Last week, Paul announced the reissue of four "live" releases to coincide with the latest leg of his record-breakingFreshen Up tour. As these decades-spanning reissues were being put together, we were wowed by Paul's sell-out London show at The O2 so had a lot of questions for him about playing live!
In preparation for the reissues, Paul very kindly gave us time to discuss each of the four titles: Wings Over America, Choba B CCCP, Paul Is Live and Amoeba Gig. These Q&As will be published in the next few months here at PaulMcCartney.com. Read on to learn more about Wings Over America...
PaulMcCartney.com: Wings Over America was released after the band's huge Wings Over The World 1975-76 tour. Are there any stand-out memories from the tour and album?
Paul: Well, this was the first time we started playing The Beatles songs again. So, I think, from the tours before it had been mostly Wings songs. Wings had been becoming Wings. And then on this tour, everything sort of exploded. Previously all of the efforts had been to establish Wings and to make something that wasn't like a Beatles tribute band. But once we had a few hits with Wings - and ‘Band on the Run’ was a really big hit album - we had some of these hits in our repertoire, and it did feel like, 'Oh, it's okay, now we can do Beatles stuff!' And It was quite a relief in a way because I'm always sort of conscious of what the audience wants, because my audience isn't a narrow audience, it's quite a wide group of people. There's a very good chance that they want to hear hits that they've heard you do in your career. So, if you don't do 'Hey Jude' they're probably a bit disappointed, you know. And we hadn't done anything like that at that point. So, it was kind of nice to be able to loosen up a bit and start playing songs that you thought the audience had come to hear.
PM.com:So, you felt you were able to pull from your whole catalogue?
Paul:Yeah, that was nice and kind of opened up to what I do nowadays. Which is quite a lot of Beatles stuff, then sort of quite a bit of Wings and solo stuff. So yeah, that was the beginning of allowing myself to do Beatles songs again because before that I thought I'd never get Wings together. I'd just fall back on The Beatles, and that would be very difficult for Wings to establish an identity. But once we got to '75-76, we had enough of an identity with the Wings stuff. So putting the two together was the winning formula, you know!
And also, another thing, by that time the band was good. With Wings, I always knew we would have to take a few years of trials and tribulations. That was the same with The Beatles. We had gone to Hamburg, played around all the clubs in Liverpool before anyone had really heard us. You know, only the local audiences knew us before we had even made a record. We'd done a lot of work getting our skills together, so now I had to do this all again with Wings. But by Wings Over America, and by the world tours, we'd pretty much done that. We now knew what Wings were.
PM.com: Wings had their own identity at this point?
Paul: Yeah! We flew around the world cause we had Wings! [Laughs]
We love the energy of the Wings Over America release and wish we'd been able to see that tour - we've spoken with people who were there, and it sounds amazing! What are your favourite songs from the release? Let us know in the comments below and keep an eye out for our next Q&A with Paul where he tells us about Choba B CCCP...
