"BACK IN THE W
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 arrived in Budapest around 3am by private
jet right after the Vienna show. Paul in Budapest - Before the
concert (May 15) Paul took a bike ride on Margitsziget (an island
with many parks).
Hungarian photographer Eszter Gordon taught Paul how to speak
Hungarian a couple of hours before the show. She translated the
requested sentences and wrote it to him phonetically. Gordon said
Paul was very nice, even more polite off-stage than onstage, and
the crew was very well-organized.
He got to the Budapest Sportarena around 5pm. Before the concert
Paul met Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy who 
gave an authentic Hungarian flute . The
gates opened exactly at 6:30pm and security was not very tight.
Most of the concertgoers showed up by 8pm to the nearly sold out
show. The floor was general admission with no seats.
The pre-show started late at 8:45pm and wasn't received well by
the Hungarian crowd. Some people whistled and booed during it.
Paul got onstage at 9:05pm. He wore the purple Nehru jacket, a
long-sleeved red T-shirt and blue jeans. There was no need to
"warm up" the audience who went wild as soon as Paul
hit the stage and they remained in that state until the very end.
The crowd shouted and sang during the whole show. Even Paul was
surprised how enthusiastic the Budapest audience was.
McCartney mentioned that it was the first time he's ever played
in Hungary, but it was left unsaid that it was Paul's first concert
in the Eastern European region since 1976 (Wings) Zagreb.
Paul said that Hungarian was not one of the easiest languages
of the world, however, to the audience's delight, Paul spoke Hungarian
during the show. The phonetic spelling of the words were written
on small papers attached to the stage's floor.
After "Jet" Paul tried out his Hungarian and said, "Jó
estét, Budapest! Minden oké?" (Good evening,
Budapest! Is everything OK?) He finished almost every song by
saying "Köszönöm!" (Thank you!)
For "Let Me Roll It" he said, "So far we've been
playing old songs, now we'd like to play some new ones. A következ
dal új." (The next song is a new one)
After "Lonely Road," Paul introduced Abe in Hungarian
"Szeretném bemutatni nagyszer dobosunkat - Abe Laboriel,
Jr!" (I'd like to introduce our great drummer, Abe Laboriel,
Jr!)
Abe said to the audience, "Hello Budapest, I just have one
question, ARE YOU READY TO ROCK 'N' ROLL?" He made a headbanger
sign with his hand. The crowd loved Abe.
Before "Your Loving Flame," Paul said, "Ezt a dalt
feleségemnek, Heathernek írtam." (I wrote this
song for my wife Heather). The ovation for Heather, unlike at
other shows, was just as enthusiastic as the ovation for Linda.
Heather was not in Hungary. "Your Loving Flame" was
the only song where Paul struggled with the high notes. All the
other songs his voice was perfect.
Later on in the show, Paul introduced his other bandmates one
by one. "Bemutatom fantasztikus gitárosunkat - Rusty
Anderson!" (I'd like to introduce our fantastic guitarist,
Rusty Anderson); "A zongoránál Wix Wickens!"
(On piano - Wix Wickens!); "Az utánozhatatlan Brian
Ray!" (The one and only Brian Ray!).
Brian was the only other band member besides Paul who spoke some
Hungarian. He said, "Jó estét!" (Good
evening!)
Wix joked and said, "In fact I speak Hungarian fluently,
but tonight is the night for me to practice English."
Paul sang the right words to"You Never Give Me Your Money
/ Carry That Weight."
When Paul performed "Here Today" the audience sat in
complete silence. There was a thunderous applause when the song
ended.
Macca messed up the lyrics to "Something" by starting
the middle eight with "You stick around..." instead
of "You're asking me...", but he realized it and said,
"I know, I know..." and started the middle eight again,
with the right words this time. Paul lead a singalong of "Yellow
Submarine" after the song.
After his introduction to "Michelle," Paul told the
crowd, "Gyertek velünk Franciaországba!"
(Come with us to France!). He struggled with the pronounciation
of the sentence, because it's difficult for non-native Hungarians
to speak.
"Band On The Run" was especially well received.
Before "My Love", Paul said: "Ezt a dalt Lindának
ajánlom" (I dedicate this song to Linda). He added,
"A szerelmeseknek." (For the lovers).
Abe's drum solo in "Birthday" was fantastic with fans
commenting that it was even better than Ringo's version on "White
Album." He played it so fast and so loud that he almost destroyed
the drum kit.
"Live And Let Die"
was another crowd-pleaser. Most of the audience had never been
to a Paul McCartney concert before so they did not expect the
explosions during the song and it scared the sh*t out of them!
Paul said, "Énekeljetek velünk" (Sing together
with us) before "Hey Jude" and every person in the crowd
sang along with him. At the "nah-nah-nah" part he said,
"Most csak a fiúk!" (Now just the boys!) and
"Most csak a lányok!" (Now just the girls!) and
finally "És most mindenki!" (And now everyone!).
At the end of the song, fans stamped the floor with a drumming
effect which moved from the front of the arena to the back. When
Paul left the stage the audience continued to sing the "nah-nah-nas"
to "Hey Jude" until Paul returned to the stage.
After the first encore Paul came back waving a Hungarian flag
and wearing the red 'no more land mines' T-shirt. The crowd was
very proud and they shouted even louder than before.
Paul told the crowd after "Yesterday," "Haza kell
mennetek és nekünk is haza kell mennünk"
(You have to go home and we have to go home, too). Everybody screamed
"NOOOO!" to which Paul replied, "Yes!"
