maybe I’m Amazed
I’ve Just Seen A Face
In Spite Of All The Danger
Love Me Do
Dance Tonight
Blackbird
Here Today
Now And Then
Lady Madonna
Jet
Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite
Something
Ob La Di, Ob La Da
Band On The Run
Wonderful Christmastime
Get Back
Let It Be
Live And Let Die
Hey Jude
Encore:
I’ve Got A Feeling
Sgt Pepper / Helter Skelter
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End
Topics: Music, Entertainment, UK News, Reviews
Dominic Smithers