Belo Horizonte • Tuesday, October 17, 2017

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From Hoje Emdia, October 17, 2017 (translated from Portuguese):

From that May 4, 2013 until the night of this Tuesday (17th) it was 1,628 days or, more precisely, 39,071 hours of waiting for Belo Horizonte to see Sir James Paul McCartney in action again. “Hey Beagá!” were the ex-beatle’s first words after taking the Mineirão stage at 9:42 pm.

On a memorable night, the greatest living artist of pop music took the Belo Horizonte audience to complete ecstasy. It was practically 3 hours of show, with hits like “A Hard Day’s Night”, which opened the night, “Let Me Roll It” and “I’ve Got A Feeling”.

Owner of unparalleled skills, Paul played bass, guitar, piano and guitar strolling through all phases of the extensive repertoire. Always relaxed, he distributed several words in Portuguese – “tudo bem?”, “boa noite, gente!” and, with the help of a glue nailed to the stage, he surprised with a “valeu, sô!”. Even when he got it wrong, he won the audience’s support.

Paul turned 75 on June 18, but despite his age, his vigor and performance on stage remain that of a big boy.

This is the fourth time that the musician has come to the country. In 1990, Paul brought the tour “The Paul McCartney World Tour”. In 1993, it was the turn of “The New World”. In 2013, the ex-Beatle brought the show “Out there!” and now the show is called “One on One”.

But the energy of the show is not just in McCartney’s hands. The band that has been with him for about 15 years has a lot of merit. Guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray together with drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. are responsible for turning the gear of this hit machine that has traveled all continents playing real hymns of world pop music.

From paulmccartney.com, For Whom The Bell Tells, December 14, 2017:

Anyone familiar with Paul’s work rate in the days of The Beatles will know he is no slouch. Back then it was an endless whirl of touring, interviews, radio and TV sessions and somehow between all that they recorded some of the greatest and most important albums and singles of all time. All these years later, Paul is just as careful to use his time productively. Just hours after his Sao Paulo show, he heads into a recording studio in the city to work on new music, possibly inspired by this trip.

And then it is on to Belo Horizonte, around 360 miles north east. Paul is here to play the Mineirão Stadium for the second time in his career. The football stadium – which first opened in 1965, just a month before The Beatles began recording Rubber Soul – has, since Paul’s first show here, gone on to host artists such as Beyonce, Pearl Jam and Sir Elton John. Before the show Paul sets himself up in his dressing room as ever which I always think of as his oasis of calm. All the crazy preparations are going on outside but Paul always seems so chilled. To create the right atmosphere there are scented candles, lots of flowers, comfy sofas and a huge TV where Paul watches basketball games and the long-running US game show Family Feud, while bowls of mixed nuts are laid out for snacks and Paul keeps himself hydrated with water.

Backstage, on this trip, as we walk from dressing room to stage, I have been showing Paul the entries to competitions which we have been running during the tour dates and he has been checking the clips on my iPhone. These are once-in-a-lifetime prizes – the chance to actually meet Paul – for fans in each city who produce the best short videos showing why it should be them and the overall response has been amazing. They have worked so hard to create something special. Working alongside the tour’s largest media partners we have been arranging for 10 winners to say hi to Paul after the soundcheck and have their photo taken. He loves what they have done and some of them have been reposted on his own social media account.

Tonight’s show is again epic. During ‘Hey Jude’, the audience releases multi-coloured balloons into the air with “Na, Na, Na, Na” printed on them. It makes for quite a sight as red, blue, yellow and black fills the air above the crowd, floating upwards during the song’s famous refrain.

Under the headline “The magical Kingdom of Paul McCartney”, the state’s respected newspaper declares: “For the second time in his consecrated career the pop star lord danced on the stage, spoke Portuguese with the audience and said goodbye promising to come back soon.” 

Last updated on March 21, 2021

Mineirão Stadium

This was the 3rd concert played at Mineirão Stadium.

A total of 3 concerts have been played there • 2013 • May 3rd • May 4th • 2017 • Oct 17th

Setlist for the concert