RLD" TOUR ITINERARYRLD" TOUR ITINERARY
March 28 - Palau
San Jordi
- Barcelona, Spain
March 29 - Palau
San Jordi
- Barcelona, Spain
April 1 - Sportpaleis
Antwerpen
- Antwerp, Belgium
April 2 - Sportpaleis
Antwerpen
- Antwerp, Belgium
April 5 - Hallam
Arena
- Sheffield, England
April 6 - Hallam Arena - Sheffield,
England RESCHEDULED
April 9 - Manchester
Evening News Arena
- Manchester, England
April 10 - Manchester
Evening News Arena
- Manchester, England
April 13 - NIA
(National Indoor Arena) - Birmingham, England
April 14 - NIA
(National Indoor Arena) - Birmingham, England
April 18 - Earls
Court
- London, England
April 19 - Earls
Court
- London, England
April 21 - Earls
Court
- London, England
April 22 - Earls
Court
- London, England
April 25 - Gelredome - Arnhem, The Netherlands
April 27 - Köln
Arena
- Cologne, Germany
April 28 - Köln
Arena
- Cologne, Germany
April 30 - Preussag
Arena
- Hannover, Germany
May 2 - Parken Stadium - Copenhagen, Denmark
May 4 - Stockholm
Globe Arena
- Stockholm, Sweden
May 5 - Stockholm
Globe Arena
- Stockholm, Sweden
May 8 - Koenig Pilsener Arena - Oberhausen, Germany
May 10 - Colosseum - Rome, Italy (inside)
May 11 - Via dei Fori
Imperiali
(in front of the Colosseum) -
Rome, Italy
May 14 - Stadthalle - Vienna, Austria
May 15 - Budapest
Sportarena
- Budapest, Hungary
May 17 - Konigsplatz - Munich, Germany
May 18 - Konigsplatz - Munich, Germany
May 21 - AOL
Arena
- Hamburg, Germany
May 24 - Red
Square
- Moscow, Russia
May 27 - RDS
(Royal Dublin Society) Stadium - Dublin, Ireland
May 29 - HallamFM
Arena
- Sheffield, England
June 1 - Kings
Dock -
Liverpool, England
Paul's Mercedes
got to venue just after 5pm. At the concert, Paul wore a black
Nehru jacket with an embroidered collar and cuffs and a banded
embroidered edging at the bottom of the jacket (like at the Paris
show)
He had on a long sleeved red T-shirt and baggy, blue jeans.
The 10,000 (sold out)
strong Hannover audience like previous German audiences took time
to warm-up. They were on their feet when McCartney took the stage,
then sat down. By the second half of the show the German audience
rocked. Beatles numbers got a more enthusiastic response. The
crowd was on it's feet for "Back in the USSR."
Paul did the fake at the beginning of "We Can Work It Out"
singing "When I was walking down the road..." adding
more lyrics to the song before he stopped himself and said, "No,
that's not the one!" He messed up the words to the beginning
"We Can Work It Out" so badly that he made up nonsense
words to fill-in.
He had a big grin on his face embarrassed by how badly he screwed
up. He was able to recover and get back on track with the proper
words to the song.
At the beginning of "Blackbird" his voice cracked showing
signs of a lingering cold. For the rockers his vocals sounded
fine but on the ballads he had strained vocals.
Rusty had the pocket English to German translator but he forgot
to re-program it for Hannover because it welcomed the Cologne
audience.
Some of Paul's dialog/jokes were left out because of the non-English
speaking audience. For "You Never Give Me Your Money"
Paul sang the correct words. He did all the intros to the songs
(German/English) as at the previous German gigs.
For "Hey Jude" Paul led the singalong, "Zuerst die Maenner!" (first
the Men )"Und jetzt die Frauen!" (and just the Women)
"Alle zusammen!" (everyone together) After the song
he pointed to people and said, "You were great and you were
great..."
Paul signed one autograph at the end of the show that was a sign that someone up front had made.
Sign in the
audience: "You Rock!
Thanx" Paul acknowledged the sign by nodding grinning at
the sign holder.
back to itinerary
Paul arrived
around 4:30pm and there was already a soundcheck going on that
the band was doing. Paul joined the soundcheck which ran until
6pm. The crowd was let in late at 6:30pm. Songs heard at the soundcheck:
"Can't Buy Me Love," "All My Loving." The
Danish queen arrived around 4:15pm to meet with Paul backstage.
The Danish crowd packed the Parken Stadium with a sellout audience
of 47,000. Many famous artists and celebs from Sweden and Denmark
were in the audience. The preshow started at 8:15pm. Paul wore
the purple Nehru jacket, a long-sleeved red T-shirt and blue jeans.
The Danish audience was slow to warm up but by the fifth song
they were singing and on their feet.
Paul spoke in Danish and
English. Thanking the audience many times by saying "Tak!"
(Thanks!) Some of his Danish pronounciations were not good and
people were not sure what he said and the sound was poor inside
the stadium.
Right after "Jet" he said, "Guud
aften Køpenhavn! Hvurdan går det?" (Good evening
Copenhagen! How are you?)
For the intro to "Your
Loving Flame" Paul said, "Jeg vil gerne dedikere denne
sang til min kæreste, kone, Heather." (I dedicate this
song to my dearest wife, Heather)
When the band left the stage for
the solo set Paul said, "This is the part where everyone
leaves and I am left alone with you." Then he told the story
about "Blackbird."
