Arnhem • Friday, April 25, 2003

About

From The Macca Report:

Paul arrived at the venue around 6:15pm with police escort after his white stretch limo was stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway and had to ride on the shoulder. His plane landed at Rotterdam airport and he had to go by car to Arnhem. Macca waved to fans also stuck in the jam as the limo passed them. There was more traffic than usual because of a school holiday. While he was on the motorway he did a phone interview with the DJ of Radio 2 which went live on the air. The fans were let in at 7pm right after Paul finished his soundcheck. Some fans had been waiting since 8:30am to get a good position on the general admission floor.

Songs heard at the souncheck: “C Moon,” “Purple Haze,” “Coming Up,” “Celebration,” “Things We Said Today.”

The concert started late at 8:15pm because of the traffic jam. Security was not as tight as at other shows and people were able to sneak cameras and videocameras in. 

Paul wore the sky-blue Nehru jacket, a red long-sleeved T-shirt and loose fitting blue jeans. On either side of him were teleprompters. One with the words to the songs and the other with his scripted dialog. Fans threw stuffed animals on the stage and Paul placed them behind him on the amplifiers.

Paul greeted the 30,000 strong at the Gelredome after “All My Loving” and said in Dutch, “Goedenavond Nederland. We’ve come to rock you tonight. Alles goed?” (Good evening, the Netherlands….Everything OK?) Tickets were available the day of the show but soon sold out by showtime. The floor was general admission and the retractable roof of the Dome was closed to keep the noise level down for neighboring areas. Fans on the main floor had to endure a lot pushing and shoving, but were very enthusiastic. Fans in the bleachers for the most part remained seated. The bleachers had a severe downward angle and not a lot of elbow room which made it difficult to stand or dance. 

Paul’s Dutch accent was not bad according to concertgoers though Paul had problems pronouncing the letter “G” in Dutch.

For the intro to “Your Loving Flame” Paul said, “Ik wil dit nummer opdragen aan mijn liefste vrouw Heather.” (I want to dedicate this song to my dearest wife Heather)

When the band left the stage for the solo acoustic set Paul said, “En nu ben ik alleen met jullie.” (and now i’m alone with you)

When the strongman brought out the psychedelic piano, Paul commented, “Hij gebruikt sterioïden.” (he uses steriods) which got a laugh from the audience. Paul did not tell his massage stories and “forgot the words” to “You Never Give Me Your Money,” as scripted.

Paul introduced all the band members in Dutch. Wix told the audience that after the concert in London (his hometown) a few of his cousins came over with him to Arnhem. Brian said he was glad to be in Holland because he’s part Dutch from his father’s side of the family.

Rusty brought out a English to Dutch pocket translator and said, “My Dutch is pretty awful so I have a message I’m gonna play for you.” He held it up to the microphone so the audience could hear the female voice speaking in Dutch. “De band bedankt u voor het warme welkom.” (The band would like to thank you for the warm welcome) “Wilt u alstublieft geen kauwgum onder de stoelen plakken!” (please don’t stick your gum under the seats!) That got a good laugh from the audience.

When Paul introduced “Here Today” he said in Dutch, “Ik heb dit geschreven na de dood van mijn vriend John.” (I wrote this after the passing of my friend John). Big applause from the audience. After the song, the entire audience started singing “Give Peace A Chance.” Paul did not join in. 

Paul said for his intro to “Something,” “George hield van de ukulele.” (George loved the ukulele). After “Something,” fans yelled, “What about Ringo?” Paul said, “Yes, Ringo too,” and started to sing, ” WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE… ” and the audience joined in with some singing the Dutch words to the song.

Before “Michelle,” he said, “Laten we naar Frankrijk gaan” (let’s go to France)

For the intro to “My Love” Paul said he wrote the song for Linda and, “Dit is voor alle verliefden.” (this is for all the lovers) Both Linda and Heather got the same amount of applause for their dedications.

After “Live and Let Die” there was a huge applause and Paul did his pantomine of putting his hand on his chest and feigning a heart-attack. Then he leaned over the piano resting on his elbows looking very amused by the crowd’s reaction to the fireworks.

“Band On The Run” had the slow intro from the BBC-2 commercial before getting into the regular version.

Paul congratulated all the people who had a birthday by saying “Dit lied is voor de jarigen hier.” (this song is for the people who have their birthday) When Paul performed “Birthday” the house rocked.

For “Hey Jude” Paul conducting the audience, “Nu alle mannen!” (Now all the men), “Nu alle vrouwen!” (Now all the women). Then the left side, right side, middle and then all. At the end of the “Hey Jude” the crowd continued to sing the “nah-nah-nah’s” while the band was leaving the stage.

For the first encore Paul came out waving what was supposed to be the flag of the Netherlands, but instead of the Red/White/Blue, it was Red/Blue/White which is the Russian flag! The audience didn’t know what to make of this so there wasn’t much of a reaction to the flag waving.

“I Saw Her Standing There” got people on their feet singing and dancing. 

At the beginning of the second encore, before “Yesterday” he said, “Wij moeten naar huis……..jullie moeten naar huis! “(We’ve got to go home… you have to go home!) and added in English, “We have to go home sometime.” The audience didn’t agree.

Paul and the band waved goodbye as the confetti (in red, white and blue came) down from the ceiling and the crowd gave them a standing ovation. Paul picked up a huge bouquet of flowers thrown to stage but didn’t sign any autographs. 

Sign in the audience: “We praise YOU Paul” “

Text messages: “I say hello, don’t say goodbye Paul, Alex” “Marja I love you more than Paul, sorry Paul”

Last updated on May 16, 2019

Gelredome

This was the 1st concert played at Gelredome.

A total of 2 concerts have been played there • 2003 • Apr 25th • 2009 • Dec 9th