After "Sgt. Pepper's / The End" Paul took the opportunity
to say thanks to everyone, "Köszönöm a szervezknek,
köszönöm a fantasztikus bandámnak és
köszönöm Nektek!" (Thanks to the organizers,
thanks to my fantastic band and thanks to YOU!"
Paul signed a first edition vinyl "Meet
The Beatles" and a "White Album." (congrats to Gabor Peterdi) He also signed a Hungarian biography
-- "McCartney - His Life And Work"
by Szabolcs Benedek and Andrea Bárány.
When the show ended, red, white and green confetti (the colors
of the Hungarian flag) fell from the ceiling of the arena.
Signs in the audience: "Fans on the Run," "Welcome
to Hungary Paul!" "Hungary 4 Paul" and "BAND
ON THE RUN - PLAY FOR THE HUN," Paul liked these last two
signs and pointed them out to his guitarists who were smiling
from ear to ear.
Text messages: "Paul, please play 'I Owe It All To You'"
"Paul, please play 'Wild Honey Pie'" "We've been
waiting 31 years for this to happen!" "Dear Paul, me
and my wife grew up on your songs." "Mick Jagger is
the king!"
Paul left Budapest at 6:00 PM, May 16th. He took one more bike
ride before he left and did some sight-seeing from inside his
limo. He said he loved Budapest and commented that the Hungarian
audience was the best so far on the tour.
back to itinerary
The venue was
outdoors in a square and at 4:20 pm Paul did a soundcheck. There
were 100 + people who stopped to hear the soundcheck. Some were
passerby's. The square was surrounded with a wooden
fence and fans climbed on it to get a better look at Paul. Macca
kidded around with fans who were inside (from the Fanasylum tour
group) and told them not to lose their cool or freakout because
it could be dangerous! While Paul soundchecked he was shown on
the large video screens.
Paul wore a white shirt and dark jeans. Songs heard at the souncheck:
"Coming Up," "Driving Rain," Honey Don't,"
"Honey Hush," "Celebration," an unidentified
instrumental, "C Moon," "Midnight Special,"
"Blue Moon of Kentucky," "The Lady is a Tramp,"
"Lady Madonna, " "Happy Birthday" (to Jackson
Bernstein)," "Ain't You Got No Home To Go To..."
(unidentified), "Things We Said Today," "All Things
Must Pass," "You Never Give Me Your Money," (sang
different words), and "Carry That Weight," (rock version,
very different).
The pre-show started at 8 pm with people still not in their seats,
consequently the performers (balloon carriers) were blocked from
moving through the 
aisles.
They stayed onstage or in front of the front row which was 30
feet from the 20-foot-high stage! Because of the rain many of
the pre-show performers carried umbrellas. And instead of walking
through the audience they gathered in front of the stage. Balloon
carriers had new balloons that looked like chinese lanterns. The
pre-show was abbreviated by five minutes because the performers
didn't walk from the back of the venue to the stage as usual.
People who were still standing in the aisles were finally moved
(30 minutes later) by security to their seats. It appeared that
the seating arrangements were not well organized and people had
trouble finding their seats. Security used physical force with
some fans to keep them from rushing the stage.
When Paul appeared onstage the (sold out) crowd (20,000) on the
main floor pushed and shoved to get closer to the stage. Paul
wore the red Nehru jacket, a red long-sleeved T-shirt and baggy
blue jeans. The crowd was excited but not as enthusiastic as they
might have been because it rained during the entire show. People
brought umbrellas which were confiscated by security. It was very
cold and people got up during the rockers to dance and move around
trying to keep warm. "Back in the USSR" and "Band
On the Run" were received very well. The slower songs did
get the same enthusiasm as the rockers.
Paul said, "Guten Abend, Munich. (Good evening Munich) I've
come to rock you in the rain!"
He said some Bavarian words
like "Passt ois?" (everything okay?) and "Pfiadi"
(Goodbye), which made the audience laugh.
"Ich habe Deutsch in der Schule gelernt," (I learned
German in school), Paul said and talked about the German poem,
"Jakob the Crow," reciting the first verse. "Jakob
der Rabe war der frechste von allen Vögeln, die ich je gesehen
habe..." he said. (Jakob the crow was the rudest of all birds,
that I ever saw.)
Paul was good voice for most of the show but had trouble nailing
the high notes to "We Can Work It Out."
Brian thanked the audience
"for standing here with us in the rain." After "Two
Of Us" Paul said the line in the song, "two of us wearing
raincoats," because the majority of the rainsoaked audience
were wearing raincoats.
After "Something" Paul led the audience in a singalong
of "Yellow Submarine."
The rain surprisingly didn't ruin the pyrotechnics of "Live
and Let Die."
Paul didn't sign any autographs.
back to itinerary
Rusty signed
autographs before the soundcheck for the Fanasylum group. Paul
arrived at 3:45pm wearing a pink shirt, gray button-up vest, jeans
and a black sport coat.
Behind the scenes at the soundcheck. Paul
stepped to the mic with the Hofner and made a few sounds like
Daffy Duck and then said "Hi Pab," to the sound man.
Paul launched into "Coming Up" (which included a break playing the Peter Gunn
theme) and
"Volare." Paul said,
"Welcome to the Konigsplatz soundcheck" and took off
the jacket, rolled up his sleeves and put on his Les Paul guitar.
Next is "Honey
Hush," and "Honey Don't." John Hammel came out to take the Les Paul and waved
to Klaus Voormann who was sitting by the Fanasylum group. Paul
switched to the baby grand piano and played, "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying."
After the song Paul said "Klaus
used to request that one in the Kaiserkeller," and he waved
to Klaus.