When the strongman came out with the psychedelic piano Paul made
his joke, and said, "I warned him about the use of steroids!"
which got laughs from the audience. When the strongman came back
to take the piano away Paul made a funny face at him.
Paul sang, "This is the part where I don't know the words..."
for "You Never Give Me Your Money."
He mentioned that a friend was in the audience, "A friend
of mine who I got to know back when I was in Wings is in the audience.
Hello, Jonathan!"
Paul introduced all the band members in Danish. "Jeg vil
præsenterer Verdens bedste Guitarist Rusty Anderson!"
(I like to introduce the world's best guitarist, Rusty Anderson)
Rusty said he didn't speak Danish but he has a language translator.
He took out the translator and held it up to the microphone and
it spoke in a woman's voice and said, [English translation] "I
hope you'll have a great evening. Do not throw any litter on the
floor. Please use the bins." That brought a lot of laughter
from the audience.
For "Something" he
did the intro in English talking about George Formby and ended
the song with the fast version saying that George told him it
goes more like this.
Lighters lit up the audience for "Let It Be." Paul thanked
the audience for the lights.
For "My Love" he mentioned he wrote the song for Linda
and was dedicating it to "all the lovers in the audience."
He did the introduction to "Michelle" in English and
told the audience, "Come with us to France."
The audience loved "Live and Let Die" so much that afterwards they were cheering and screaming. The stadium had the dome closed so the fireworks just reached up to the ceiling during the song. Paul did his pantomime of feigning a heart attack and tried to say a few words but the audience kept on cheering so Paul started the next song.
When Paul introduced Abe (in
Danish) the drummer acted really silly and pointed at himself
and said, "Me?" Abe did the same thing at the end of
the show when Paul said what a great band he had.
He dedicated "Birthday" to everyone in the audience
that had a birthday.
For the "Hey Jude" singalong
he first asked the audience in the front, then on the left, then
the right and just the men and just the woman to sing along. Then
everyone. The entire audience sang along.
After the encore he came out
wearing the "no more land mines" red T-shirt and carried
Danish flag. He said,"Vil i have mere?" (Do you want
more?) People screamed, "YES!" Paul said, "We have
to go home," and the audienced yelled "NO!" Paul
teased and said, "YES!" The audience screamed back "NO!"
Paul said, "You have to go home!" and people screamed,
"NO!" Paul said, "YES! and it went back and forth
a few times with the "YES" and "NO's." Then
Paul started, "I Saw Her Standing There."
Paul jokingly motioned his bass as if he was going to throw it
into the audience, which got a great laugh.
Before "Sgt. Pepper's/The End" Paul tried to thank the
band and the audience in Danish but it came out wrong. Instead
of saying, "I'd like to thank my fantastic band, but most
of all YOU," he said at the end of the sentence, "but
least of all you." A lot of people laughed.
At the end of the show people threw flowers to the stage. Paul
did not sign any autographs.
During the text message display before the concert "Love
In The Open Air" could be heard on the PA system.
Text message: "[person's name]Congratulations, you just had
a daughter!"
Paul arrived
at the venue around 4:45pm in one of three black Mercedes. There
were only about ten fans waiting because the weather was bitterly
cold and rainy. Paul rolled down the window part way and waved
but the car did not stop.
The concert was nearly sold out with an attendance close to 14,000.
Ticket touts (scalpers) were everywhere selling tickets.
Inside the arena before the show, "Back in the US" was
being shown on the video screens. Fans clapped loudly in their
seats waiting for the show to begin. The concert started late
at 8:06pm when the tickets said the start time was 7:30pm. Paul
appeared onstage wearing the bright red nehru jacket, a long-sleeved
red T-shirt and blue jeans.
Paul welcomed the crowd in Swedish after "Hello Goodbye"
with "God afton Stockholm.
Mår ni bra?"
(Good evening Stockholm. Are you feeling good?)
His Swedish pronunciation was quite good in the beginning of the
show but by the end people said they had trouble understanding
him. Paul relied on the teleprompters (autocues) on the floor
to help with the Swedish words. He talked mostly in English.
For some reason the video wasn't working behind Paul at the begining
of "All My Loving." It kicked in about halfway through
the song.
Paul told the audience before "Getting Better" that
is was the first time he was doing the song in Sweden. He started
playing the song with the wrong chords and stopped and began again
with the right chords.
After "Lonely Road" Paul mentioned that the video was
directed by a Swedish director.
Abe said hi to a friend in the audience named, Don O'Donnell.
When the band left the stage for the solo set Paul said in Swedish, " Och nu er jag ensam med er." (And now I'm alone with you).
Paul messed up the beginning
chords to "Blackbird" and had to start over again.
Paul told the massage stories which received a lot of laughter
from the Swedish audience.
There was thunderous applause after "Something."
He screwed up "Eleanor Rigby," singing the wrong words
for the second verse. He stopped the song and started the second
verse over again with the correct words and finished the song.
When it was over he said sarcastically, "This is the first
time I screwed up THAT one. So you're the first to hear THAT too!"
After his introduction to "Michelle" Paul said, "Åk
med oss til Frankrike." (Come with us to France).
When Paul sang "Let 'Em In" he added the name "Joseph."