www.greenvilleonline.com Paul McCartney in Greenville: Here's what you can expect from songs to security Donna Isbell Walker, The Greenville News Published May 29, 2019 The concert that has been on Greenville's radar for more than eight months is finally here: Paul McCartney will play the Bon Secours Wellness Arena Thursday evening. The 76-year-old former Beatle just resumed the North American leg of his Freshen Up Tour earlier this month after a run of shows in South America; in fact, Greenville is the third city on the new leg of the tour. Paul McCartney will play Bon Secours Wellness Arena on May 30. (Photo: File) If you're wondering what to expect: Raleigh set list At his concert in Raleigh earlier this week, McCartney played 38 songs, including a heaping helping of the Beatles and a hefty serving of Wings. According to a review by the Raleigh News & Observer, McCartney was in "fine form," playing 22 Beatles songs, from opening number "A Hard Day's Night," to show-closer "The End." From the Wings era, McCartney performed such songs as "Junior's Farm" and "Let 'Em In," plus plenty of solo tunes. New Orleans concert Prior to the Raleigh show, McCartney performed in New Orleans, and there were many similarities to the Raleigh set list. Like the Raleigh show, and all of the concerts on the current tour, the New Orleans show opened with "A Hard Day's Night." But unlike the concert in Raleigh, the New Orleans show featured Beatles fave "Can't Buy Me Love." Fans also heard Beatles tunes such as "Eleanor Rigby" and "Back in the USSR," along with Wings classics like "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die." Paul McCartney tickets, security measures Greenville's show, like the others on the Freshen Up Tour, has no opening act, but it promises to be a long night of music. The show is virtually sold out — a quick check of Ticketmaster on Wednesday afternoon showed only a smattering of tickets available, some of them selling for as much as $1,000. But for the lucky fans who have tickets, BSW Arena has some info and advice to share: º Box office and will-call open at 10 a.m. Thursday. A valid photo ID is required to pick up tickets. º Arena doors open at 6:30, and the concert is expected to begin very close to the scheduled start time of 8 p.m. º Security will be tight, so leave plenty of time to get through screening and get to your seat before show time. º Concert-goers can expect to be asked to remove all items from their pockets during security screening and to be screened with a metal-detecting hand wand. º The arena's clear-bag policy will be in effect, meaning that guests may bring in clear bags, no larger than 12-inches-by-6-inches-by-12-inches, or a one-gallon-size clear freezer bag. º Prohibited items include backpacks, purses larger than 4.5-inches-by-6.5-inches, pointed-tip umbrellas, laser pointers, professional cameras, and fireworks. º Signs are allowed, but they can be no larger than 22-inches-by-28-inches, and may not be attached to a pole or stick. For more info, go to www.bonsecoursarena.com. www.foxcarolina.com Greenville Police beefing up security for Paul McCartney concert tomorrow Kayla Conboy 29 May 2019 Greenville Police are gearing up for a busy night tomorrow with the Paul McCartney concert and other events happening downtown Kayla Conboy GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) - All day Wednesday fans were going by the box office at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in a last attempt to get a ticket to the Paul McCartney concert tomorrow. Greenville Police know it's a sold out event, but they're prepared. "We are beefing up officers here by about two people so we're putting an extra person up front," said Captain Gerald Hunt. "Where we normally only have four, we're going to have five to make sure we get the patrons that are coming here to actually see the concert to be able to cross safely." They are also putting another officer in the back. Hunt said outside of the arena is where you can always find him, so he knows the drill better than anyone. "I was telling a coworker that I was here for the first concert here at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, back then the Bi-Lo center, which was Janet Jackson," Hunt said. "It was a great show, great show and I'm sure that Paul McCartney is going to give a great show as well." Copyright 2019 FOX Carolina (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
twitter.com/kirstenglavin People already starting to line up outside The Well for the @PaulMcCartney concert tonight. Doors open in an hour from now, concert starts at 8pm. 12k people expected for this sold out event! @WSPA7
www.instagram.com/kasarlo Happy Birthday @kerisarlo !!!! Great night with crew @cluf_ @livsarlo
Today is your birthday, happy birthday to you!! @kerisarlo @cluf_ @livsarlo
Nice to be inside the ropes instead of holding them!! Thank you #paulmccartney
www.instagram.com/e.g.acker I'm ready for the show tonight!!!
Was people watching, then Paul McCartney's tour bus pulled up to the hotel. Now Beatle watching.
Mmm k
Bird's eye view. #paulmccartney
Dance goals #paulmccartney
www.instagram.com/diariodosbeatles Paul McCartney performs in Greenville on his Freshen Up tour at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena Thursday, May 30, 2019. Photo by JOSH MORGAN #paulmccartney #freshenuptour
www.instagram.com/lauramhutchins An evening with Sir @paulmccartney was nothing short of amazing. 10/10 would do again. #freshenuptour #freshenuptour2019 #sirpaulmccartney #paulmccartney
www.wral.com Review: Paul McCartney still stirs crowds after 6 decades of performing By David Menconi Posted May 28 2019
RALEIGH, N.C. — A few weeks shy of his 77th birthday, Paul McCartney has nothing left to prove to anyone. He’s been in the public eye for more than five decades and is obviously accustomed to adulation.