"C Moon," "Celebration," and then Paul switches
to acoustic guitar. "Midnight Special" (complete with band 4-step dance and an
a cappella break at the end). "Blackbird" (instrumental played first
like a country and western song, then repeated at the same pace
with vocals and reprised one more time at an even faster tempo.
The pre-show performers yelled "faster!").
"Things We Said Today," instrumental jam, Slow instrumental improvisaton with guitars
at 2/3 time (waltz tempo). Paul switches
to psychedelic piano and the pre-show dancers shout "Come
Together!".... "Get Back!"... Paul says "Can
we help you?"
"You Never Give Me Your Money," (extended 10-minute
version, slow rock and roll pace with instrumental jams and Paul
repeating "I breakdown.... breakdown..... breakdown")
.
Paul is given the cue from someone to finish. He says to the band,
"It's time to go." Unidentified song lasting one minute about "stick rules,
stickler for rules" and finishes up with the line "we
are here to stay!" Next is "Lady Madonna" (first played at normal tempo, then reprised two
or three times, each time slightly faster). The spectators applauded the end of the
soundcheck and Paul said, "Thank you ...... small but vociferous group"!"
After the soundcheck Rusty had to talk to the sound engineer at
the soundboard which was where the Fanasylum group was sitting.
Rusty chatted with the fans, signed autographs and posed for a
group photo with everyone.
A catering tent was set up to the side of the stage and the band
had to walk through the crowd to get to the to the stage. For
the most part they were unrecognized, but a few fans lucked out
and got autographs from Wix and Brian as they passed by. Paul
remained backstage and was not seen.
The crowd was more restrained
than the audience of the prior night, slower to warm up and get
out of their seats. Seats were rearranged so that fans 
could not rush the stage as they had the
night before. The early start-time (7:00 pm) resulted in the beginning
of the show occurring prior to sunset. Paul mentioned how unusual
it was for them to get to see that many faces, and said it was
kind of like Woodstock. No rain at this show.
Paul wore the purple Nehru jacket, a red long sleeved T-shirt
and blue jeans.
Macca dedicated "Here Today" to Klaus Voorman (who was
in the audience) and John Lennon.
Rusty took the opportunity of daylight to take a photo of the
audience during the show.
Instead of bringing up the
hypothetical sign:"My mother saw you at Shea Stadium in 1965",
two actual signs in the audience were mentioned and then shown
on the video screens. One said, "Sir Paul, please come to
me." Paul explained that he was in the middle of doing a
show and couldn't oblige. He pointed to another sign and said,
"...this sign is really hard to read." (It was upside
down) "Turn it upside down!" It was shown on the video
screens and said, "Dank Paul!" (Thanks Paul)
Paul dedicated "Your Loving Flame" to his "liebe
Heather" (love Heather) and dedicated "My Love"
to his "liebe Linda" (love Linda) and to all the lovers.
The band said "...danke schön, Paul..." (beautiful
thanks Paul) and they told the audience they are happy to be there
in both English and German.
Paul did his introduction to "Blackbird" in English.
He talked about the civil rights struggle in the US and writing
the song about a young black girl. "In England sometimes
we called girls, birds."
"Band On the Run" got the crowd on their feet. Some
fans flashed the Wings sign with their hands.
For the first encore Paul came out in the red "no more landmines"
T-shirt and was waving the German flag. At the second encore he
came out wearing a red football jersey with "McCartney"
emblazened on the front and a number "1" below his name
and a number "1" on the back. It was a gift from the
Bayern München football club in Germany, who won the German
championship on Saturday. Paul modeled it turning around twice
to show the audience the front and back.
At the end
of the concert Paul called the "Back in the US" fans
back onstage to do an encore of "I Saw Her Standing There."
Casey McKenna and Tessa Reichlin were brought on stage
to dance during the song and Paul said, "Here are two of
our biggest fans. Can you believe they've been to 100 shows? WOW!!
They are on the DVD and in all the films!" Needless to say,
the two were quite shocked when Paul asked them to come onstage.
(Congrats
again to Casey and Tessa!!)
After Paul left the stage fireworks were set off.
Coincidently, Tessa and Casey's dancing debut was videotaped for
the "Back in the US" DVD, May 18, 2002 at the Ft. Lauderdale
concert. (See the "Back in the US" Web page). When
Paul found out they were in Munich and it was their 100th concert,
he invited them backstage before the show, kissed them both on
the cheek, introduced them to Klaus Voorman and invited them to
help themselves to food in his dressing room! And they were given
front row seats!
Text message: "I'm happy to see a Beatles live!"
Sign in the audience: "Go Veggie!"
back to itinerary
Paul landed in his private
jet at 3:20pm at Fuhlsbüttel Airport. He was driven in a
silver Mercedes to the AOL Arena where fans were waiting. Paul
rolled down the window, waved and said, "Hello!" The
car did not stop. At 4pm the soundcheck began. Paul had very little
time in Hamburg because he was leaving the next morning for St.
Petersburg, Russia. He was supposed to sign the "Golden Book
of Hamburg" at city hall, but was unable to because of his
tight schedule. He also had no time on this trip to visit his
old haunts on the Reeperbahn.
Backstage Paul met with Tony Sheridan, Horst Fascher (manager
of the Star-Club when the Beatles played Hamburg in the early
'60s) and Achim Reichel (leader of the sixties group The Rattles).
McCartney came onstage at 8:36
pm, wearing the black embroidered Nehru jacket, a red long-sleeved
T-shirt and blue jeans. He spoke some German throughout the concert
as at previous concerts in Germany. Paul greeted the crowd of
27,378 with, "Guten
Abend, Hamburg. Wie geht es
Euch? Gut?" (Good evening Hamburg, How are you? Good?) And
then spoke English, "It's good to be back in Hamburg. Memories...