He told the audience in English that he wrote "My Love"
for Linda and it was "For all you lovers out there,"
which he repeated in Swedish, "til alle er forälskade."
Wix mentioned that the band
came to Stockholm the day before the show and went to the famous
Café Opera. "But I didn't hear any opera there,"
he said, laughing.
He dedicated "Birthday" to one of the crew, Missy O'
Linn (Heather's bodyguard). She was shown on the screen during
the song and Geoff Baker (Paul's publicist) gave her a big hug.
She seemed embarrassed by all the attention.
Heather was not spotted during the show and was not shown on the
video screens during her usual spot during "Hey Jude."
For "Let It Be" and
"Hey Jude" the audience brought out lighters and stood.
Text messages: "Can we sit in front and rattle our jewelry?"
"Sir just one request: HELTER SKELTER!" "Hey Bjorn/Paul!
Please do dancing queen." "See you in Roma!!!!"
"I was at Drop In in 63!!!" (referring to the Swedish
"Drop In" TV show the Beatles appeared on)
back to itinerary
The show was basically the same as the night before with the same setlist and dialog. Paul wore the same stage clothes as the night before with black pants. The audience was more enthusiastic than the first night, with the first six rows standing for the entire show. VIPs in the audience were Nina from The Cardigans, and Bjorn Ulveus from ABBA.
Paul made an observation saying
he noticed at shows that people had trouble clapping along to
"We Can Work It Out" when it reached the "middle"!
After "Something" two people held up ukuleles and Paul
said, "If I had known you had them, you could have come and
joined me up here!"
At the back of the arena Paul spotted an interesting sign which
he tried to read but couldn't because it was too far away. Eventually
it was shown on the video screens and said: "Paul Rock god!"
Blue "Everton" and red "Liverpool" (rival
football/soccer teams--both from Liverpool) scarves were held
up throughout the concert by hometown fans. As well as a very
large handmade effigy of a Hofner bass.
For "Let It Be" there were a lot of lighters and candles
in the audience.
When "Hey Jude" finished, fans continued to sing the
"na-na-nahs" after Paul left for the encore. Paul and
the band did the "monkey dance" before they left the
stage.
Paul signed several items thrown to the stage, including a tour
program.
Text messages: "Sweden
loves you." "McCartney/Andersson." "See you
in Rome, Liverpool, Sheffield and Dublin!"
Fans on the way out helped themselves to posters that were on
the walls.
back to itinerary
The Oberhausen
crowd rocked the Koenig Pilsener Arena. People (12,400) were cheering,
dancing and singing as soon as Macca hit the stage on the main
floor.
Many fans lined up the day before to find out that they were standing
at the wrong gate. And others had to stand in line for hours to
exchange tickets from the original venue, Auf Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.
The venue was changed to the smaller Koenig Pilsener Arena (14,000)
because ticket sales did not meet expectations for the 50,000
venue in Gelsenkirchen.
At this show the main
floor was standing only and Paul interacted with people in the
front. People in the bleachers kept their reserve and sat for
most of the concert only standing for the rockers like "Back
in the USSR."
Paul did the same setlist as the previous shows. He wore a black
Nehru jacket, a long sleeved T-shirt and blue jeans. At 8:35pm
Paul appeared onstage and the concert was over at 10:40pm.
He did remember the words to "You Never Give Me Your Money."
After the tributes to John and George, Paul said, "What about
Ringo?" and launched into an impromptu version of "Yellow
Submarine" encouraging the audience to sing along. Which
they did.
When Paul introduce
"Michelle" he talked about wearing the black polo neck
sweater to look sophisticated when he was invited by John t
o a teacher's party for
college art students. Someone in the audience cheered when he
mentioned "black polo neck sweater." Paul said, "That's
pretty sad!" People in the front rows said, "Huh?"
Paul joked, "Well, don't you think it's pretty sad to get
so excited over an item of clothing...?"
When Paul and the band left the stage after "Hey Jude"
for the encore, the audience continued to sing the song until
Paul came back. Macca sat down at the piano and played "Hey
Jude" following the audience without singing for about 40
seconds and then began "The Long And Winding Road."
Signs in the audience: "It
was magic - Paris!" Paul told the signholder, "Yes,
and here too!" "You Rock! Thanx!" "The Greatest
Show on Earth!"
Paul signed a book before he
left the stage. Brian threw one of his picks to a fan.
Prices for the tour memorabila were 30 ¤ ($34.40) for the
cheapest T-shirt, 25 ¤ ($28.65) for the tour book.
back to itinerary
Paul arrived at Ciampino Airport's VIP
gate at 6:40pm and went directly tothe Colosseum and got there
by 7:10 pm. Paul got out of the limo wearing a dark suit and pink
shirt. Fa
ns screamed
and he waved. Macca started the soundcheck just before 8pm and
it lasted until 8:50 delaying the start time of the concert. Fans
were let in after 9pm.
Songs heard at the soundcheck which lasted an hour and 15 minutes:
"I've Just Seen A Face," "Midnight Special"
(done twice) "Things We Said Today," "Honey Don't,"
"All Things Must Pass," "Your Loving Flame,"
"Celebration," "You Never Give Me Your Money/Carry
That Weight" (shortened version)," "The Fool On
The Hill" (shortened version), "Eleanor Rigby,"
"Michelle," "My Love," "Let It Be and
an instrumental (impromptu with Paul on the piano).