Monday night at a packed-to-the-rafters PNC Arena, he was even cheered for taking off his coat at one point.
“That was the big wardrobe change of the whole evening,” he said.
But it is to McCartney’s credit that he still works hard to earn that adulation. He puts a surpassing amount of effort into songs he’s sung 1,000 times, and none of Monday night’s show felt the least bit rote.
McCartney’s first Raleigh performance since 2002 clocked in at just under three hours, with 38 songs spanning his career before, during and after the Beatles (even including the first tune he ever recorded, “In Spite of All the Danger” by the pre-Beatles group The Quarrymen). And yet some of his best-known songs weren’t even in the set list – “Yesterday,” “Hello, Goodbye” and “Penny Lane” among them.
For most acts, an enduring landmark like “Let It Be” would be the obvious closing number. But McCartney has written at least a dozen other songs just as iconic as that one, so he dropped “Let It Be” in eight songs from the end – it wasn’t even the pre-encore closer.
Paul McCartney performs at PNC Arena Paul McCartney in front of a full house at the PNC Arena Raleigh, N.C. for the "Freshen Up Tour" Monday March 27, 2019. Photo By: Chris Baird / WRAL.COM Web Editor: Alfred Charles
Along with the most platinum-plated catalog of the rock era, Monday’s show featured an extremely skilled band (especially Abe Laboriel Jr., a monster drummer and occasional quite funny backup dancer) and lots of low-key virtuosity from McCartney himself. In addition to the distinctive Hofner bass he’s been playing since Beatles days, McCartney also played electric as well as acoustic guitar, piano, mandolin and a ukulele that the late George Harrison gave him on a lovely cover of the Harrison-penned Beatles standard “Something.”
Inevitably, McCartney’s voice is not what it once was, and there were times when his singing wavered. But there was poignance in that, too, an acknowledgement of time gone by and just how much McCartney’s music has meant to so many over the years. He wore those rough edges proudly on the solo acoustic portion of the program, performing the Beatles’ “Blackbird” and his 1982 John Lennon tribute “Here Today” from a raised platform above the stage.
Of course, having the Beatles’ soundtrack-of-a-generation nostalgia to draw on helped a good bit. There were stretches when so much of the audience sang along that McCartney himself was difficult to hear.
As for the newer songs from McCartney’s latest album “Egypt Station,” well, they didn’t get nearly the crowd response of the oldies. But the self-aware McCartney was a good sport about it.
“We can tell what songs you like,” he said at one point. “When we do a Beatles song, the phones come out and it’s like a galaxy of stars. Then we do a new one and it’s like a black hole. But we don’t care!”
That was the lead-in to a new song called “Fuh You,” which quite honestly wasn’t much. Far more entertaining was the running between-song dialogue McCartney carried on with various signs that people in the crowd held up.
“’Sign my butt,’” he read at one point, peering out into the audience. And after first shaking his head no, he quipped, “Go on, then, let’s have a look at it.”
While post-Beatles Wings songs dominated the early part of the set, the closing stretch was pretty much one Beatles classic after another, hit after hit after hit – “Hey Jude,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Helter Skelter.” And what did he close the show with? The album-ending “Abbey Road” suite concluding with “The End,” of course, and it could not have been more perfect.
“We’ll see you next time,” McCartney said, taking a bow and waving to the crowd.
We’ll hold you to that.
www.wral.com Paul McCartney rocks Raleigh The iconic singer and former member of The Beatles performed the second stop of his concert tour at Raleigh's PNC Arena. Web Editor: Alfred Charles Paul McCartney performs at PNC Arena Paul McCartney in front of a full house at the PNC Arena Raleigh, N.C. for the "Freshen Up Tour" Monday March 27, 2019. Photo By: Chris Baird / WRAL.COM Web Editor: Alfred Charles www.newsobserver.com Review: Paul McCartney’s Raleigh show had singalongs, fireworks and a cool sip of water BY JESSICA BANOV MAY 28, 2019 RALEIGH
Bucket list item checked.
I didn’t know seeing Paul McCartney in concert was on my bucket list — one of the bands or singers I have to see live in my lifetime. But after watching him perform 38 of his songs Monday night at Raleigh’s PNC Arena, why wasn’t a McCartney show on my list?