I've had some good times in Hamburg, and the Reeperbahn, but that's
another story!" The rain that had been falling stopped when
Paul got onstage.
Paul introduced Abe after "Lonely road" who said, "Are
you ready to rooooooccccck ? What a beautiful noise, Paul McCartney
on the piano." Paul dedicated "Your Loving Flame"
to Heather who was not seen at the show.
He pointed out two signs in
the audience when he talked about being distracted by signs when
he is supposed to be concentrating on his singing and guitar playing.
"We have people with various messages here, [pointing] and
over there." [points to sign that reads, "Come to Poland"]
"YOU want ME to come to Poland, TONIGHT!!?" The other
sign said, "Mach Schau!" (make show)
Before "Here Today," Paul said, "This city brings
back nice memories. It is one of the first places we really made
it..." Then he mentioned his old stamping grounds, Grosse
Freiheit, Indra Club, Kaiserkeller, Top Ten Club and Star-Club.
"I'd like to dedicate this next song to John (Lennon), Horst
(Fascher) and Tony (Sheridan) who are both here. And to all my
friends in Hamburg."
Paul remembered all the words to "You Never Give Me Your
Money.
Heather was seen in the pit sitting on a chair to Paul's left.
She was close to the barrier where fans could reach out and touch
her but they didn't bother her.
Paul conducted a short singalong of "Yellow Submarine"
after his tributes to John and George when fans shouted "What
about Ringo?"
He introduced Wix after "MyLove" who said, "We
had a day off yesterday, so I went to Steinway and Sons to see
how grand pianos are made. I watched very carefully how they built
these pianos. Now all I need is £12,000!" ($18,840)
He said he'd go back to England and build his own piano because
the Steinways were so expensive.
Paul dedicated "Birthday" to Diane (one of his crew)
and anyone else who was celebrating their birthday.
The audience brought out their cigarette lighters for "Let
It Be."
At the second encore he told the audience, "Thanks for a
beautiful homecoming to Hamburg."
For "Yesterday" he let the audience sing a verse by
themselves. After "Yesterday" he said, "What a
great audience! There comes a time when we've got to go home,
and you've got to go home." He thanked all the crew and said
to the audience, "We've had a great night thanks to YOU!"
Fans threw flowers to the stage which Paul gathered up. One fan
threw a CD with a pen attached. Paul caught it with his left hand
but dropped it. Apparently the jewel case cut the inside of his
hand and it was bleeding slightly as he left the stage. Before
he left he said, "See ya next time!"
The show ended at 11:18pm and fireworks were set off.
Text message: "Saw you
in the Kaiserkeller 1960, hope to get in the first row."
Paul left after the show and stayed at the Vier Jahreszeiten Hotel.
(Four Seasons Hotel) Heather joined Paul in Hamburg after flying
in from New York. She had been in the US for eight days doing
charity work. The next morning they had breakfast at the hotel.
Paul ordered fruit and tea. Then they left for the airport.
back to itinerary
Before the
concert Paul met with journalists in front of the stage and answered
questions. (see Macca Report). On his way into the venue, 
McCartney's limousine had six bodyguards
in black suits and sunglasses running alongside the car. Paul's limo was mobbed
by fans. Paul rolled down the window and waved to fans.
During the soundcheck there were about a dozen people he said
jokingly, "Welcome to
this little informal concert at this historic venue where many
many other things have happened," and then he began "Let
It Be."
The concert
was supposed to start at 8pm but started at 8:30 with the pre-show.
Security was very tight with three bag checks and metal detectors.
Even VIPs and celebrities had to go through the security checks.
Twenty-thousand fans paid to see the concert but many more lined
the streets around Red Square. Macca greeted the estimated 130,000
fans with, "Good evening, Moskvichi!'' (Good evening Moscow)
"Privet rebyata!"
(Hi guys!) McCartney spoke Russian several times during the show.
In the audience, was former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
who met with McCartney before the concert. Russian President,
Vladimir Putin, who was not expected to attend the concert, made
an entrance halfway during "Calico Skies." Also in the
audience were Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, his wife Yelena Baturina
and famous Russian singer Andrei Makarevich.
The Russian audience was very enthusiastic, dancing and singing
through the entire concert though they were restrained for the
first half hour. Part of the reason was because security tried
to stop people from dancing and told them to calm down. It was
in vain.
Paul had trouble with his guitar plug at the beginning of "Getting
Better " and consequently his guitar was off when he started
the song. John Hammel came out to fix the problem and Paul started
the song over again but messed up the lyrics at the end of the
song. He was able to get back on track quickly. At the end of
the song he said, "Proves it's live!"
Macca told the audience, "I hear a lot of you learned English
through the Beatles. How proud that makes me feel." He also
pointed to the clock on one of the Kremlin towers and read the
time which said 9:15 pm.
Behind Paul the video screens were translating
his English into Russian. Paul said, "I want to make sure
this translator is working... The red dog flew in a yellow balloon.
Is it working?" The audience screamed "DA/YES!"
A yellow balloon was released from the crowd and Paul said, "Look!
A yellow balloon. Magic! I didn't plan that."
Paul and the band thanked the crowd many times and said, "Spasibo!"
(Thank you) and "Horosho!" (OK) Abe spoke said, "Moskva, vy gotovy zazhigat?"
(Moscow, are you ready to have fun?) Rusty said,"Ya znayu
pyat' slov po-russki I ya ikh uzhe skazal!" (I know five
words in Russian and I've just said them!)
