The Knebworth Festival - Silver Clef Award Winners Charity Concert • Saturday, June 30, 1990

About

From Wikipedia:

The Knebworth Festival, on the grounds of the Knebworth House, near Knebworth, England, is a recurring open air rock and pop concert that started in 1974 when The Allman Brothers Band attracted 60,000 people.

Since then the venue has hosted numerous outdoor concerts, featuring artists including Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Genesis, Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, Deep Purple, Queen, Status Quo, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Robert Plant, Dire Straits, Oasis, Robbie Williams and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

From Qello:

That June, 1990 night at the Knebworth House, north of London, the future Sir Paul had just turned 48, already ancient by rock and roll standards. As he is today, he was  in great spirits, kicking things off with Wings’ “Comin’ Up,” then serving up some Beatles tunes (“Yer Birthday,” “Hey, Jude” and “Can’t Buy Me Love”) to the huge crowd of about 120,000, most of them planted at Knebworth all day and night – and a rainy, windy one, at that – for a procession of rock acts. They appeared to have endured rainy, windy weather (When do they get to go to the porta-potties?)

This was a benefit two British organizations involved with enabling disabled children to learn and perform music, and McCartney offered a shout-out to them, for “helping kids reach out and touch the world,” before playing a luminous, seven-minute version of “Hey Jude.”  Paul’s intro gave the song even more of a glow than usual.

Alongside members of his band (which included Linda McCartney on second keyboards), you could see a setlist, with perhaps eight or nine titles. Only four are included in [the official DVD], and that’s because this was a well-packed all-star festival which required a three-DVD release. InVol. 1, McCartney is preceded by Tears for Fears, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, and Phil Collins.  Check out the other volumes for Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Dire Straits, Robert Plant (with guest Jimmy Page), and Status Quo.

When I was a kid in Liverpool, about 14 or 15 years old, me and my mates used to go down to the fairs when they came around and try to pick up girls.

But we’d get fed up and feel all brought down ’cause we never could.

So we’d go back to a mate’s house, feeling dead low and we’d put on an Elvis record or a Chuck Berry song – and that would make us feel better. We never knew why. The music just did something to us.

I think great music is like that, it can lift you up ; there’s no real reason why a bunch of vibrations should move you but it can – it can lift people to strange thoughts that they’d never dream of in their normal world.

And that’s the idea behind Music Therapy which is the reason for me being here today.

I’ve been down to the Nordoff Robbins Centre and I’ve played to and I’ve played with the kids there.

These kids have got a whole bunch of problems – some are autistic, some retarded, others are disturbed – and it’s difficult to reach them or motivate them through the spoken words. To them that’s like some guy talking to them from the end of a railway tunnel.

But music can teach them. The magic of strumming six strings on a wooden box with a hole in it can attract them, it can pull them closer into the world. So if there’s something hidden, something maybe mystical, in the power of music that might help these people then I am for bringing it into the open.

I was dead nervous with the kids down at the centre and I’ll be dead nervous at Knebworth today too.

I know I’ve played to a whole bunch of people on this world tour we’re on – 184,000 saw us at one gig in Rio and they told me that was a world record.

But what about Knebworth? 120,000 of you will be far and away the biggest British gig of my career – the biggest and thinking of these kids, certainly the most important.

I hope it’ll all help. I hope you being here to see all these bands, to see us, will help the people helping these kids, bringing them back from their confusion and close to us.

If Knebworth can achieve that, it will matter much more than being just a [??] day. Enjoy yourselves today and thanks for the help.

Paul McCartney

Last updated on October 10, 2020

Knebworth Park

This was the 1st and only concert played at Knebworth Park.

Setlist for the concert