After the soundcheck he met with the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni.
A special shortened version of the Firemen "Aurevada Remix"
was played for the pre-show which started around 10:30pm. The
band closely followed out a procession of eight balloon men. Paul
wore the red Nehru jacket, a red long-sleeved T-shirt and blue
jeans. In the audience was Bob Geldof.
The Colosseum floor was lit from below in orange and yellow colors,
with smoke rising from the depths. There were over 400 people
there, 250 on the floor and several hundred in the upper decks.
The audience sat most of the time but stood for the rockers. In
the first two rows were the VIPs including the US Ambassador to
Italy.
Paul and the band came out
onstage accompanied by four balloon carriers from the pre-show.
"Grazie mille Roma!"(Thanks a lot Rome), said
Paul before he started "Midnight Special." On the second
verse of "Midnight Special" there was a special chorus
sung a cappella by Paul, Rusty, Brian and Abe with their voices
harmonizing.
For "Things We Said Today" and "Honey Don't"
Wix switched to the psychedelic piano.
"Small but wonderful crowd, thank you," said Paul. "Benvenuti
al Colosseo! (Welcome to the Colosseum) This evening I will try
and speak a little Italian, un poco Italiano, (a little Italian)and
I will mainly speak in English. I'm sure you'll understand..."
Then he launched into "Things We Said Today."
A fan screamed out "Love You!" Paul screamed back, "I
Love you TOO!" Then he said, "As you can imagine this
is a fantastic occasion for us and YOU hopefully too. We understand
it's the first time a there's been a band in the Colosseum--since
the Christians! So we're really happy to be here. It's a beautiful
place. Bella Roma." (Beautiful Rome) Then Paul began "Honey
Don't."
Paul's introduction for "All Things
Must Pass" went like this. "A little while ago I was
involved in a concert which was a tribute to my friend George.
Um... [applause] And what was really nice about it.. Thank you.
What was really nice about it for me was that I was asked to learn
one of his songs and I never learned one of his songs before.
So I learned one of them and we'd like to do it for you now. It's
one of George's songs."
For "Your Loving Flame" Paul said, "Vorrei dedicare
questa canzone alla mia bella moglie Heather." (I want to
dedicate this song to my beautiful wife Heather) "It's for
you." Heather was sitting in the audience. Rusty played a
different guitar solo. There was a new arrangement for the song
and Rusty played a brand new solo on a Spanish classic guitar.
"All My Loving" got the audience up on their feet, rocking.
The band left the stage and Paul said, "Ono solo con voi
.." (I am alone with you) "Blackbird"
followed and he told the story of the civil rights struggle in
America and that he wrote the song about a young black woman.
He said in England they called girls, "birds."
Before "We Can Work It Out " a fan in the upper deck
screamed, "PAUL! LOOK UP!" Paul looks and says, "Why
should I? He's up there! ...we have a little private conversation.
So don't listen. Look up? I can't see a thing!"
After the song the audience applauded and Paul said, "Grazie
mille, (Thanks a lot) yes. I was looking up at YOU that time!"
For "You Never Give Me Your Money," Paul sang the correct
words. Hearing the correct words sung to the song, the crowd burst
into appreciative recognition. After the song, Paul said, "Grazie
mille!" (Many thanks)
After "Carry That Weight" a woman shouts, "WE LOVE
YOU PAUL!" Paul looks a her, raises an eyebrow and gave her
an "Oh yeah baby," look.
Before "The
Fool On the Hill" Paul said to the cheering audience, "Va bene, va bene, ok." (all
right, all right, ok)
For "Here Today" he told the
crowd, "Passionato... in Italiano....Ho scritto questa canzone
dopo la morte del mio amico John." (Passionately...in Italian...I wrote this song after
the death of my friend John) He also did the usual introduction
to "Something," and added, "Suono questa per lu."
(I sing this one for him)
Paul totally screwed up the first verse to "Eleanor Rigby."
He stopped the song and said, "Oh no! I've done it again.
I've done it again! I keep doing this! I wrote this song and I
always forget the words around about there!" So you know
what we'll start it again!" He began it again and sang it
correctly. At the end of the song he shook his head in total disbelief
and said, "It shows it's live, yeah?"
For Paul's introduction to "Michelle" he said, "Venite
con noi a Francia!" (Come with us to France) Then he explained
in English that he wrote the song to make girls think he was French.
Someone in the audience yelled out, "You should have pretended
to be Italian!" Paul cracked up.
Just before "Two of Us" he said in Italian, "Grazie
mille, pasta, spaghetti, pizza! (Thanks a lot, pasta, pizza, spaghetti!)
At the end of the song he sang,"
All roads lead to Rome."
Paul introduced "Volare" and said, "Ed adesso una
canzone speciale per Roma." (And now a special song for Rome.)
He sang the song in Italian and English with a rock 'n' roll treatment.
"Volare grazie va bene!" (Fly, thanks, all right!) "Eee
HA!" he said after the song.