Macca dedicated "Birthday" in celebration of St. Petersburg's
third centenary and to everyone who had a birthday, "S dnyom
rozhdeniya!" (Happy Birthday)
The first time he performed "Back in the USSR" after
"Band On the Run" he introduced the song in Russian
as "Chopa B CCCP." The crowd went wild. After the song
he said, "Finally we got to do that one here."
For "Hey Jude" Paul led the singalong in Russian. "A
teper' tolko muzhchiny!" (And now just men!) "A Teper'
tolko devchonki!" (Now just girls!) "A Teper' vse vmeste!"
(And now all together!) During the singalong Paul said, "Poite
s nami!" (Sing with us!) and encouraged the crowd to, "Poite!
Poite!" (Sing! Sing!)
After "I Saw Her Standing
There," the band left for the encore and the crowd began
to chant: "Yesterday! Yesterday! Yesterday!" Many fans
cried during "Yesterday."
"There comes a time when we must go home," he said after
"Yesterday." The audience screamed, "NO/NYET!"
"No really we have to go." Again the audience yelled
"NO/NYET!" "OK, well there comes a time when YOU
must go home!" he repeated. But still the audience protested
with "NO/NYET! Then he said, "We have a special request
tonight from a special person." Then he launched into a reprise
of "Back in the USSR. The special person was thought to be
Putin missed who missed the first redention of the song.
Sign in the audience: "30 years waiting for you!"
back to itinerary
Paul's limo had an escort of
two Irish Gardai motorcyclists with sirens blaring as he entered
the RDS stadium. Heather was with him. There were only ten people at the souncheck which
started at 4:45pm and lasted one hour. Paul had on a black suit
jacket, white T-shirt and blue jeans. He ran through the numbers
and said to the ten jokingly, "You've been a great wild audience
- now calm down - you're all right out there? Calm down, calm
down."
Songs heard at the soundcheck: "Coming Up," "Volare,"
"Honey Don't," "Honey Hush," "Matchbox,"
piano jam, "Celebration," "C Moon," "Midnight
Special," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Here,
There and Everywhere," "Blackpool," "Calico
Skies," "You Never Give Me Your Money/Carry That Weight
"(singing the right words), "Lady Madonna."
Over 32,000 (sellout) packed the RDS, to see Macca's show. By
7 pm last night all the leftover ¤105 and ¤75 tickets
had been sold. It was
first time in 40 years that Paul has played Ireland. It rained
prior to Paul's appearance at the partially domed stadium and
people who managed to sneak in umbrellas put them up. On the video
screens text messages started to emerge with angry messages from
people blocked by the umbrellas as to where they would put those
umbrellas once they got their hands on them.
The pre-show performers did their act on the stage. There were
no aisles for them to walk through to the stage because of the
packed general admission floor. The character with stilts opted
not to use them because the stage was slippery. It rained during
the pre-show, however, the rain stopped when Paul hit the stage
at 8:06 pm wearing a black Nehru jacket, red long-sleeved T-shirt
and blue jeans. The audience was swaying, singing and dancing
throughout the show in the massive stadium.
(a show horse/jumping arena) Paul was in excellent voice.
U2s The Edge wandered into the standing (general admission) area
front of the stage with his wife to watch McCartney at work. Other
local VIPs seen were, Republic
of Ireland Manager Brian Kerr, impressario Louis Walsh, Harry
Crosbie, hotelier David Doyle, comedian Jon Kenny, Fr Brian Darcy,
and Sean Keane of the Chieftians.
After "Jet" he said, "Hello Dublin! We have come
to rock you." Later on he said, "Ooo, Ireland we luv
yer," Paul told an ecstatic audience, "Dublin's bubbling!"
He dedicated "Your Loving Flame" to "someone in
the audience...my lovely wife Heather." Heather was seen
on the video screens dancing to the rockers.
Paul treated the audience to his massage stories - "massages
I have known" and mentioned that his mother was from Monaghan
where he got married last year. He said his mother moved to Liverpool
(which he called "the other capitol of Ireland") when
she was 11 and added "It's good to be back."
Paul as usual "forgot"
the words to "You Never Give Me Your Money."
"Give Ireland Back to the Irish" was not performed.
When Wix was introduced he had a large Guinness hat on. He said
in Gaelic "Trathnona!" (Good evening) and produced a
pint of Guinness beer from behind his keyboards and raised it
up to show the cheering crowd.
Paul said the usual things as at the shows in England. He mentioned
the "black polo neck sweater" for his intro to "Michelle"
which brough shrieks from female fans. "Everywhere I've gone"
said Paul, "people have screamed for black polo necks, and
I don't know why. Ok, let's try boxer shorts!" Fans screamed.
Paul smiled and said, "Ah-ha! That works as well, eh?"
After the John and George tributes Paul said, "What about
Ringo?" and led the audience in a brief singalong of "Yellow
Submarine." "We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow
submarine..."
He came out at the encore carrying the Irish flag and the audience
began a soccer chant of "Ole-ole-ole!"
Paul gave a pick (plectrum) to someone in the audience and said
"Slan leat!" (goodbye) in Gaelic and "See ya next
time!" He didn't sign any autographs.
Text messages: "Make it sooner next time!" "Saw
you at the Easter rising in 1916....the Adelphi in 1963."
"Hurry up Paul, I'm missing Coronation Street on telly!"
back to itinerary
Paul's car came into the back of the arena which prevented access for waiting fans though the ones that did manage to be there said he didn't roll down the window or stop the car. Songs heard at the soundcheck: "Maggie Mae" (done several times, possibly will be performed in Liverpool), "Volare," "Honey Don't."
The show started late at 8:15pm.
