Secret gig at The Cavern Club • Thursday, July 26, 2018

About

This exclusive show at the Cavern in Liverpool, 19 years after his last concert there, was announced by Paul the day before, when he was interviewed by Jarvis Cocker at LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts):

We are playing at the Echo Arena in December but we also have tomorrow. We have a little secret gig somewhere in Liverpool – I’m not kidding you Jarvis.

Paul McCartney

But the details to get free tickets were only announced on the D-Day, on paulmccartney.com:

Paul McCartney will play at The Cavern today at 2pm. Space is EXTREMELY limited. Tickets will be made available for free from the Echo Arena Box Office from 10am this morning on a first come, first served basis. Tickets are strictly limited to one per-person and photo ID will need to be shown at the Box Office. Lucky fans will be issued with a wristband and a personalised printed ticket.

For entrance into The Cavern you will need photo ID, the wristband and personalised ticket. Tickets are non-transferable and void if transferred. No tickets will be available from The Cavern.

The queue for entrance into The Cavern will open at 12 noon. Doors scheduled to open at 1PM. All times are approximate and subject to change.

No under 16s allowed.

From bbc.com, July 26, 2018:

[…] Around 250 people crammed into a sweaty Cavern to hear the 28-song set. The set list ranged from classics he performed when the Beatles started out at the Liverpool venue in the early 1960s to songs from his new solo album.

“Coming back here is pretty amazing for me,” the 76-year-old told the crowd.

He skirted over the fact that the original Cavern was filled with rubble in 1973 and the venue for Thursday’s show was a more modern live room attached to a replica Cavern that was built nearby. “Imagine this for me – all these years ago when we played the Cavern we didn’t know if we’d have any future,” he said. “But we did OK.” […] Sir Paul greeted the crowd by adapting the lyrics from the song Michelle: “Liverpool! Cavern! These are words that go together well.“

After an introductory jam, he launched into “the song that got me in The Beatles” – Eddie Cochrane’s Twenty Flight Rock, which Sir Paul played as his audition for John Lennon in 1957. However, he stopped the song halfway through and showed a rare bad mood when he berated the crowd for filming and taking pictures on their phones. “I think you’ve all been told not to take photos,” he said. “And you’re taking them, and you’re taking them, and I don’t want to get put off, and you’re putting me off.” One fan was ejected for filming during the opening jam, even before Sir Paul had made his plea. […]

After finishing the song, he explained further: “The phone thing – I went to a Prince concert and he really was serious about that, he wouldn’t start, you know. Put ‘em down! You know what I’m saying?“.

The concert was filmed by director Paul Dugdale. It was first broadcast by BBC One on Christmas Day 2020.

Last updated on April 5, 2021

The Cavern Club

This was the 282nd concert played at The Cavern Club.