For his intro to "My Love" he said, "Ho scritto questa canzone per
Linda, stasera è per tutti quelli che si amano." (I
wrote this song for Linda, this evening it's for all the lovers)
Before "Hey Jude," Paul said, "Thank you, thank
you very much. Ah you're a great crowd. Thank you. Love you. You
know I just thought...like I say you are all looking, you can
see the Colosseum. We've come all the way here to Rome. So I am
going to take a second, to look at the view, excuse me. Thank
You. I'm not coming all the way and not looking at this! I've
come all the way from Liverpool you know on a bike. Now if some
of you or all of you would like to sing along in this next song
there is a bit at the end that I think you might want to sing
with and if you do, than do...sing along with us. During the singalong
Paul sang, "Yeah we're gonna rock the Colosseum. Oh, one
more time everybody come on!"
He said before "Yesterday," to the audience. "Volete
un bis? Si?" (do you want more? Yes?)
After "Yesterday"
he thanked the crowd, "Grazie, grazie mille!" (Thanks,
thanks a lot) "
Your'e
such a lovely audience we'd love to take you home with us--but
unfortunately it's not going to be... Are you ready GUYS? Are
you ready?" Then he launched into "Lady Madonna."
"This has been a wonderful evening for us, this evening,
ah but...there comes a time when we must go home." Audience
screams "NO!" Paul says, "Yes, yes and there comes
a time when YOU must go home, Si, si bello bello. OK so ah...
but we would like to thank... you know, to bring you a show like
this I'd like to thank the guys on the sound and particularly
people on the lighting tonight, lighting up the Colosseum and
I like to thank... God for the moon...nice one. Si, si vero. Vorrei
dire grazie alla mia fantastica band, ma soprattutto a VOI!"
(Yes, yes, true. I would like to thank my fantastic band, but
most of all YOU!) "All right, we'll see you next time!"
For "I Saw Her Standing There," the crowd was up and
dancing. Paul finished the song and said, "Arrivederci Roma"
(Goodbye Rome) and exited quickly
with the band, sprinting to the other end of the Colosseum. Paul
embraced Heather before he left.
Paul did not introduce the band at this show. He autographed a
program for one fan. (Congrats
to Stefano Malinconico)
Sign in the
audience: " Paul stay
with us forever!" To which Macca replied "I'll try my
best!"
Paul and Heather spent the night in a luxury suite at the Hassler
Hotel, where they attended a party that lasted until after 2.00AM.
Paul spent at least ten minutes after the party playing the piano
that was placed inside his suite. None hotel guests complained.
An estimated
crowd of over 500,000 people filled the Via del Fori Imperiali
in front of the Colosseum for the free concert. Fans 
lined up the day before
and slept in sleeping bags to hold their place. The temperature
was blistering hot. The fans sang and danced to every song.
The stage was set up very high with video screens behind and above
the stage and to the sides. Elaborate lighting was set up all
around the area and including the Colosseum which was breathtaking.
The entire pre-show started at 9:15 and costumed characters came
through blocked off areas and up to the stage. More balloons of
different shapes were carried in the pre-show. Many VIP's were
in the audience. A special seated area in front of the stage was
set up for the VIP's and the area behind them was where the thousands
of people stood to enjoy the concert. Video cameras were everywhere
capturing the crowd and taping for a TV special. There were many Italian and UK flags in
the audience.
Paul did a soundcheck at 1pm on the outdoor stage. Songs heard
at the soundcheck: Instrumental by band with Paul joining in at
end, "Coming Up," instrumental, "Honey Don't,"
"Matchbox," instrumental, "Celebration," "C
Moon," "Let It Be," "Blackbird" (fast
mostly instrumental version), "Midnight Special," "Here
There and Everywhere," "O Sole Mio/It's Now Or Never"
(Paul started the song in Italian and finished in English), "Michelle,"
instrumental/"You Never Give Me Your Money/The Fool On The
Hill," "In The Colosseum," (starts out with instrumental
music similar to the music Wix played when Paul was telling his
'massage' stories-then it continues with vocals), "Lady Madonna."
Rusty had his videocamera and was videotaping the fans.
Backstage when Paul was cued to go onstage, he yelled to his bandmates,
"Let's rock these Romans!!!!!!!!!!"
"Volare" was added to the usual setlist. Unlike the
night before, Paul did not perform "All Things Must Pass."
The intro to "Hello Goodbye" was extended as Paul paused
to take in the enormous crowd, the largest audience he's ever
played to.
After "All My Loving" he greeted the crowd with. "Buona sera Roma!"(Good evening
Rome) "Benvenuti al Colosseo." (Welcome to the Colosseum)
"We've come tonight to ROCK YOU!!"
When he introduced "Getting Better" he said, "Grazie
mille...poco Italiano, ok. Questa è la prima volta che
suonavo questa canzone in Italia." (Many thanks... a little
Italian, ok. This is the first time I play this song in Italy)
At the end of "Let Me Roll It" the band played the "Foxy
Lady" ending. After the final chord Paul said, "Oh yeah,
yeah, foxy lady. Grazie milla Roma. (many thanks Rome) Then Paul
took off his jacket and the band played "The Stripper."
For the "Lonely Road" intro he said "Va bene, va
bene, ok. Questo è una canzone nuova." (All right,
all right, ok. This is a new song)
Abe was introduced in Italian by Paul
who said, "Bella Roma, fantastico, ok. vorrei introdurre
nostro batterista favoloso Abe Laboriel, Jr!" (Beautiful
Rome, fantastic, ok. I'd like to introduce our fabulous drummer...)
Abe said, "Buona sera Roma, come stai?" (Good evening
Rome. How are you?) "My Italian is not that good, but let
me just ask you a question...are you ready to roooooooooock?????"