Paul came onstage wearing the blue Nehru jacket, the red long-sleeved
T-shirt and charcoal trousers.
Paul talked about having trouble concentrating on singing and
playing guitar because he "had to read signs in the audience."
He pointed to a man holding a large sign and said, "Hey,
there's someone with a sign that says. 'Screw Channel 4, We Love
Heather!'" The audience let out a tremendous cheer. A sign
also asked that he tell the 'ferret joke.' Paul said that since
the joke was Heather's he wasn't going to tell it and added that
the joke was "maybe" unsuitable for the audience.
Paul apologized to the audience for losing his voice and having
to cancel the second Sheffield show. Then he pretended his voice
had gone again and said, "No, it hasn't really."
When he introduced "Your Loving Flame" which he dedicated
to Heather, he alluded to the expectant baby, "We've got
some good news now." Heather was shown later on the videos
screens dancing to "I Saw Her Standing There."
After the John and George tributes Paul led a short a cappella
singalong of "Yellow Submarine." After a few choruses
he made a cutting gesture to end the singalong. He said, You know
there's always someone shouting, 'What about Ringo.' I tell you,
when that happened the first time, I called him and told him about
it and he was dead chuffed!"
For "Michelle" he mentioned the "black polo neck
sweater" which got shrieks from female fans. Paul said, "There's
always screams when I mention that sweater - you people are screaming
for garments, now. Garment screamers!" Then he mentioned
that earlier people screamed for the ukulele and said jokingly,
"That's sad." Paul yelled, "Yellow polka-dot boxer
shorts!" which got shrieks.
He thanked people who traveled from all over the world to be at
this concert. "So many people here tonight that have been
to other dates on the tour," and mentioned countries like
Japan and the USA.
After "Back In The USSR," Paul mentioned the Moscow
gig, expecting a response of cheers but there were none! Thinking
quickly, he said, "It was NEARLY as good as tonight!"
which got cheers.
At the first encore Paul carried a huge Union Jack flag and teasingly
waved it within reach of front row fans. Seven fans managed to
grab it and not let it go. Paul panicked thinking he might not
get it back and yanked it away from them.
Paul signed several autographs at the end of the show. A fan yelled to Wix to ask Abe for his drumstick and Wix obliged. Abe handed the fan (congrats Kevin O'Neil) a prized drum stick.
Text messages: "Here comes
the son or daughter." "It must have been a hard day's
night making babies." "Hope my colostomy bag holds out."
"For sale: wooden leg and baby pram £5 - Yoko Ono."
"Baby I'm Amazed." "Congrats Paul. Still a bit
of a ram then!" "Need a babysitter?" "So THAT'S
what you were doing April 6!" "I love you and my otter,"
" "Move me to the front or I'll tell Yoko!"
back to itinerary
Paul came to
the dock around 4:40pm in a limo and did a soundcheck around 4:55
pm. He was wearing brown trousers, a long-sleeved white T-shirt
and a black sport jacket. Paul took off his jacket and the group
of people inside screamed, "MORE!!" Paul said, "That's
all I'm taking off." He also commented on the police that
were visibly present inside the makeshift stadium and said, "The
FUZZ are all in!" After each song the small group applauded
and Paul said, "Thank you tiny audience!" Macca bussed
in 150 of his relatives for the concert.
During the soundcheck, Gerry Stickells, the tour production director
known for his loud Hawaiian shirts (lives in L.A.) stood front
of stage. Several female staff donned loud multi-colored shirts
and went to the front and danced. This inspired Paul to sing an
impromptu song, "There's only one Gerry Stickells" to
which Paul commented, "He's multiplying!"
Songs heard at the soundcheck: "Spanish
Castle Magic" (Rusty doing a Jimi Hendrix vocal - singing
"Spanish 'Girls' (are) Magic" Paul was not onstage at
the time) "India,"
"Coming Up" (included
a break playing the Peter Gunn theme), "Volare," "Honey Don't,"
"Matchbox," Instrumental jam, "Celebration"
(ragtime version), "C Moon," "Things We Said Today,"
"Midnight Special," "Here, There and Everywhere,"
"Blackbird" (speeded up version) "San Francisco
Bay Blues," Jam, "You Never Give Me Your Money,"
(with nonsense lyrics "...you
break down for the last time on this tour.") and "Lady Madonna."
Before the show Paul
presented the two millionth fan to buy a ticket, 19-year-old Laura
Andrew from Bebbington, a red £17,000 ($27,800) Volkswagen
Beetle Cabriolet.
Outside a vendor was selling disposable cameras even though a
large sign at the entrance of the Kings Dock forbid cameras. Surprisingly
point and shoot cameras were allowed in at some gates but concertgoers
with cameras were ejected if caught. Many with video cameras were
tossed out of the show. Ticket touts (scalpers) were selling £30
($50) tickets for £100 ($165) and there were tents outside
selling food (meat) and tour merchandise.
Spotted in the audience were Peter Blake, Scottish soccer star
Kenny Dalglish (backstage),
Roger Taylor Queen drummer (backstage), singer Bonnie Tyler and
Liverpool
local pop singer, Ian McNabb.
The balconies of apartments behind stage
right were packed with people who danced and cheered. Hundreds
lined streets around the Kings Dock to hear the concert.
The concert started late around 8:20pm to a packed stadium of
35,000. The pre-show performers walked through the crowds. Paul
emerged doing a limbo under the giant screen silhouette of himself. He seemed nervous. His voice faltered
right at the beginning of "Hello Goodbye," but the vocal
near misses remained few for this 92nd show of the world tour.
