London • Tuesday, April 22, 2003

About

From The Macca Report:

Paul arrived around 4:30 pm in the second of two silver Mercedes. Paul sat with John Hammel in the back seat, rolled down the window, smiled, waved and said, “hi” to the group of 25 fans who had been waiting. The car did not stop. Brian Riddle, Paul’s main security man and a genuinely nice guy to fans, offered to take items backstage for Paul to autograph. As promised Brian emerged two hours later, with five autographs, that included a “Help!” vinyl album (Congrats to Betty Wraya), a “Ram” vinyl album (congrats to Peter White), a “Yesterday and Today” vinyl album (congrats to Jamie Legner) and a program (congrats to Dino Vescera).

Behind the scenes at the soundcheck. Paul arrived onstage at 4:50pm and hugged all the band members. He was wearing a charcoal suit and a pink-orange T-shirt. The Fanasylum tour group were allowed into the soundcheck and were seated some thirty rows back. Paul stepped up to the microphone and said, “Good Evening. Welcome to Earls Court.”

Paul began “Coming Up.” After the song the tour group cheered. Paul jokes, “I want this group kept under control. SECURITY!” [pointing to group] 

Next is “Honey Don’t,” then “Matchbox.” Fans applaud the end of the song. Paul says in his best Elvis accent, “Thank you very much…Carl Perkin lovers.” Macca then goes over to Abe’s drum kit and starts playing with the stuffed bears in front of it.

The band played a instrumental jam – switching between two chords every eight bars. Paul, Rusty and Wix exchanged leads. Then Paul switched to the piano and played “Celebration,” and “C Moon.”

Paul grabs his acoustic guitar and and plays parts of “Blackbird” and “Things We Said Today.” 

“Midnight Special,” the band does a square dance during the middle-eight, all together and in step. 

Next Paul performed “All Things Must Pass.” There was a short jam after the song and then a reprise of “All Things Must Pass.” When done, Paul said “Was that better for you Pab? The fans cheered thinking Paul was speaking to them. Paul says, “I’m not asking you lot!” [laughs] “Pab is our sound engineer.” (Pab is the sound engineer. His name is Paul Boothroyd)

Paul’s cell phone rang and he took the call. Meanwhile, the band played a soft bosanova beat. Paul switched to the psychedelic piano and played a shortened version of “You Never Give Me Your Money.” Then “The Fool On The Hill” (shortened version) and “Lady Madonna” (shortened version). Paul played a “Lady Madonna” reprise at a faster tempo and finished the soundcheck. He said to the fans, “Thanks everyone…that’s enough…soundcheck is now ended.”

There were quite a few VIP’s in the audience, especially from Liverpool including Paul’s aunt Jean who he honored in the song “Let ‘Em In,” substituting “Auntie Gin” for “Auntie Jean” and adding “Uncle Edward.” 

Besides thanking family members for coming from Liverpool and Yorkshire, he also thanked everyone who traveled far and wide for coming to the London shows. Also spotted in the audience were Formula One British race car driver, David Coulthard and Julian Lennon.

Paul changed the word “Jet” to “Geoff” during “Jet” in honor of UK DJ Geoff Lloyd (Pete and Geoff) of Virgin Radio who interviewed him before the show (it will be aired on Virgin Radio, May 18). It was Geoff’s birthday’s present from Paul.

Paul wore the purple Nehru jacket, red long-sleeved T-shirt and blue jeans.

Abe who was suffering from a bad case of tennis elbow had a few problems drumming because of the pain.

The crowd was more subdued than the previous night. More audience members were sitting down. However there was a rush to the stage at the end of the pre-show by fans in first couple of rows.

The Mexican fans from the previous night were in the audience again waving their flag and holding a sign that read “We Were Here Yesterday, THANK YOU for your words.” Paul smiled and winked at them. He finished “Every Night” and mentioned again about the lighters and the Mexico City concert. A Mexican woman shouted, ” I was here yesterday!” and Paul said “I did not see you,” turning his head to the flag waving Mexicans from the night before and smiling.

Paul’s voice hit a few sour notes at the beginning of “Blackbird” surprising the man himself, judged by his expression.

Once again after “Here, There and Everywhere,” Paul mentioned the allusive sign (that is not really there) “My Mum Saw You at Shea Stadium in 1965.” 

After his tributes to John and George some fans yelled out “What about a Ringo Song?” Paul ignored them.

After “Calico Skies” Paul said, “If you like this song it’s from the album called ‘Hope’ to help the children of Iraq.”

Macca played the slow alternate “Band On the Run 2” intro to “Band On the Run” which is becoming an audience favorite.

At the beginning of “Two Of Us” during the first opening notes Paul shouted “Good beginning!” Abe took the higher register of the song and Paul took the lower register. Abe whistled at the end of the song.

Paul said after “Back In The USSR” that the band is going to Moscow and he can’t wait to perform the song there. Appropriately fans in near the stage held a banner up that read, “See you in Moscow Paul.”

Paul signed two vinyl albums at the end of the show and picked up a Mexican flag that was thrown to him and left the stage with it.

Sign in the audience: “GO VEGGIE FOR A KISS!” Paul acknowledged the sign by blowing a kiss to the sign holder. 

Text message: “Wake up sleepy London, McCartney’s in town!” 

Fans helped themselves to the “Back in the World” posters decorating Earl’s Court by ripping them off the walls.

Last updated on May 16, 2019

Earls Court

This was the 7th concert played at Earls Court.

A total of 8 concerts have been played there • 1993 • Sep 11th • Sep 14th • Sep 15th • 2003 • Apr 18th • Apr 19th • Apr 21st • Apr 22nd • 2008 • Feb 20th