There was a huge response from the crowd who loved Abe.
For the intro to "Your Loving Flame, Paul said, "Grazie
Abe. Vorrei dedicare questa canzone alla mia bella moglie, Heather."
(I would like to dedicate this song to my beautiful wife Heather)
"This is for you babe."
The band left the stage and Paul said, "Grazi, grazie Italia...sono
solo con voi." (Thank you, thank you Italy. I'm alone with
you)
Before "You Never Give me Your Money" Paul said, "Oh yeah, grazie, grazie ...... bella notte,
bella notte Roma, il Colosseo, va bene, si va bene ........ (oh
yeah, thank you thank you ..... beautiful night, beautiful night
Rome, the Colosseum, all right, yes, all right) Paul sang the right words to "You
Never Give Me Your Money."
He didn't tell his "massage" stories he just played
an instrumental interlude and hummed before "The Fool On
The Hill."
For "Here Today" he said, "Ho
scritta questa canzone dopo la morte del mio amico John."(I
wrote this song after the death of my friend John)
Paul introduced "Something" in Italian: "Oh, grazie Roma, thank you, beautiful,
bella. il mio amico George suonava bene la ukulele ...Questa canzone
è per George ." (Oh thank you Rome, thank you, beautiful.
My friend George was a good ukulele player. This song is for George.)
There was no mention of George Formby. After "Something"
Paul said, What about Ringo?" With Paul's lead, everyone
in the audience began singing "Yellow Submarine."
He told the crowd several times, "Grazie Mille"(Many
Thanks) and "Va bene"(All right). He also said it was
a "Bella notte" (Beautiful night) and Bella serata"(Wonderful
evening). Amazed by the size of the crowd he said in English and
Italian, "What a big crowd!!!..."Che folla numerosa!!!"
"Having a good time? Si, si vero," Paul said before
"Two of Us."(Yes, yes true.) At the end of "Two
of Us" Paul sang, "We're on our way to Rome...well we're
now in Rome, beautiful Rome."
For "Michelle" he said "Venite con noi in Francia."
(Come with us to France) The song got a huge response.
Before "Maybe I'm Amazed,"
Paul introduced Rusty in Italian: "Oh, yeah Roma, Oh yeah.
Vorrei introdurre nostro chitarrista fantastico, Rusty Anderson!"
(Oh, yeah Rome...I would like to introduce our fantastic guitar
player...) Rusty said, "How do you do Rome?" He had
a taped message in Italian (with an English accent) that said,
"Cara Roma, il gruppo vuole ringraziarvi per il vostro caldo
benvenuto. Divertitevi, e ricordatevi di mettere la vostra spazzatura
negli appostiti bidoni messi a vostra disposizione" (Dear
Rome, the band wants to thank you for the warm welcome. Amuse
yourselves and remember to put your trash in the appropriate cans
available for you.) Rusty admitted he didn't know what the message
was about. He speeded up the voice on the recorder which made
people laugh. Then he introduced Paul as " Paul McFrigging."
For "My Love"Paul said, "Ho scritto questa canzone
per Linda. Stasera è per tutti quelli che si amano, tutti
quelli che si amano." (I wrote this song for Linda. This
evening it's for all the lovers, all the lovers.) Paul was very
moved by the audience's affection for Linda and put his right
hand on his heart and said "e questa sera è per tutti
quelli che sia amano" (and this evening it's for all that
are loved) and then he repeated "per tutti, tutti quelli
che si amano, va bene, va bene." (for all, all those that
are loved, go well, go well)
Paul introduced Wix in Italian: "Vorrei introdurre nostro
pianista stupendo, Paul Wix Wickens!" (I would like to introduce
our stupendous pianist..) Wix was the only one who didn't try
to speak Italian. He talked about his childhood and learning piano
at six-years-old. He said his parents weren't happy about him
at that time. He added that he believes they do like his job with
Paul now!! He introduced "She's Leaving Home" as a song
they played on the last two legs of the tour only and for the
first time here. Paul added (in Italian) "Sì, è
la prima volta che suona questa canzone in Italia."(Yes,
and it's the first time I'm playing this song in Italy)
"Can't Buy Me Love" was a big audience favorite.
For the intro to birthday he
said, "This is for every one in the audience that has a birthday...buon
compleanno! (good birthday) and ...happy birthday OK SHELLEY (Shelley
Lazar-VIP Tickets Director), this is for you, buon compleanno!"
After "Birthday" Paul introduced Brian who joked with
the crowd asking people who were the furthest away from the stage
how they were doing. As the crowd responded he said, "SEI
MOLTO FICO, grazie!" (slang for 'You're so cool, thanks')
which made the whole audience laugh,
In the audience thousands of
lighters were produced for "Let It Be" which was a sight
to see. Paul thanked everyone for the lights. He said he couldn't
see the end of the street and that tonight was the best concert
of his life.
For "Hey Jude" he said, "....grazie, this is bella
notte...if you wanna sing, cantate con noi." (...thank you
this is beautiful night...if you wanna sing, sing with us) "There's
a part in the end where you might want to sing along with us."
Paul conducted the singalong in Italian, saying "solo i ragazzi!"
(only the guys) and "solo le donne!" (only the women)
At the song's end he pointed to people in the audience and said,
"You were great! You were great... bella roma, bella notte!
