Unlike most of the other gigs reviewed on these pages, I imagine that most people reading this have already read a review of one of McCartney's UK concerts and that this review was glowing in praise. Well, if so, the reviewer was correct...

This really was a special concert. The Beatles have been may favourite band for about 15 years and it was a truly magical experience to see the man who wrote all of those famous songs perform them with such enthusiasm. Before the main act though, we had the avant garde - 15 minutes of women dressed for a Renoir painting, circus type acrobats and a Magritte like gent wandering about on stage and down the aisles to a techno music background. All very weird - it could have been good if I saw some sort of deep meaning to it all but unfortunately I didn't.

Following this, a shadowy figure appeared on the stage screen holding aloft a bass guitar. It was Sir Paul and he came on stage to rapturous applause. He began the set with a note perfect Hello Goodbye - not one of my favourite Beatles songs but an apt opener - before heading into Jet, one of several Wings songs in the two and a half plus hours of music to come.

Closely following Jet was one of the first truly special moments - the early Beatles song All My Loving accompanied by superb, nostalgic screen footage of the early Beatles. A note perfect rendition once again, it included the superb, chiming 12 / 8 guitar to a 4 /4 beat in the opening verse - probably the first truly great contribution George Harrison made to The Beatles.

Soon after this Paul's band left the stage for the main man to perform a solo acoustic slot which included Blackbird, We Can Work It Out, Every Night and tributes to John Lennon and George Harrison. For John, he played Here Today, written soon after Lennon's murder and for George, a quite bizarre but effective version of Something on the ukulele - one of Harrison's favourite instruments. He also played 2 or 3 songs from his latest albums Flaming Pie and Driving Rain including a song dedicated to his new wife Heather. Throughout the whole gig, Paul seemed relaxed talking and joking with the audience. It felt spontaneous even though it was often planned as the Back In The US DVD which I bought the following day betrays.

His superb band came back on stage but not necessarily behind their instruments. Wix the keyboard player appeared out the front with an accordion and the superb, charismatic drummer appeared with just a snare drum and cymbals. In this slightly skiffle-y set up, they played several classics including hoe-downs of Two Of Us and I've Just Seen A Face and sublime versions of Here, There & Everywhere and Michelle. For the latter 2 songs, guitarist Rusty Anderson, the bass player (who played guitar when Sir Paul played bass) and amazingly high voiced drummer provided sublime barber shop harmonies throughout the whole songs. Paul's 4 piece backing band were simply superb and one of the best band units I've ever seen. They provided sympathetic, note perfect backing to his often complex songs and harmonies with the large, extrovert drummer hitting the drums with Bonham-esque power when required. Other songs included in this semi-acoustic set included a beautiful Eleanor Rigby with Wix playing the violin and cello parts on his keyboards and wonderful She's Leaving Home with Rusty somehow getting a harpsichord effect with clever use of a Spanish guitar.

As the band moved back into rock mode, we were treated to several songs with Paul on piano including several Wings numbers. The Wings songs really suited the band and venue and the powerful ballads Maybe I'm Amazed and My Love were highlights of the whole gig as well as a superb Band On The Run.  Live & Let Die was also a highlight and was bolstered by flash bomb pyrotechnics. The lighting and clever use of backing screens were superb throughout the gig - the only other gig I've been to which was so impressive in this area was U2 during the early 90s Zooropa tour.

As Paul moved from piano to guitar or bass, we were treated to some of the absolute classics that everyone knows - Hey Jude had everyone singing along and there were also moving versions of Let It Be, the especially poignant Long & Winding Road and a solo acoustic Yesterday. Even more affecting for me were a superb, rocking Back In The USSR and Can't Buy Me Love, accompanied by clips of the Fab Four goofing around in the Hard Day's Night film.

The concert finished with the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) which segued into The End. The last words sung were "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make" - one of the most beautiful couplets ever written and a fitting end to a virtually faultless gig - one of the best I've ever been to.

27.4.03