Cologne • Monday, April 28, 2003

About

From The Macca Report:

Paul was staying with the band at the Hotel Excelsior Ernst. Heather was not in Cologne. She had work committments in England. About 500 fans hung out at the hotel in hopes of seeing Paul. They got to see the band members instead walking to a nearby McDonalds. The band stopped and signed autographs for fans that asked.

The second show was not sold out and tickets were selling until showtime. The audience was definitely in awe of McCartney. Fans in the first couple of rows were allowed to rush the stage. When the rockers numbers were played most of the audience was on their feet. They sat for the slower numbers. Concertgoers who were at both shows said the audience at this show was better.

Paul wore the blue Nehru jacket with a yellow lining, a long-sleeved red T-shirt and charcoal pin-striped trousers.

After “All My Loving” he greeted the crowd with, “Schönen guten Abend Köln! Wie geht es euch?” (Good Evening Cologne. How are you?)

He mentioned the “Jacob the Crow” poem again and said, “Jakob der Rabe war der frechste von allen Vögeln, die ich je gesehen habe.”(Jakob the crow was the rudest of all birds, that I ever saw.)

When the band left the stage for his solo set he said, “Und nun bin ich allein mit euch.” (And now I am alone with you). Then he introduced in English “Blackbird.”

Rusty used his pocket translator which said, “Die Band moechte sich sehr fur den freundlichen Empfang bedanken. Bitte kleben Sie Ihre Kaugummis nicht unter die Sitze.” (The band wants to thank you very much for the warm welcome. Please don´t put your chewing gums under your seats) But he pressed (by mistake?) the fast forward button so that the end of the text sounded like Mickey Mouse.

For “Here Today” he said, “Ich habe dieses Lied nach dem Tode meines Freundes John geschrieben.” (I wrote this song after the death of my friend John.

To help Paul remember what to say in German there were pieces of paper stuck to the floor everywhere. For the intro to “Something” he said, “Mein Freund George liebte die Ukulele zu spielen.” (My friend George loved to play the ukulele) And then said that he will sing the song now for George. Someone in the front rows yelled out that he was George! Paul had a private conversation with him from the stage and said scarcastically, “Oh, another one who is called George … how unusual. But I am not playing this song for you, believe me!” Then he laughed and said, “There’s a GEORGE in every crowd!” 

After the song someone yelled, “And what about Ringo?” Paul repeated, “What about Ringo?” and then began to sing, “We all live in a Yellow Submarine…” The crowd joined in. At the end of the refrain then Paul ended the song with a “cutting” gesture of his arms. Then someone shouted “Octopus’s Garden” and Paul repeated “No, we can’t do all the Ringo songs.”

The usual introductions were translated into German. For “Michelle” he said, “Komm mit uns nach Frankreich.” (Come with us to France) 

For “My Love” he said, “Ich schrieb diesen Song für Linda und das Lied ist für alle Liebenden.” (I wrote this song for Linda and the song for all lovers)

The singalong for “Hey Jude” was conducted in German by Paul who said, “Zuerst die Maenner!” (first the Men )”Und jetzt die Frauen!” (and just the women) “..Frauen zusammen.” (women together) “Alle zusammen!” (everyone together). When the song was over and the band had left the stage, the audience began singing “Hey Jude.” Paul came out, sat at the piano and played the last part of “Hey Jude” with the audience singing along before beginning “The Long And Winding Road.”

After “Hey Jude” Paul came out wearing the ‘no more land mines’ red T-shirt and waved the German flag. Just before he started “I Saw Her Standing There” he said, “Wollt ihr mehr?” (Do you want more?) The audience yelled, “Ja!” (yes). As he and the band left the stage, they did their ‘monkey dance.’

Before the last song, “Sgt. Peppers/The End” Paul said, “Jetzt aber müssen wir euch hier verlassen. Ich danke meiner fantastischen Band aber am meisten EUCH.” (Now however we must leave you here. I thank my fantastic band but most of all YOU.) 

He signed a vintage “Beatles Monthly” (issue No. 32 March, 1966) before he left. It was thrown to the stage but when it landed it lost it’s cover, which flew in one direction, the pen in another and the inside of the magazine in another. Paul picked up the cover, then the inside of the magazine and found the pen. Instead of signing the cover Paul signed his first name on page 30 (upside-down across the covered mouth) and returned the magazine intact to it’s owner, minus the pen. Congrats to Ralf Roeger!

Last updated on May 16, 2019