Saturday, June 9, 2007
Sir Paul still rocks!
June 9, 2007
LONDON -- A man who's reached Paul McCartney's stage in life - a certain age, a gilded stature - could be forgiven for taking it a little bit easy. He could, for example, show up on stage, mumble a few hellos and sing a few hits, safe in the knowledge that everyone would go home thrilled just to have been in the same room.
It's clear, after spending a couple of hours in Sir Paul's company in a club in north London, that he's not that kind of guy. He is a guy who still wants to rock, and seduce his audience, and behave like the fizzy kid who turned the world on 45 years ago.
"Hey Camden," he sang with the enthusiasm of a first-time pub rocker as he arrived on stage: "We're going to rock 'n' roll tonight, we're going to have some fun, it'll be all right!" Then he launched into Drive My Car with the gusto of a man who hasn't played in Britain in two years, and who - we've all read about his disastrous divorce - perhaps needed to blow off some steam.
He certainly seemed in the mood to prove himself to the 1,000 people packed into Camden's Electric Ballroom - celebrities upstairs, granted access via black wristbands, and a collection of music-industry folk and contest-winners below. Actor Pierce Brosnan was allegedly there, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, but I couldn't say. I can tell you that Kate Moss and Stella McCartney sang Viva Las Vegas while putting on their makeup in the ladies' room.
It was the Beatles songs, unsurprisingly, that made the crowd wild. "I'm a massive, massive fan," the guy beside me said before the show, "even if the solo stuff is a bit dobbins." Dobbins? I had no idea what he was talking about, although I could guess from the context.
I begged to differ: A bunch of the songs on the new record are quite rocking, and worthy of inclusion in the McCartney songbook. He played a few of them with the same devotion (and in some cases tenderness) that he gave to the more celebrated material.
It was the more familiar chords of Hey Jude that got the audience swaying, as McCartney led a singalong of increasing power. How is it possible to maintain such enthusiasm for a song you've performed countless times?
After the show, two tourists from Saskatchewan stood inside the club, dazed at their good fortune. Heidi St. Amand and Kristi Law had been shopping in the Camden area earlier in the day, saw the crowd outside the club, joined the lineup, and were given tickets to the show. They are just 20, but they're Beatles-crazed. Two days earlier, they'd been on a Beatles walking tour.
"This is the most amazing thing ever," said St. Amand, who is studying psychology but says the piano is her real passion. Her friend agreed: "He's definitely the best monument we've seen in London."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6733313.stm
Sir Paul stages intimate concert
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Some 1,000 fans were treated to Beatles classics like Drive My Car and Hey Jude as well as tracks from Memory Almost Full, which was released on Monday.
The gig, at Camden's Electric Ballroom, was only announced on Thursday morning, but the free tickets were all snapped up in just 13 minutes.
Among the audience were Pierce Brosnan, Kate Moss and Stella McCartney.
Actress Emma Thompson, guitar legend Jeff Beck and Pink Floyd star David Gilmour also made the journey to north London for the concert.
"He seemed really and honestly happy to be there and on great from," said fan Nick Sargeant, from London.
"The stuff from the new album was excellent. All in all it was pretty amazing."
Sir Paul, 64, kicked off the show with Drive My Car and ended with Hey Jude before returning for an encore of Let It Be, Lady Madonna and I Saw Her Standing There.
He also sang Here Today, from the 1982 album Tug Of War, for his former bandmates in the Beatles and first wife Linda McCartney.
"This one was written for John," Sir Paul told the audience. "I would like to dedicate this song to all our fallen heroes - John, George, Linda and all the lovely people."
'Exciting'
The star, whose last pop concert in the UK was 2005's Live 8, is more used to playing arenas and stadiums than small clubs. 
Sir Paul is the first artist to release an original album through Starbucks
"It's a little while since I played a gig like this," he told the audience to huge cheers.
Before the concert, he said the show would be "even more exciting because you see the whites of their eyes".
Fans, too, were impressed at how close they could get to the music legend.
"After all these years he still connects with audiences like no one else," said Michael Kinraid from London.
"My favourite moment was Blackbird - so simple and beautiful," said Susanne Essen. "It will take a long time to beat that."
Sir Paul's latest album, Memory Almost Full, has been released on a label run by coffee house chain Starbucks.
Fans have spotted that title is an anagram of For My Soulmate LLM - the initials of his late wife, Linda Louise McCartney.
The singer, who is in the process of divorcing his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney, has not commented on the title.
It was a great gig, I was only few feet away from the front of the stage. Time just flew by and had to check the setlist online to remind myself of just how many songs he did. Great to see him in a small venue without the big stage show. He seemed very at ease and looks a lot more like he's getting back to his old self.
Colin Cooper, London
Macca was in blazing form - and the boys in the band were clearly enjoying the intimate venue as well. The Man may be 64 but watching him playing his heart out on stage made ME feel 64 - he has so much energy! After all these years he still connects with audiences like no one else.
Michael Kinraid, London
Were you lucky enough to be at the gig? What was the atmosphere like? What was your favourite moment? Send us your comments by filling in the form below.
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