(beautiful Rome, beautiful night)
For the first encore he came back on stage with the "no more
land mines" red T-shirt and the Italian flag. The audience
started to sing " aleeee oh oh...aleeeee oh oh" and
Paul conducted them.
Before "Lady Madonna" he said, "Do you wanna keep
rocking? Si?" and the answer was "Si! YESSSSSS!!"
For "Volare" Paul spoke in Italian, "E adesso una
canzone speciale per Roma." (And now a special song for Rome.)
He sang it twice and the second time it was impromptu. The song
finished and Brian switched to the electric guitar. People in
the crowd continued to sing the song and Paul joined in and sang
the entire song over again. He sang the first part in Italian
"Volare, oh, oh. Cantare, oh-oh-oh-oh. Nel blu dipinto di
blu. Felice di stare lassù..." And for the middle
eight Paul sang in English! He did great bass work during the
song.
Right before "I Saw Her Standing There" he said, "Volete
un bis?" (Do you want an encore?) The crowd screamed "Yeah!"
"All right, I thought you would," said Paul.
During "I Saw Her Standing There" the audience bopped
and twisting, making motion among thousands that looked like a
big snake moving. After
"I Saw Her Standing There" when Paul left the stage,
the audience started yelling "YESTERDAY!" Which was
the next song.
"Oh, yeah. Hey grazie mille." (many thanks) "You're
been a beautiful audience. This has been a real pleasure for us.
Such a thrill. We'd love to take you home with us, but..."
Paul said in Italian, "Adesso dobbiamo andare, si ...si,
si!" (Now we have to go, yes...yes, yes) "And you have
to go home!" The audience screamed, "No!" Paul
said, "Si! We have to go home. Si, si. And YOU have to go
home. Oh, yeah. We want to thank... to bring a big show like this
to Rome, to the Colosseum, we want to thank all the people in
the crew... want to thank the guys out front on the sound. The
people on the video and all the people 'round the back that helped
us...been the best crew in the world! E vorrei dire grazie alla
mia fantastica band, ma soprattutto a VOI." (and I would
like to thank my fantastic band, but, most of all YOU)
Paul hit some incredibly high notes on "The End." After
the song he stayed on stage for some time congratulating the audience
and admiring the view of the Via dei Fori Imperiali. Then he said,
"Grazie Roma grazie, bella notte. Arrivederci Roma"
(Thank you Rome, thank you, good night. Goodbye Rome)
Sign in the audience: "Paul is all you need."
Text messages:
"Raga that evening!",
"Paul forever", "I want to hold your hand...again!!Vale"
"All you need is Paul", "Oasis, learned to play
from this genius..." "Roma amore Macca!", "Paulus
Mccartneyus Rockus Colosseus!", "Juve ciampione"
(Juventus are italian soccer champs)
Paul was supposed to leave Rome on a flight back to England at
2:40am May 12, but Paul changed his mind at 1am, deciding to spend
part of the next day in Rome. Macca was seen bike riding along
the Lungo Tevere (river) admiring Rome's beauty. His flight home
left at 6pm.
back to itinerary
Paul arrived
late at the Stadthalle because his limo was stuck in traffic jam.
He rolled down the window and waved to fans as he passed but didn't
stop. Papers reported that Paul's requirements for workers at
his show specified that they could not wear leather shoes nor
eat any meat on the premises. His limo could not have leather
seats and the backstage decor for Paul's dressing room had to
be in cream colors. Exotic palms and lilies were imported from
Australia to decorate the room called the "intersanctum."
The show started an hour late. A fan with a sense of humor posted
a text message that said: "For God's sake Paul, play tonight,
not tomorrow!"
Paul wore a black Nehru jacket with embroidered cuffs and edging,
a long-sleeved red T-shirt and charcoal pin-striped trousers.
His voice was excellent throughout the show. The audience went
crazy when Paul emerged. The Austrian fans were a little shy in
expressing themselves through the first part of the concert, but
eventually some rushed the stage (in spite of security trying
to stop them). The setlist was the same as the last Roman show
but without "Volare."
After "Jet"
he said, "Guten abend
Wien. Geht's euch gut? Ja?" (Good evening Vienna. How are
you? Good?) "We've come to RRRRRROCK you tonight!"
He took off his jacket after "Let Me Roll" and stuck
the Hofner bass between his knees. The band played "The Stripper"
and Paul looked at the band like, "Oh, come on!" which
made the audience laugh.
He told the
crowd that he learned a 'bit of österreichisch"
(Austrian) and he knew some German but he would talk also in English
and hope the audience would understand him. Paul mentioned the
German poem
"Jakob der Rabe war der
frechste von allen Vögeln, die ich je gesehen habe."(Jakob
the crow was the rudest of all birds, that I ever saw.) which
he learned when he was studying German. He used the help of teleprompters
(autocues) onstage and notes taped to the floor to remember his
German introductions. The audience clapped whenever he said something
in German.
He dedicated, "Your Loving Flame to "Meine liebe Frau
Heather," (my dear wife Heather) which got enthusiastic cheers.
Paul made fun of the audience after "We Can Work It Out"
saying, "It's a waltz! You're from Vienna, you must know
that!" He explained that when people clap to the song, they
stop clapping during the middle-eight because the beat changes
to a waltz. Paul said, "It's funny how people stop to clap
then. I surprised you with it THREE times! You should be able
to do that... Maybe if we do it another three times then it should
work!!!"
