Paul McCartney at the Echo Arena. Photograph by Ian D. Hall
Originally published by L.S. Media. December 21st 2011.
L.S. Media Rating *****
There is nothing like a homecoming. It’s a chance for the family to welcome back a member of their own and lavish attention on them for the endeavours they have been through and give them credit for their success.
To appear at the Liverpool Echo Arena in front of 11,000 avid, dedicated and emotional fans is just about the biggest homecoming someone from Liverpool can receive. As the montage of footage from Paul McCartney’s life and times rolled across two giant screens, the sense of excitement was palpable and electrifying. The moment the Liverpool legend, (let’s not forget that first and foremost he is Liverpool’s own as much as he is one of the truly global artists), started to play the Beatles song Hello/Goodbye the crowd were on their feet and stayed dancing and rolling back the years for the next three hours.
Even if this was the 100th time you have seen Paul McCartney on stage, if you were at the Cavern or Hamburg 50 years ago or this was the first time you had seen one of the icons and heroes of your life, it was special. A night of pure emotion that every so often caught in the back of the throat and made you appreciate life and one of the artists that’s been in the soundtrack of your existence! To see Paul’s brother, Mike wandering round during the evening taking photographs only added to the experience of a lifetime.
There have been a sack-full of wonderful and superb gigs this year in Liverpool, no matter what genre you listen to, to hear Paul and his band play tracks from the Beatles, Wings and his own solo career should rank amongst the best gigs in the city this century.
Three songs in and Paul tells the packed out Echo Arena, that they are in for a lot of fun during the night, he wasn’t wrong. There were some absolute barnstormers in a set that was crammed full of classics and there was a very touching dedication to George Harrison with the song Something performed in part on the uke thrown in for good measure.
There is no better sound than hearing a venue full to capacity singing along with their favourite songs and yet no matter what noise they make, you can still hear the performer’s voice above it all. On songs such as Jet, Paperback Writer and the elegant The Long and Winding Road this was incredible. When Paul performed the song Blackbird, the crowd were stunned at the playing of the one man on stage. There are few artists with the humility to realise that even when they make a mistake during a song it’s easier to say blow it, I’ll play that bit again. It’s an action that’s guaranteed to make the audience love you even more.
There were so many songs played on the night, it could certainly be said that for 11,000 people this was Christmas come early and with none of the family squabbles over a remote control or sprouts in sight. To hear songs such Penny Lane, Back in the U.S.S.R, Let it Be and Live and Let Die was nothing short of magnificent and even the Christmas cheese of Wonderful Christmas Time sounded fresh. The final moments of the gig were fulfilled with the sound of bagpipes from the Wings classic Mull of Kintyre and four more Beatles classics including the wonderful Carry That Weight.
There can very little that’s new or original to be said about a man whose life on Earth has been punctuated by a billion well thought and praising words. As probably the only time this reviewer will ever get to see someone of such stature who shaped his life with his music and actions it can only be said to say thank you. Thank you Sir Paul for a night that was so worth queuing up for overnight on a gloomy, dark night in a wheelchair and to see that gig, to have been part of your homecoming, I would have done it a hundred times over.
Ian D. Hall