Eighty two. Paul McCartney is 82. (Well, I guess it makes a change to referring to the good Sir as an ex-Beatle). Now, where was I? Oh yes, in Santiago, Chile, at the Estadio Monumental, watching this magnificent human perform to and thrill thousands of people. It is always heartwarming to see multi generations singing along to all the songs at a Paul McCartney show. More impressively here, because most people speak only Spanish.
Next to me in the front row (natch!) was a sweet seven year old lad with his family. He was a mad Paul fan, as were plenty of other pre-teens nearby in our little moshpit.
My first experience seeing Paul McCartney in concert in South America was an enjoyable one. Initially I had concerns I might get crushed by countless passionate locals, but it was pretty chilled.
Chilled in Chile.
Before the main concert, about 100 of us got to see Paul do his soundcheck. A young couple resplendent in convincing costumes portraying Paul and Linda during their 1975/76 Wings Over The World tour held up a sign, “Give us a handshake and we’ll get married.”
It caught Paul’s eye and the lucky couple were invited up on stage to get their pre-nuptials blessed by him.
Even after seeing Paul McCartney many, many times, I am still amazed by his youthful energy.
Playing for nearly three hours, he just doesn’t stop! Switching from his Hofner bass, to electric guitar, to piano to acoustic guitar and back again, he delighted the 40,000 plus crowd, who lapped up every word Paul sang and said, sometimes in broken Spanish. In unison, they’d chant Olé Olé Olé in between the beloved tunes McCartney has created over his 60 year career.
So much so, that Paul seemed a tad bemused at times.
As always, I must mention his brilliant band; Brian Ray on guitar and bass, Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens on keys and MD, Abe Laboriel Jr the mighty powerhouse on drums, with the sweetest backing vocals, who also busts a mean move during “Dance Tonight” and Rusty Anderson on guitar. They are so tight and are a perfect complement to arguably the greatest back catalogue of music.
The playlist is much the same (my only gripe with my hero is that he isn’t terribly spontaneous.) Nevertheless, it was a joy to witness him perform “Now And Then”, a ‘new’ Beatles single released last year during his Australian leg of the Got Back tour.
Complete with a new video in the background, and Paul on vocals, it was mucho emotional.
Paul’s voice was in genuinely fine form.
How he still does this, I will never know.
But he obviously loves performing as much as we love watching him.
Keep on rockin’ Macca!
Can’t Buy Me Love (from A Hard Day’s Night, 1964)
Junior’s Farm (single, 1974)
Letting Go (from Venus and Mars, 1975)
Drive My Car (The Beatles, Rubber Soul, 1965)
Got to Get You Into My Life (from The Beatles, Revolver, 1966)
Come On to Me (from Egypt Station, 2018)
Let Me Roll It (from Band On the Run, 1973)
Getting Better (from The Beatles, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)
Let ‘Em In (from Wings At The Speed of Sound, 1976)
My Valentine (from Kisses On The Bottom, 2012)
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five (from Band On the Run, 1973)
Maybe I’m Amazed (from McCartney, 1970)
I’ve Just Seen a Face (from The Beatles, Help, 1965)
In Spite of All The Danger (recorded as The Quarrymen, 1958, first released on The Beatles, Anthology 1, 1995)
Love Me Do (from The Beatles, Please Please Me, 1963)
Dance Tonight (from Memory Almost Full, 2007)
Blackbird (from The Beatles, The Beatles, 1968)
Here Today (from Tug of War, 1982)
Now and Then (from The Beatles, 1967-1979 Blue Album, 2023)
New (from New, 2013)
Lady Madonna (The Beatles single, 1968)
Jet (from Band On the Run, 1973)
Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite (from The Beatles, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)
Something (from The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969)
Ob-La-Do, Ob-La-Da (from The Beatles, The Beatles, 1968)
Band On The Run (from Band On the Run, 1973)
Get Back (from The Beatles, Let It Be, 1970)
Let It Be (from The Beatles, Let It Be, 1970)
Live and Let Die (from James Bond’s Live and Let Die soundtrack, 1973)
Hey Jude (The Beatles single, 1968)
ENCORE:
I’ve Got A Feeling (from The Beatles, Let It Be, 1970) (with John Lennon virtual from the Peter Jackson Get Back documentary)
Birthday (from The Beatles, The Beatles, 1968)
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (from The Beatles, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)
Helter Skelter (from The Beatles, The Beatles, 1968)
Golden Slumbers (from The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969)
Carry That Weight (from The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969)
The End (from The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969)
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