Extreme Listening Mode!

Writing about anything Beatle-related presents a problem; what to say that hasn’t already been said? There doesn’t seem to be a month where some new book promises revelations but in the end simply re-treads over the story. There also isn’t anybody out there who doesn’t have an opinion on the fab four. Simply put, people know what they feel about the band. There are no agnostics to convince.

So to review Paul McCartney objectively is almost impossible. I know and you know what the songs are. What they sound like, how they fit together. There is no mystery. Some reading will be fans, others vehemently not. But everybody reading will know what the fuss is about, even if they don’t agree with it.

It comes down, simply, to what it is; some of the greatest popular music ever written, played by it’s composer. Is it played badly, competently, or well…that’s the question. The answer is none of the above. It’s played astonishingly.

The set-up is as impressive as one would expect from someone who is, after all, rock royalty. And then he’s there, starting with ‘Venus and Mars’, before launching into a spirited ‘Jet’. ‘All My Loving’ is the first Beatles song, and goes down with the almost salivating crowd like a tax break to a Tory. His band is not the massive rock star on ego trip forty-man mini-orchestra that some of his contemporaries favour. It’s him and four others. This reduces the risk of overdoing the music and creating a Beatles karaoke.

And he’s incredibly good. A consummate performer, of course; he’s been doing this for fifty years. he’s natural, and he’s awesomely enegetic for a 68 year old, however spry. ‘Drive My Car’ is still superb. What is interesting is that this set sees a heavy sprinkiling of solo and Wings material. It’s as though McCartney sees himself as the keeper of that flame, with the world at large performing the role for the band stuff. ‘Let Me Roll it’ and ’1985′ are abrasive, thundering highlights. The crowd are not in any way disappointed. These are McCartney fans, not simply Beatles groupies.

The only bum-note is ‘The Long and Winding Road’, a mawkish number which simply doesn’t work live. But then he has his acoustic guitar and he’s strumming ‘Blackbird’, so beautifully simple and utterly spellbinding you’d think he was singing straight, and only, to you. ‘Dance Tonight’ is classic McCartney. So obvious once it’s written, you wonder why nobody else did it first. But they didn’t. And when he strums the mandolin and the bass drum beats, it’s just spine-tingling.

The big-hitters come out in a truly memorable last hour. ‘Let It Be’ is so translucently beautiful that it’s very difficult to supress the lump in the throat. ‘Hey Jude’ is one of the greatest songs ever written, performed with gusto and sang lustily by the now almost delerious crowd. ‘A Day in the Life’ segues into ‘Give Peace a Chance’ as a tribute to his old comerade, similarly a ukelele based ‘Something’ as a montage of George plays on the big screen.

No matter what your views on the Beatles, dull of soul is the man who does not experience a deep and unmistakable thrill at the opening riff of ‘Paperback Writer’. ‘Live and Let Die’ is an amazing spectacle, as fireworks and explosions tear into the night. The last one, in fact, sounds like an artillery shell. he looks calm. Nobody else is. He’s back for a generous two encores, bringing a pipe band on for a singalong ‘Mull of Kintyre’, before it ends with ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/The End’. It’s been three hours. It felt like 20 minutes. He looks like he could go again. The crowd certainly seems as though it wants him too.

So in the final analysis, was this good? No, it was inspirational, one of the greatest live music events your reviewer has ever seen. With hands sore from applauding and throat raw from singing, it’s been one of the highlights of my gig-going life. THAT good. Nary a missed beat or a wrong-turn, and 35,000 people leaving high as a kite. The snippets of conservation reveal the audiences opinion; astonishing, amazing, wonderful.

Paul McCartney has written songs that people will be singing in a hundred years. And he can still, even now, deliver them in a way which makes your heart soar. The man is a treasure, his critics be damned. Last night wasn’t a pleasure, it was a privilege.

Filed under: gigs Tagged: | Beatles, gig reviews, live music in scotland, mccartney hampden, paul mccartney, paul mccartney at hampden, sir paul mccartney