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Friday, September 7, 2018

Secret New York Concert

Concert • By Paul McCartney

Last updated on April 5, 2021


Details

  • Country: USA
  • City: New York
  • Location: Grand Central Terminal

Location

  • Location: Grand Central Terminal

Timeline

Master album

Some songs from this concert appear on:

It’s a surprise gig. We haven’t been telling anyone but the album’s title is Egypt Station so that might be a little clue there — station. It might be a grand show, I don’t know.

Paul McCartney, talking to Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show, the day before this concert

Paul To Livestream Special New York Concert This Friday 7th September on YouTube. Over the last days, Paul has been teasing fans and hinting at something coming this week in New York City. Today he confirms he will be joining forces with YouTube Originals to livestream a secret concert via his channel this coming Friday 7th September to celebrate the release of his new album Egypt Station. Fans will be able to tune in to watch Paul perform tracks from Egypt Station along with Beatles, Wings and solo classics from 8:00pm (ET). The venue is still to be confirmed.

From paulmccartney.com, September 5, 2018

Paul McCartney was playing air guitar when he showed up at New York’s Grand Central Terminal Friday night around 7:40 p.m. His livestreamed YouTube concert was starting in just a few minutes, but first he wanted to give us in the audience a few instructions. He’d start the broadcast alone on camera, with the crowd in complete silence. “Then I’ll just move a little more over this way and sing, ‘Hey Jude…’” he continued. “And you’ll sing, ‘Don’t make it bad…’ And that’s your big moment!”.

There were about 200 of his closest friends, fans and total strangers there in Vanderbilt Hall, a beautiful chamber off the main commuter concourse. Meryl Streep was one of them; Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Jimmy Fallon and Jon Bon Jovi were among the others. We practiced our bit once – “Just the one line!” he reminded us — then did it for real with the cameras rolling.

If you’ve attended any of McCartney’s shows in the last decade or two, you know how amazing it feels to sing “Hey Jude” along with him. It’s one of the greatest live music experiences you can have, taking a sad song and making it better right there in real time. “Hey Jude” never fails. It’s a reliable crowd-pleaser for an artist who loves nothing more than pleasing crowds. And this all-time classic song just celebrated its 50th anniversary a few weeks back. So it says a lot that he didn’t perform it Friday night after that brief tease in the show’s intro. This was a different kind of McCartney show, leaner and lighter on its feet, less interested in hitting every familiar note and more invested in having a good time. Forget the baggage — this Friday night arrived without a suitcase.

McCartney was there to remind us about his great new LP, Egypt Station. (Get it? Stations, trains, Grand Central?) But he only played three songs from that album, including the charming New Wave groove “Who Cares” and the extraordinarily horny pop gem “Fuh You.” He was having too much fun to slow down, giving us a streamlined, re-energized tour through his catalog, from “Love Me Do” all the way to “FourFiveSeconds.” There were fewer ballads than usual, so his hard-rocking performances of “Helter Skelter,” “Birthday” and “I’ve Got a Feeling” set the tone for the night. Even the very sweet “My Valentine” got a new arrangement, with McCartney crooning through a busted megaphone. […]

From Rolling Stone, September 8, 2018

[…] One of the highlights was the alternative performance of My Valentine, with Paul Wickens on accordion and next to the guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray also drummer Abe Laboriel jr. on acoustic guitar while McCartney sang the homage to his wife Nancy through a megaphone. An unusual setting, but what a wonderful result; the originally jazzy piano ballad had become more like a French chanson. 

Another highlight was the magnificent performance of the Wings-track Letting Go, where McCartney’s live band was supported by a triple horn section, with a sax, trumpet and slide trombone. The three stood among the audience and also played a solo piece. It revived the heyday of Wings, which also had access to horns at gigs from the mid-seventies. […]

From Macca-news, September 8, 2018
From Twitter – Watch Paul’s #1 globally trending gig at Grand Central Station HERE: https://paulmccartney.lnk.to/LiveFromNYC #EgyptStation
From paulmccartney.com – Grand Central Station was brought to a standstill when Paul played a surprise gig in the Vanderbilt Hall to celebrate the release of Egypt Station. 7th September 2018.

On a Twitter Q&A in September 2018, Paul explained why he used a megaphone to sing “My Valentine“:

Why did you sing “My Valentine” in a megaphone? is there a hidden meaning in this?

The Director of the show had the idea to sing something through a megaphone. Well, i’ve seen Bono do it, but it’s more on louder songs or like an announcement. I thought it would be great to bring it down and use it very intimately, and that made me think of the song  ‘My Valentine’, which we were originally going to do just how we usually do, on the piano with the band. But we thought of this new way to do it. But it was originally his idea, Arturo Perez, who had some nice ideas for the show and that was one of them!

Paul McCartney
From Twitter – Found the stage for tonight’s “secret” Paul McCartney concert at Grand Central Station! Fans are already showing up hoping to get in. EgyptStation #PaulMcCartney @NBCNewYork
From All McCartney sur Twitter : “OTD 2018: Paul McCartney and his band had a surprise concert at New York City’s Grand Central Station. https://t.co/RWSXIDCJEk #PaulMcCartney #PaulMcCartneyandWings #TheBeatles https://t.co/xeNLzaZ89I” / Twitter

Grand Central Terminal

This was the 1st and only concert played at Grand Central Terminal.

Setlist for the concert

  1. A Hard Day's Night

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  2. Can't Buy Me Love

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  3. I've Got a Feeling

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  4. Come On to Me

    Written by Paul McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  5. My Valentine

    Written by Paul McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  6. From Me to You

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  7. Love Me Do

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  8. Blackbird

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  9. Dance Tonight

    Written by Paul McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  10. Fuh You

    Written by Paul McCartney, Ryan Tedder

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  11. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  12. Birthday

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  13. Lady Madonna

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  14. Let It Be

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  15. Helter Skelter

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  16. Golden Slumbers

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  17. Carry That Weight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

  18. The End

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Album Available on Live From NYC 2018

Paul McCartney writing

Talk more talk, chat more chat

Notice any inaccuracies on this page? Have additional insights or ideas for new content? Or just want to share your thoughts? We value your feedback! Please use the form below to get in touch with us.

daveidmarx • 6 years ago

That's me, third from left on the bottom (wearing the NYC Subway-themed McCartney concert I picked up at last year's show at MSG) in the Twitter photo!


The PaulMcCartney Project • 6 years ago

Two times lucky ! Lucky to be an attendee of this very special concert ! Lucky to be on an official photo from Paul, with Paul ! I envy you :)

BTW, are you THE daveidmarx ? The one who did https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/collection/ultimate-archive-collection/ ? If so, I'm deeply honored to have you on this site !


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