For two hours and 45 minutes, with a quick break at the end before the encore, McCartney’s Freshen Up tour delivered hit after hit — from The Beatles, Wings, as a solo artist, and a song from The Quarrymen, the group that preceded The Beatles. He weaved in stories behind the songs, dedicating them to those who inspired them or wrote them. That included a shoutout to wife Nancy Shevell, who he said was in the audience.
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Sir Paul McCartney in concert at Raleigh, N.C.’s PNC Arena Monday night, May 27, 2019. Scott Sharpe SSHARPE@NEWSOBSERVER.COM
He even made a little Paul McCartney history. He famously doesn’t drink wateron stage during his shows — oh, his poor vocal chords — but after clearing his throat a few times during “Here Today,” he broke down. Now mind you, he already had sung more than 20 songs straight, so I’m not really fretting about the quality of his voice. After “Queenie Eye,” a bottle of water was brought to his piano.
So momentous was the occasion, McCartney called attention to it, and the sip was taken with a drum roll.
“One of the things that people say to me when they’re seeing the show, ‘You didn’t take a drink of water the whole time,’” he told the crowd between sips.
“But tonight I’m going to,” he said. “A rule is broken. That’s what rules are for.”
Did I mention the pyrotechnics and fireworks?
So, yes, this was definitely a Bucket List-type of concert.
BEATLES GREATEST HITS
The Raleigh show was the second stop on the U.S. leg of the tour, having played already in South America, Asia and Europe.
McCartney was in fine form, kicking off the show by strolling on stage, giving the audience a little wave and immediately launching into “A Hard Day’s Night,” the first of 22 Beatles songs performed over the course of the night.
“You know I feel all right,” he sang.
And it was clear that while he’s about to turn 77 next month, he felt more than just all right.
“Hello, Raleigh, it’s been 17 years ago,” he said early in the show. “We’ve got some old songs for you, some new songs, some in-between ones.”
Seventeen years ago, he performed in the same arena, but in 2002, it was known as the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena. Before then, he had performed at Carter-Finley Stadium in July 1990.
Unlike other shows today that have backup dancers, multiple wardrobe changes and opening acts, McCartney let his songs, and his impressive band, do the talking.
At one point, he removed his black jacket to cheers. He feigned surprise at the reaction.
“That was the big wardrobe change of the whole evening,” he said. “That’s it.”
I tried to note the instrument changes, eventually just losing track. The list included guitar (a few different ones), piano (both baby grand and a psychedelic-painted upright), ukulele and mandolin.
His touring band of Brian Ray, Rusty Anderson, Abe Laboriel Jr. and Wix Wickens have undeniable chemistry. They threw in a harmonica and accordion in addition to their usual instruments. Laboriel stole the show a few times on drums, with his energy and with a seemingly unscripted dance medley during “Dance Tonight.”
“Thank you for the choreography,” McCartney said. “We don’t need 40 dancers. We’ve got Abe.”
On occasion, the band was joined by a traveling three-person horns section, who made their debut in the middle of the audience during “Letting Go.”
The accompanying lights and video imagery mostly enhanced the show, transporting the audience to just the right place for certain songs. Vintage clips of the Beatles in their heyday, with girls madly running after them, were fun. So was footage of McCartney with Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.
I found some of the videos with McCartney’s famous friends a little out of place. Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp interpreting “My Valentine” in sign language (in black and white) was OK. But Depp showed up again in a video backing “Queenie Eye,” alongside a random group of celebrities all dancing to the song. I recognized James Corden, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman and Meryl Streep (huh?). This was a minor quibble overall, but a moment where I was distracted and didn’t pay as much attention to McCartney as I tried to guess the famous people’s identities.
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Sir Paul McCartney in concert at Raleigh, N.C.’s PNC Arena Monday night, May 27, 2019. Scott Sharpe SSHARPE@NEWSOBSERVER.COM
BEST MOMENTS
It’s hard to pick favorite moments in a greatest hits show like this. I’m more familiar with some of the Beatles numbers, than, say, the Wings songs, or some of McCartney’s newer material. Three songs came from 2018’s “Egypt Station.” The setlist included most every major song you can think of, with the exception of “Yesterday.”
