Westcliff-on-Sea

All six surprise shows followed the same pattern of two distinct 50-minute musical sets, acoustic and electric, Unplugged and Plugged, separated by a brief interlude. Further underscoring the unpretentious nature of the seaside shuffles, the Westcliff-on-Sea gig (24 July) featured a unique bonus in the shape of a poetry reading by Adrian Mitchell, a friend of Paul’s since the 1960s. He had rehearsed with the band two days earlier.

The musicians kept a low-volume accompaniment while Mitchell addressed the audience with four of his poems – ‘Junk’ was recognisable as the backing behind love verse ‘Maybe May Time’, and a suitably funky arrangement was provided to augment a poem about James Brown. The sequence was so very much a departure from the norm, and so irresistibly fascinating to watch, that most audience mouths were left distinctly agape. It must have made the McCartney memory-bank dart back to the only other time he had backed a bard: an unforgettable Liverpool evening in 1960 that had the youthful Silver Beatles – clearly lads of sheltered upbringing – accompany visiting ‘beat poet’ Royston Ellis and find themselves somewhat puzzled by Ellis’s indiscreetly veiled references to then-illegal all-male sexual activities.

Though Paul resisted the idea of donning on stage a ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hat from nearby Southend, the Westcliff show was every bit as jolly and relaxed as that at St Austell. John Hammel kept a steady harmonica hand during ‘Down To The River’, there was the usual instrument swap-around for ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’, and ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ had two endings – first the usual one and then another, an unusual one, which saw Robbie then Paul and then Hamish drop to their knees. (Robbie’s idea, Paul announced.) The audience reaction was on the wild side of ecstatic from start to finish. (If one could only harness the power given off by a McCartney audience when demanding an encore there’d be no need for nuclear power-stations.)

From Club Sandwich 59, Autumn 1991

Cliffs Pavilion

This was the 1st and only concert played at Cliffs Pavilion.

Setlist for the concert

1. Acoustic set

1. Mean Woman Blues

   Written by Claude Demetrius

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

2. Be Bop A Lula

   Written by Gene Vincent, Donald Graves, Bill Davis

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

3. We Can Work It Out

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

4. San Francisco Bay Blues

   Written by Jesse Fuller

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

5. Every Night

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

6. Here, There And Everywhere

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

7. That Would Be Something

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

8. Down To The River

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

9. And I Love Her

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

10. She's A Woman

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

    Album Available on Southend Surprise

    Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

11. I Lost My Little Girl

    Written by Paul McCartney

    Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

    Album Available on Southend Surprise

    Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

12. Ain't No Sunshine

    Written by Bill Withers

    Album Available on Southend Surprise

    Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

    Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

13. Hi Heel Sneakers

    Written by Tommy Tucker

    Album Available on Southend Surprise

    Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

    Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

14. I've Just Seen A Face

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Southend Surprise

    Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

    Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

15. Song In Space

16. I Like That Stuff

17. Maybe May Time (Singalong Junk)

18. Hot Pursuit

2. Electric set

1. Good Rockin' Tonight

   Written by Roy Brown

   Album Available on Rehearsals For The New World Tour 1993

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

2. Twenty Flight Rock

   Written by Eddie Cochran, Ned Fairchild

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

3. Band On The Run

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

4. Ebony And Ivory

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

5. I Saw Her Standing There

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

6. Coming Up

   Written by Paul McCartney

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

7. Get Back

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

8. The Long And Winding Road

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

9. Ain't That A Shame

   Written by Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

10. Let It Be

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Southend Surprise

    Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

3. Encore

1. Can't Buy Me Love

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Album Available on Southend Surprise

   Album Available on Secret Gig 1991 July

See song statistics for “Unplugged 1991 Summer Tour”