I went to see Paul McCartney last night, and it was fab. North Greenwich is playing host to a German Christmas market at the moment (are the Germans better at Christmas than the British, or something?) and I enjoyed the overpriced smoked sausage and Glühwein on offer with a couple of cold cigarettes.
After Macca’s X-Factor performance, I wasn’t expecting too much, but opening the show with ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ helped strip some of that cynicism away. Much of the set was par for the course with the exception of ‘Mrs Vandebilt’, ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’, ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Mull of Kintyre’ which featured the Balmoral Highlanders complete with all necessary wailing accoutrements. It’s not a favourite song of mine by any means, but it was one hell of a spectacle.
So, yes, McCartney was worth that hefty £137 price tag. Would I do it again? On the strength of this performance, I probably would. Overall, the set was his strongest yet and the band were exact. The only letdown came from the audience who, around my area at least, were the most reticent, miserable bunch of rich, middle-class fuckwits I’ve ever had the misfortune to come across – well, since WOMAD anyway.
It wasn’t all good: he played some stuff from The Fireman; a couple of duff solo tracks surfaced; ‘Helter Skelter’ is now a bit of a pastiche; ‘Live and Let Die’ is only explosive if you’re a Macca concert virgin; and ‘A Day In The Life’ is really not what it should be without John.
For a more detailed review, check out Caitlin Moran’s, cos I’m too tired to get into it fully.
Setlist:
‘Magical Mystery Tour’
‘Drive My Car’
‘Jet’
‘Only Mama Knows’
‘Flaming Pie’
‘Got To Get You Into My Life’
‘Let Me Roll It’/'Foxy Lady’
‘Highway’
‘The Long And Winding Road’
‘I Want To Come Home’
‘My Love’
‘Blackbird’
‘Here Today’
‘Dance Tonight’
‘And I Love Her’
‘Eleanor Rigby’
‘Leaning On A Lamp Post’/'Something’
‘Mrs Vandebilt’
‘Sing The Changes’
‘Wonderful Christmas Time’
‘Band On The Run’
‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’
‘Back In The USSR’
‘I’ve Got A Feeling’
‘Paperback Writer’
‘A Day In The Life’/'Give Peace A Chance’
‘Let It Be’
‘Live And Let Die’
‘Hey Jude’
‘Day Tripper’
‘Lady Madonna’
‘Get Back’
‘Yesterday’
‘Helter Skelter’
‘Mull Of Kintyre’
‘Sgt Pepper’/'The End’