McCartney shed his band for two solos, “Blackbird” and “Here Today,” and made them feel new and special. In one of the only times of stage acrobatics, McCartney was lifted high up on a stage that towered above the audience on the floor. Digital fireflies darted on the newly raised stage, until a view of Earth from space was revealed.
He explained that “Blackbird” was inspired by the civil rights movement. “Here Today,” meanwhile, was written after John Lennon’s death, McCartney shared. He urged the audience to tell people how they feel, in case that chance doesn’t come again.
“Us guys from Liverpool, you couldn’t say, ‘I love you,’” he said.
Lennon knew McCartney cared for him, and vice versa. But the words were never said. “Here Today” represented a conversation McCartney said he never got to have with Lennon.
“Live and Let Die” wasn’t an encore song, but could have been. Those pyrotechnics I mentioned? No sooner had I written the title of the song in my notepad, I jumped as flames shot up in the air at just the moment the song built to the chorus, followed by fireworks.
Speaking of encores, when McCartney and the band returned to the stage for six more numbers, they arrived carrying huge flags: for the United States, the United Kingdom, North Carolina and a rainbow flag for gay rights. It seemed significant. (Laboriel, the drummer, carried a glass of wine, solidifying his status as scene-stealer of the night.)
Probably what I’ll remember most are the arena singalongs, like “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Hey, Jude” and “Let it Be,” complete with swaying hands and cell phone flashlights flickering in the crowd.
When you’re singing the same song with thousands of strangers, you can’t help but feel joy and a sense of unity. As you listen to the decades-old lyrics, the ones that stay with you after the confetti has been swept off the arena floor, they still provide hope in a world that could surely use some.
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Sir Paul McCartney in concert at Raleigh, N.C.’s PNC Arena Monday night, May 27, 2019. SCOTT SHARPE SSHARPE@NEWSOBSERVER.COM
PAUL MCCARTNEY CONCERT SETLIST AT PNC ARENA, RALEIGH, NC
Here’s what McCartney played when the Freshen Up tour came to Raleigh with songs from The Beatles, Wings, his solo career and even The Quarrymen, which preceded the Beatles.
1. “A Hard Day’s Night” (The Beatles)
2. “Junior’s Farm” (Wings)
3. “All My Loving” (The Beatles)
4. “Letting Go”
5. “Who Cares”
6. “Got to Get You Into My Life” (The Beatles)
7. “Come On to Me”
8. “Let Me Roll It” (Wings)
9. “I’ve Got a Feeling” (The Beatles)
10. “Let ‘Em In” (Wings)
11. “My Valentine”
12. “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” (Wings)
13. “Maybe I’m Amazed”
14. “I’ve Just Seen a Face” (The Beatles)
15. “In Spite of All the Danger” (The Quarrymen)
16. “From Me to You” (The Beatles)
17. “Dance Tonight”
18. “Love Me Do” (The Beatles)
19. “Blackbird” (The Beatles)
20. “Here Today”
21. “Queenie Eye”
22. “Lady Madonna” (The Beatles)
23. “Eleanor Rigby” (The Beatles)
24. “Fuh You”
25. “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” (The Beatles)
26. “Something” (The Beatles)
27. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” (The Beatles)
28. “Band on the Run” (Wings)
29. “Back in the U.S.S.R.” (The Beatles)
30. “Let It Be” (The Beatles)
31. “Live and Let Die” (Wings)
32. “Hey Jude” (The Beatles)
Encore
33. “Birthday” (The Beatles)
34. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)“ (The Beatles)
35. “Helter Skelter” (The Beatles)
36. “Golden Slumbers” (The Beatles)
37. “Carry That Weight” (The Beatles)
38. “The End” (The Beatles)
GALLERY Sir Paul McCartney in concert at Raleigh, N.C.’s PNC Arena Monday night, May 27, 2019. SCOTT SHARPE SSHARPE@NEWSOBSERVER.COM
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