At the end of the song when
Paul sang "hey now, hey helloah," there were a sea of
people pumping their fists and Macca nodded in approval.
After "All My Loving" Paul said, "Oh Liverpool. It's good to be home and we
have come to ROCK you." 
He said, "Ooh Liverpool" quite
a few times during the show.
After "Let Me Roll It," Paul told the story of staying
over at John and Stu's flat his first time away from home,
"just up the road here in
Gambier Terrace." He said he'd stay up most of the night
and would wake up with "eyes burning after doing too much
of everything." John leaned out of bed and put this Johnny
Burnette song on his old Dansette record player. With that Paul
ripped into "Honey Hush."
A light rain began to fall (which stopped later) when Paul introduced
Abe and Paul said to Abe touchingly, "I'm going to miss you
man."
When Paul introduced "Your Loving Flame " he said, "I'd
like to dedicate this next song to someone very special in the
audience, my beautiful wife, Heather. "You just might have
heard we had some very good news recently. This one's for you
babe."
Heather came in just before the show started and was sitting in
the front of the pit barrier at stage right. She wore a black
suit (combat type) with sleeveless jacket and high heels. After
the first couple of songs she moved to the middle right in front
of Paul (which allowed him to make eyes at her all night!). When
it started raining she put on a hat and covered her legs with
a plastic trash bag. She left the pit and went backstage for about
30 minutes around the middle of the show. During the show she
sat smiling at Paul and seemed to particularly enjoy "Birthday."
She left at last encore.
Paul still did not sing the correct words to "You Never Give
Me Your Money." Then Paul told the usual "massage"
stories. "I'm going around telling this...well I have been
until tonight, so I'll stop. Or maybe not!"
After "The Fool On The Hill" he said, "Thank You!
Yeah, Ok, how you doing, all right? I mean, I you know it's the
last night of the tour and everything but to be here the banks of the river Mersey with you
lot is something special."
Paul mentioned during
the intro to "Here Today, "I wrote this next song after
my dear John passed away." [crowd screams] Paul yells, "LET'S
HEAR IT FOR JOHN!" The crowd continued to cheer for about
a minute. He started the song and while looking at a sign that
read, "John loves you" he lost his concentration and
the flubbed chords. Paul was emotional during the tributes and
seemed nervous.
Paul dedicated "Something"
to George and told the story about George Formby. "I don't know if you know that George
was seriously good ukulele player. He was such a good player,
he's a big fan of George Formby. You know, we go to America and
say 'a big fan of George Formby'..." and there's one person
in the back who knows who he is." Then he said, he played the song on the
ukulele for George, "And I'd like to play it for you tonight
on this special night as a special tribute to George." The
crowd of 35,000 sang along.
After the song he said he said, "George hears me doing it
and says, 'no it's not like that, it's like this!'" Then
Paul played the fast version of the song to the cheering crowd.
Paul said, "There's someone in the front saying 'WHAT ABOUT
RINGO?'" Then he led the audience in a brief singalong of
"Yellow Submarine." "We all live in a yellow submarine,
yellow submarine, a yellow submarine..." He ended the singalong
with a cutting gesture. Behind Paul on the screen was a photo
of the Yellow Submarine that is near the Albert Dock. Paul said
about the song, "...I told Ringo that would happened at the
shows and he rather liked
hearing that."
He said it was great to back in Liverpool several times during
the show.
He mentioned that there were a lot of people from all over the
world at this concert.
On "Eleanor Rigby" he messed up the lyrics. Instead
of singing, "where do they all they belong" he sang
"where do they all come from?" He sang it wrong twice not realizing
it.
Paul mentioned reading signs in the audience and read them out
loud. "We've got some
strange ones here tonight...there's one over here, 'Greetings from Hamburg!
Looking forward to the new album.'" Paul feigned annoyance
and said to the sign holder, "I'm working on the lyrics!
Get off!" Then he noticed another sign and told the cameraman
to focus on it. It was projected on the screen and brought cheers
and laughter. Paul pointed and said, "And look at this over
here," and proceeded to read the sign (with a smirk) which
alluded to his baby making ability, "There's still lead in
your pencil Paul!"
Rusty took
a photo of the audience and told people to squeeze in together.
The audience chanted a
variation of a football cheer (Three Lions) throughout the show,
"He's coming home, he's coming
home, Macca's coming home."
Wix said, "Paul
keeps telling me Liverpool is the REAL capitol of Ireland. We
recently played Dublin and I brought back a souvenir," and
he put on the large Guinness hat. He introduced
"She's Leaving Home" as "always being a reminder
of the special time we had on this tour."
Brian said, "It's significant for us to play in Paul's hometown,
Liverpaul. I couldn't resist
that one! You
raised a great guy. I hope I don't get in trouble for saying this."
After doing "Back in
the USSR" Paul said, "I've recently had the pleasure
of doing that one for the first time in the USSR -- the audience
was great but you are even better!"
Just before his intro to "Let 'Em In," he remembered
that he forgot to mention his brother Mike who had provided photos
for the video screens during "Something." He said, "For
the song 'Something' those photos were taken by 'our kid' Mike
who is here tonight. There's a lot of family here and this song
talks about people." Then he launched into "Let 'Em
In" and mentioned new relatives in the song (who were most
likely sitting in the audience), Uncle
Harry, Uncle Albert and Auntie Dill. The audience clapped along
with the song which pleased Paul.
Right before "My Love" Paul said, "Just wanna do a big special welcome to
all the people from our family here tonight--hey, Our Kid, everybody!
Love ya! I do want to take this opportunity as along as we're
sitting by the Mersey just to say to each and every one of you--I
DO love you!" (audience cheers) Paul seemed almost in tears. "Eh, eh, calm down! I wrote this song for
Linda and now it's for all the lovers in the audience."
