Secret New York Concert • Friday, September 7, 2018

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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

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

Last updated on April 5, 2021