Gig Review: Paul McCartney - Got Back

What can be said? Macca. Live on stage. All the classic songs, a band that hits all the right notes, and an arena full of people who are singing their hearts out.

Way back in the 1990s, I bumped into Paul when he was doing a poetry reading at my university. I'd missed out on tickets because I was a lazy student and didn't feel like waiting in a long queue. So I hung around the stage door and got a quick photo of him. Those were back in the analogue days before selfies were a thing. I've no idea where that flimsy piece of cardboard is now.

A few years later, my cousin Mick was in Paul's band when they played The Cavern. The gig was one of the first to be streamed live over the Internet. From my contemporary posts on Usenet's rec.music.beatles the streaming wasn't a success, with lots of frustrated fans. We spent our time imagining what the gig was like.

And so, 25 years later, I used half-a-dozen laptops to grab a pair of tickets to the first night of the London portion of his tour. Honestly, I think I would have paid anything (yay dynamic pricing) but was mildly relieved to be in the "cheap" seats. Unlike when we saw "The Who", we were right by the stage - albeit quite high up.

What can I say? It was magical.

Obviously it is a crowd-pleasing set. About the deepest cut is something like Junior's Farm. No one is here for the obscure B-Side to a disc that was only ever a top 75 hit in Japan. Does it turn into sing-a-long-a-Macca? Absolutely! And why not? This isn't the time to sit in silent contemplation; it is a time for exuberant joy.

When he played Now and Then, I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. I know I wept freely.

The Xmas banger "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime" was accompanied with a huge flurry of paper snow which covered the stage. It was, somewhat disturbingly followed by "Live and Let Die" with its obligatory fire cannons. Health and Safety be damned!

There's nothing to compare it to. You can watch all the Beatles cover-bands you like, but you'll never hear several thousand women screaming like they do for Paul. Every song seems deeply ingrained in our collective psyche. Holding the hand of my wife while Paul played "Maybe I'm Amazed" - seemingly just for us - was sublime.

A few days later and I'm still reeling from how joyous it was. Well worth the wait.