When the strongman brought out the psychedelic piano Paul said,
"Er nimmt anabolika!" (he takes steriods) He muddled
the word "anabolika" (steroids).
Macca did not tell the "massage" stories.
Paul dedicated "Here Today" to John "Ich habe dieses
lied nach dem tod meines freundes John geschrieben." (I wrote
this song after the death of my friend John).
He said that he was going to sing "Something" on the
ukulele, "für meinen sehr guten freund George"
(for my very good friend George). He didn't mention George Formby
but told about going to George's house for dinner and George handing
out ukuleles to everyone. Imitating George he said, "Do you
want one... and you... would you like one too?" He played
the speeded up version of "Something" after the song
explaining that George told him that was the correct way to play
it on ukulele!
After the tributes someone shouted, "WHAT ABOUT RINGO???"
Paul chuckled and said, "What about Ringo?" You know
there's always someone shouting, 'What about Ringo.' Sooo, what
about him? I tell you, when that happened for the first time,
I called him and told him about it and he of course liked that!"
[grinning] Paul told the audience that they can sing "Yellow
Submarine" for Ringo and Paul conducted the crowd in a singalong.
When Paul decided to end the song he gave the audience the sign
to stop and they did. He praised the audience and said, "Great
PEOPLE!"
Throughout the show Paul praised the audience saying, "What
a great bunch of people!" and "You are really great
Vienna, it's great to be here."
He made funny faces everytime he spoke German suggesting he wasn't
sure if he was saying the words right. There was one point where
people misunderstood him. He asked, "Have you've got some
energy left?" and many people said, "No!" Paul
continued anyway.
For Rusty and Brian it was their first time in Vienna. Brian said,
"You're so great, you really get to me," and pointed
to the people on the left side (from him) and asked, "Tell
me, how are you're doing up there?" People screamed. Then
he turned to the other side and asked the same question and the
crowd screamed even louder which made Paul laugh. Then all the
people screamed.
Rusty had his translation machine that said in German (with an
Austrian accent) "Herzlich willkommen österreich. Wir
freuen uns sehr heute abend hier zu sein. Bitte kleben sie ihren
kaugummi nicht unter den sitz den nur ein kaugummifreier sitz
ist ein glücklicher sitz!" (Welcome Austria. It's great
to be here tonight. Please don't put your gum under the seat because
only a gum- free seat is a happy seat!) People laughed.
After "Maybe I'm Amazed" Paul made a heart-sign with
his arms over his head, patted his heart and blew kisses to the
audience and said he loved the audience.
Paul introduced Abe and said Abe's brother was in the audience
who came from America to see his brother play drums. Paul pointed
to him in the audience.
Wix joked and said that he had a lovely time going around Vienna
and no one recognized him.
For his intro to "My Love" he said, "Ich habe dieses
lied für Linda geschrieben und heute singe ich es für
alle liebenden." (I wrote this song for Linda and today I'm
going to sing it for all the lovers) After the song he did the
same thing as he did after "Maybe I'm Amazed" - made
a heart-sign, patted his heart and blew kisses.
Paul congratulated all the people who had a birthday and before
"Birthday" and said, "Das ist für alle die
heute geburtstag haben." (that's for all the people who's
birthday is today) He had trouble with the word "geburtstag"
(birthday) so he said laughing, "happy birthday!" (in
English)
During "Let It Be" there was a sea of lights and Paul
said, "Thanks for the lights... shine on until tomorrow."
Paul led the crowd in German for the singalong to "Hey Jude."
"Zuerst die Maenner!"
(first the Men ) Paul posed like a body builder. "Und jetzt
die Frauen!" (and just the Women) Paul rotated his hips imitating
a woman. "Alle zusammen!" (everyone together) After
the song he pointed to people and said, "You were great and
you were great..." After
"Hey Jude" the band did the 'monkey dance' before they
left the stage.
At the encore Paul came out wearing the red 'no more land mines'
T-shirt and waved the Austrian flag. Wix came out carrying a tiny
British flag. Paul teased the fans in the front row by waving
the flag close to them. They tried to reach it but they couldn't
and that made Paul laugh.
Paul said after "Lady Madonna," "There's a point
in the show where we have to go home!" People screamed "NOOOOOO!"
Paul said "Well, YOU have to go home," and people screamed
"NOOOOOO!" He smiled and said "YES!" and the
audience said, "NOOO!" He pretended like he was scolding
a child. "YES!!!" The audience screamed "NO!!!"
Then he said "Yes!" in a silly high voice and the audience
moaned "No!" and he started "I Saw Her Standing
There."
During "Yesterday" the entire audience sang along. Paul
decided to let the audience sing a line by themselves. They sang,
"I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday."
Paul looked at the crowd in disbelief. He was quite amazed by
them.
At the end of the show he said, "See ya next time!"
Before he left the stage signed a some albums and a program. (congrats to Tibor Ipacs)
Tibor threw the program unsuccessfully
the first time with it landed in the pit. Paul saw it and made
a 'sorry' face. A roadie scooped it up and handed it to Tibor
who made a second attempt to get it to Paul. This time he was
successful and Paul signed it.
Fans threw bouquets of flowers to Paul who gathered them up and
held them close.
Paul took a flight out of Vienna right after the show to Budapest.
Jorie Gracen