During "Two of Us" he sang, "I and I have memories"
instead of "You and I..." He looked at Wix with a look
of "I screwed up." At the end of the song he sang "all
roads lead to Liverpool."
After "Two of Us" Paul did a country & western version
of "Maggie Mae" which he said was done especially for
Liverpool. "We just chucked
it in for tonight." He did almost the entire song, minus the final verse
and behind him video screens showed landmarks of Liverpool. The
crowd went wild. After the song Paul said, "Calm down, calm, down!"
For "Birthday" he said,"I'd like to dedicate this
song to anyone who is celebrating a birthday including my my cousin
Mike--Mike Robbins, Mark Featherstone-Witty
and Mr. Wickens
who are all turning 80!"
During "Let It Be" the crew and pre-show performers
gathered in the photo pit and lit colored lanterns. Paul called
them "Little fairies with their lanterns."He was very
emotional and said that it was the best 
gig he's ever done and
that he couldn't find the words to express himself. He told the
tour entourage,"I know
it's sad to say goodbye, but we'll see each other soon, don't
worry."
Paul sang the entire "Baby Face" fakeout to the beginning
of "Hey Jude." He flubbed a line in "Hey Jude"
saying "Remember to let her into your skin" instead
of "Remember to let her into your heart."
He looked
around with an expression like "what did I just say?"
There were heart placards on the seats and being passed out in
the crowd. Fans held them up during the "nah, nah nahs"
of "Hey Jude." Paul
was choked-up and teary-eyed. He said, "Oh...What are you
doing to me?" Paul worked into the song's ending, "And
our hearts go out to you too! Oh yeah, I don't know what to say
now. Thank you, thank you!" He sang "I love you"
over and over until the last chord.
When Paul
left the stage for the encore the audience continued to sing the
"nah, nah, nahs." The
crew and pre-show people came out again and filled the pit and
heart placards were passed out to the fans in front of the stage.
During "The Long and Winding Road" everyone held up
the red heart placards which read "Home is where the heart
is...Liverpool 1st June 2003."
After the song he said, "For me, born in Walton Hospital
just up the road here, it isn't a long way. But you know, in a
way it is."
For the encore,
People threw flowers, and stuffed animals on to the stage. Paul
and the band leaped around doing the "monkey dance"
dragging their knuckles and screaming like chimps before they
left the stage after "Hey Jude." They also did that
for the second encore after "I Saw Her Standing There"
with Paul leaping higher than before acting like a chimp and dragging
Abe along by the hand. Paul took the opportunity to introduce
John Hammel his long-time personal assistant who nearly missed
catching Paul's Hofner in the bass toss after "I Saw Her
Standing There."
During
the encore stage right seemed to turn into a makeshift dance floor
with the crew and St. John's ambulance staff dancing their hearts
out. Female staffers were visibly crying near the end and consoling
each other.
Paul played "I Lost My Little Girl" right before "Yesterday."
"When I was fourteen I wrote my first song just down the
road at Forthlin Road and for some reason I have an uncontrollable
urge to do it for you tonight...and
I'm not so sure this is a good
idea!"
He started the song and messed up the chords. "Wait! How
does it go? I've forgotten it! No wait, I haven't...hang on!"
and started over. Paul prompted the audience to singalong to the
"uh-uh-uhs" in the song but the majority of people didn't
know the song. 
For "Yesterday," the 35,000 strong crowd sang along.
Paul stopped singing and let the audience sing, "Why she
had to go..." and waved his arms around conducting them like
a choir.
Just before he played "Sgt. Pepper's/The End" Paul said, "We've been taking this tour 'round the world...I had to bring it home..." He thanked the crew, "Pab from Crosby" and the band, "Tonight more than any other I want to thank these mates of mine, these friends, my fantastic band!" He hugged each member. He thanked the audience, "Thanks from the hearts of our bottoms." (got a good laugh) and said, "Well, this the last night and I'm going to stop." Then he paused and said, "Maybe not. So see you on the next tour! Then he launched into "Sgt. Pepper/The End" which had an extended jam. At the end of the song he raised his arm pointing upwards and sang "Oh, yeah, oh yeah" several times.
The pre-show
performers came out in wearing each other's costumes. The women
wore the men and the men wore the women. It took Paul time to
notice but when he did he started laughing and shouted "Hey,
you're all in drag! You look good in drag!" There were more
hugs and a "monkey dance" by Paul and the band members.
Paul said, "See ya next time!" and punched the air a
few times as he lingered on the stage. Paul held up a white stuffed
animal (rabbit) which he showed to the video cameras before he
left the stage. Then fireworks were shot into the night sky. He left immediately in a people carrier
to his dressing room and to an 'after party' that took place backstage.
Paul and Heather left just around 1:30 am! Paul rolled down the
window of his car and waved to the fans still hanging out. The
party continued at the Pan American Bar at the Albert Dock for
the band and the crew.
Text messages: "Paul check your limo, it's probably on blocks!"
"Any one here from the council? Oh yeah, all of you!"
"They'll never find me here--Saddam." "John lennon
lives forever," "All right, all right ,come'ed soft
lad," "Is this the dole queue?" "I'm still
alive--Brian Epstein," "Invite us to the christening,"
"You're the best Beatle, love Alice, age 5," "!@#$%^&*()>:!--
Stevie Wonder," "You are all buggered if it rains."
"I've forgotten my incontinence pads." "Vickie
smells." "Jenny stinks." "All the girls who love Paul get yer boobs
out!"
Jorie Gracen