Paul McCartney Electric Ballroom, London Thursday, June 8, 2007 โItโs a long time we did a gig like this,โ says McCartney part way through tonightโs not-so secret gig, and youโd imagine even the most devoted Beatlesโ scholar would be hard pressed to recall the last time Macca played a venue with the word โBallroomโ in the title โ let alone any venue with a capacity of a 1,000. Certainly, the last time Macca played the UK was when he headlined Glastonbury in 2004. Tonight, then, is clearly something of an event, and though ostensibly part of the promotion for his new album, Memory Almost Full (his first rock record since 2005โs Chaos And Creation In The Backyard), he engages enthusiastically with his bejewelled back catalogue, playing no less than 10 Beatlesโ songs. The audience comprises competition winners and fan club members, though the balcony is packed with celebrities, presumably rattling their jewellery by way of appreciation. Dressed in a long-sleeved grey t-shirt and dark trousers, and flanked by a band who look like their auditioning for a reality TV show to be the next Razorlight, Macca arrives on stage at 8.30 sharp and plays for almost two hours. Itโs fantastic, almost surreal, to see him playing such a small venue, performing โDrive My Carโ, โThe Long And Winding Roadโ, โBack In The USSRโ (complete with aeroplane sound effects) and โLet It Beโ. More than, say, Dylan and the Stones, his songs are hardwired into our genetic make-up โ children are born able to sing along to โHey Judeโ โ and to hear them in a venue of such relative intimacy by the standard of usual Macca gigs connects us directly to some kind of etheric record, the public consciousness. Thereโs no point โ and, indeed, why should he? โ for Macca to try to escape the shadow of The Beatles, and on โThat Was Me,โ he sings almost incredulously about โsweating cobwebs under contract/In the celllar/On TV/That was meโฆ [Itโs] pretty hard to take it in.โ Introducing โIโll Follow The Sunโ, from Beatles For Sale, he remembers โwriting this in a houseโฆ thatโs now a National Heritage thing.โ After a heart-stopping version of โBlackbirdโ, he dedicates โHere Todayโ, from Tug Of Love, to โJohn, George and Linda.โ Between songs, his banter occasionally become cringe-worthy, whether it be the faux Jamaican patois into which he frequently lapses, a daft explanation of how Camden got its name, or doing bad impressions of Harry Enfieldโs Scousers. The final leg features a blistering cover of Carl Perkinsโ โMatchboxโ, โGet Backโ and โHey Judeโ, the latter becoming both the end of the main set and the start of the encore, only a heartless churl incapable of being swept along with the โNa na na na na na naโ chorus. โLet It Beโ is followed by โLady Madonna,โ and he closes with โI Saw Her Standing Thereโ, indelibly and magnificently locating us back to 1963, at the birth of everything. MICHAEL BONNER Full set list: 'Drive My Car' 'Only Mama Knows' 'Dance Tonight' 'C Moon' 'The Long And Winding Road' 'I'll Follow The Sun' 'Calico Skies' 'That Was Me' 'Blackbird' 'Here Today' 'Back In The USSR' 'Nod Your Head' 'House Of Wax' 'I've Got A Feeling' 'Matchbox' 'Get Back' 'Hey Jude' 'Let It Be' 'Lady Madonna' 'I Saw Her Standing There' Pic credit: Rex Features
Paul McCartney
Electric Ballroom, London
Thursday, June 8, 2007
โItโs a long time we did a gig like this,โ says McCartney part way through tonightโs not-so secret gig, and youโd imagine even the most devoted Beatlesโ scholar would be hard pressed to recall the last time Macca played a venue with the word โBallroomโ in the title โ let alone any venue with a capacity of a 1,000.
Certainly, the last time Macca played the UK was when he headlined Glastonbury in 2004. Tonight, then, is clearly something of an event, and though ostensibly part of the promotion for his new album, Memory Almost Full (his first rock record since 2005โs Chaos And Creation In The Backyard), he engages enthusiastically with his bejewelled back catalogue, playing no less than 10 Beatlesโ songs. The audience comprises competition winners and fan club members, though the balcony is packed with celebrities, presumably rattling their jewellery by way of appreciation.
Dressed in a long-sleeved grey t-shirt and dark trousers, and flanked by a band who look like their auditioning for a reality TV show to be the next Razorlight, Macca arrives on stage at 8.30 sharp and plays for almost two hours. Itโs fantastic, almost surreal, to see him playing such a small venue, performing โDrive My Carโ, โThe Long And Winding Roadโ, โBack In The USSRโ (complete with aeroplane sound effects) and โLet It Beโ. More than, say, Dylan and the Stones, his songs are hardwired into our genetic make-up โ children are born able to sing along to โHey Judeโ โ and to hear them in a venue of such relative intimacy by the standard of usual Macca gigs connects us directly to some kind of etheric record, the public consciousness.
Thereโs no point โ and, indeed, why should he? โ for Macca to try to escape the shadow of The Beatles, and on โThat Was Me,โ he sings almost incredulously about โsweating cobwebs under contract/In the celllar/On TV/That was meโฆ [Itโs] pretty hard to take it in.โ Introducing โIโll Follow The Sunโ, from Beatles For Sale, he remembers โwriting this in a houseโฆ thatโs now a National Heritage thing.โ After a heart-stopping version of โBlackbirdโ, he dedicates โHere Todayโ, from Tug Of Love, to โJohn, George and Linda.โ
Between songs, his banter occasionally become cringe-worthy, whether it be the faux Jamaican patois into which he frequently lapses, a daft explanation of how Camden got its name, or doing bad impressions of Harry Enfieldโs Scousers.
The final leg features a blistering cover of Carl Perkinsโ โMatchboxโ, โGet Backโ and โHey Judeโ, the latter becoming both the end of the main set and the start of the encore, only a heartless churl incapable of being swept along with the โNa na na na na na naโ chorus. โLet It Beโ is followed by โLady Madonna,โ and he closes with โI Saw Her Standing Thereโ, indelibly and magnificently locating us back to 1963, at the birth of everything.
MICHAEL BONNER
Full set list:
โDrive My Carโ
โOnly Mama Knowsโ
โDance Tonightโ
โC Moonโ
โThe Long And Winding Roadโ
โIโll Follow The Sunโ
โCalico Skiesโ
โThat Was Meโ
โBlackbirdโ
โHere Todayโ
โBack In The USSRโ
โNod Your Headโ
โHouse Of Waxโ
โIโve Got A Feelingโ
โMatchboxโ
โGet Backโ
โHey Judeโ
โLet It Beโ
โLady Madonnaโ
โI Saw Her Standing Thereโ
Pic credit: Rex Features