A total of 282 concerts have been played there • 1958 • Jan 24th • 1961 • Feb 9th • Feb 21st • Feb 28th • Mar 6th • Mar 8th • Mar 10th • Mar 13th • Mar 14th • Mar 15th • Mar 16th • Mar 20th • Mar 21st • Mar 22nd • Mar 24th • Jul 14th • Jul 14th • Jul 17th • Jul 19th • Jul 19th • Jul 21st • Jul 25th • Jul 25th • Jul 26th • Jul 27th • Jul 31st • Aug 2nd • Aug 2nd • Aug 4th • Aug 5th • Aug 8th • Aug 9th • Aug 10th • Aug 11th • Aug 14th • Aug 16th • Aug 18th • Aug 21st • Aug 23rd • Aug 23rd • Aug 25th • Aug 28th • Aug 29th • Aug 30th • Sep 1st • Sep 1st • Sep 5th • Sep 6th • Sep 7th • Sep 11th • Sep 13th • Sep 13th • Sep 15th • Sep 19th • Sep 20th • Sep 21st • Sep 25th • Sep 27th • Sep 27th • Sep 29th • Oct 18th • Oct 18th • Oct 20th • Oct 21st • Oct 24th • Oct 25th • Oct 26th • Oct 30th • Nov 1st • Nov 1st • Nov 3rd • Nov 4th • Nov 7th • Nov 7th • Nov 8th • Nov 9th • Nov 13th • Nov 14th • Nov 15th • Nov 15th • Nov 17th • Nov 18th • Nov 21st • Nov 22nd • Nov 23rd • Nov 27th • Nov 29th • Nov 29th • Dec 1st • Dec 2nd • Dec 5th • Dec 6th • Dec 8th • Dec 11th • Dec 13th • Dec 13th • Dec 15th • Dec 16th • Dec 18th • Dec 19th • Dec 20th • Dec 21st • Dec 23rd • Dec 27th • Dec 29th • Dec 30th • 1962 • Jan 3rd • Jan 3rd • Jan 5th • Jan 6th • Jan 9th • Jan 10th • Jan 11th • Jan 12th • Jan 15th • Jan 17th • Jan 17th • Jan 19th • Jan 20th • Jan 22nd • Jan 24th • Jan 24th • Jan 26th • Jan 26th • Jan 30th • Jan 31st • Feb 1st • Feb 3rd • Feb 5th • Feb 7th • Feb 7th • Feb 9th • Feb 9th • Feb 13th • Feb 14th • Feb 15th • Feb 17th • Feb 19th • Feb 21st • Feb 21st • Feb 23rd • Feb 24th • Feb 27th • Feb 28th • Mar 1st • Mar 3rd • Mar 5th • Mar 6th • Mar 9th • Mar 9th • Mar 13th • Mar 14th • Mar 15th • Mar 16th • Mar 20th • Mar 21st • Mar 22nd • Mar 23rd • Mar 23rd • Mar 26th • Mar 28th • Mar 28th • Mar 30th • Mar 30th • Apr 2nd • Apr 4th • Apr 4th • Apr 5th • Apr 6th • Apr 7th • Jun 9th • Jun 12th • Jun 12th • Jun 13th • Jun 13th • Jun 15th • Jun 15th • Jun 16th • Jun 19th • Jun 19th • Jun 20th • Jun 20th • Jun 22nd • Jun 22nd • Jun 25th • Jun 27th • Jun 27th • Jun 29th • Jul 1st • Jul 3rd • Jul 4th • Jul 8th • Jul 10th • Jul 11th • Jul 12th • Jul 15th • Jul 16th • Jul 18th • Jul 18th • Jul 20th • Jul 22nd • Jul 24th • Jul 25th • Jul 25th • Jul 28th • Jul 30th • Aug 1st • Aug 1st • Aug 5th • Aug 7th • Aug 7th • Aug 9th • Aug 12th • Aug 13th • Aug 15th • Aug 15th • Aug 19th • Aug 22nd • Aug 22nd • Aug 24th • Aug 26th • Aug 27th • Aug 28th • Aug 30th • Sep 2nd • Sep 3rd • Sep 5th • Sep 6th • Sep 9th • Sep 10th • Sep 12th • Sep 13th • Sep 16th • Sep 17th • Sep 19th • Sep 20th • Sep 23rd • Sep 26th • Sep 26th • Sep 28th • Sep 30th • Oct 2nd • Oct 3rd • Oct 4th • Oct 7th • Oct 10th • Oct 10th • Oct 12th • Oct 13th • Oct 17th • Oct 17th • Oct 19th • Oct 21st • Oct 26th • Nov 18th • Nov 19th • Nov 21st • Nov 21st • Nov 25th • Nov 28th • Nov 30th • Dec 5th • Dec 5th • Dec 7th • Dec 9th • Dec 10th • Dec 12th • Dec 12th • Dec 16th • 1963 • Jan 11th • Jan 17th • Jan 20th • Jan 23rd • Jan 30th • Jan 31st • Feb 3rd • Feb 4th • Feb 19th • Apr 12th • Aug 3rd • 1999 • Dec 14th • 2018 • Jul 26th

Setlist for the concert