A BEATLEMANIAC'S MAGICAL MYSTERY NIGHT

The Beatles have been the soundtrack to my life, a love affair that continues unabated to this day.

Not old enough to see them when the came to Australia, and deprived of the opportunity to ever see my hero John Lennon (the only "where were you when.." moment in my whole life I can remember is the moment I heard of his death) and George Harrison, it has been a goal to see at least one of the remaining Fabs in concert - and I didn't care which one. And so, when Paul McCartney added London to his Out There world tour (which has now been going for two years), then it was a no brainer; last Saturday night was finally my date with Beatle destiny.

The O2 stadium holds 20,000 people and it was overflowing. Immediately noticeable was the demogaphic, a sea of predominantly middle aged, baby boomer Moptop fans, a sea of happy, benign music lovers out for a trip down memory lane. My own emotions are running wild; I'm excited at the prospect of seeing McCartney, yet with an unusual feeling that it may be good and not great (post-Beatles, his solo material leaves me cold); better than good would exceed my expectations.

It started unusually. For 45 minutes leading up to his onstage appearance, a visual montage of paintings and photos detailing key moments of his life scrolled down the two giant screens to a backdrop of cover versions of Beatles and McCartney songs; I'm still to work out why he would do that. Finally, the band take centre stage, McCartney carrying his iconic Hofner violin bass that he has used for live performances since receiving it at the Royal Command Performance in 1963 (it's the little details like this that stir this Beatle fan's emotions).

The audience sitting at ground level rise as one as Paul starts out with 'Eight Days A Week', he's sounding terrific and boyhood memories are flashing past my eyes. I expected the crowd to sing along as would definitely occur in the Spanish capital, but this doesn't happen.

Second song and it's straight into 'Save Us' from his latest album "New", which sounds for all the world like ELO having a bad day, and the energy is temporarily drained from the audience, and me in particular; this is the letdown I was anticipating, albeit not so soon. 'Can't Buy Me Love' restores the equilibrium, and he mischievously asks "What shall we do now?" before rolling into 'Listen To What The Man Said' from Wings' "Venus And Mars". It's apparent that over the years his set list remains fundamentally the same (by sheer necessity if nothing else), but he does throw in the occasional new song and the rare treats. Tonight he ticks both boxes by providing a "world premiere" performance of 'Temporary Secretary', a dismal song that even has the 9yo sitting beside me inquiring "is this one he's written by himself without John?" - out of the mouths of babes! 'Let Me Roll It' sees him change instruments, and it's fair to say that as a lead guitarist he makes a superb bassist!

The appearance of his Epiphone Casino ES-230TD foreshadows a stellar rendition of 'Paperback Writer'; this was the guitar he used when the song was originally recorded in 1966 (and also on 'Ticket To Ride').

McCartney's forte has always been his ballads, and the paean for his wife Nancy, 'My Valentine', is sublime; he's still got it within him to write something achingly beautiful. Wings and Beatles favourites follow in rapid succession before he brings the audience down again with the vacuous 'Hope For The Future'. McCartney is no man's fool, and at the conclusion of the song he makes the observation that "I know when you like a song because there's thousands of phones in the air, but I didn't see any for that one!" Anybody who thinks that there is a single person who has come along principally to hear his new material is plainly delusional.

'And I Love Her' kicks of a glorious acoustic bracket and is followed by a stunning 'Blackbird'. Such is the beauty and timelessness of this extraordinary song that it also acts as the cue for the audience to finally start singing along. 'Here Today', written for John after his death, is a poignant tribute (the strength of his balladry yet again!), and playing 'Something' on the ukulele (a George tribute) is an inspired move. The downhill run from here is a cavalcade of majestic Beatles classics; the band are on fire, McCartney is clearly delighted to be playing in front of his home audience, and the entire stadium is on its feet singing along as 'Back In The USSR', 'Let It Be', the pyrotechnic extravaganza of 'Live And Let Die' and, of course, the finale - the ultimate singalong, 'Hey Jude' brings the house down.

The encore starts out with another first, as Paul has never previously performed 'Another Girl' in the UK. A rollicking 'Hi Hi Hi' follows, before Dave Grohl makes an appearance for a rousing four guitar stomp through 'I Saw Her Standing There'.

Exit, stage left, but even though the show has gone well over the curfew time (11:00pm), this surely can't be the end....and it isn't. With only Brian Ray's keyboards as accompaniment (more on this shortly), Paul returns to sing what all 20,000 in attendance know is coming, the world's most covered song, and with 'Yesterday' comes a lump the size of an egg in my throat. The rest of the band, Paul 'Wix' Wickens (guitar/bass), Rusty Anderson (guitar) and exuberant drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., a constant presence for over a decade, rejoin the party and McCartney still has it in him to give a virtuoso performance of 'Helter Skelter'; it is truly fabulous. He could have left it there, but "Abbey Road" provides the piece de resistance, the ultimate show closer. The closing triplet of 'Golden Slumber', 'The Weight', and 'The End' is punctuated by Paul, Wick and Rusty exchanging guitar solos, and decades of waiting for this moment, of finally seeing a Beatle play live, to hear the songs from music's greatest canon sung by the man himself, is completely overwhelming; lucky the lights are down low!

 The need to play his new material is understandable, even if it does perceptibly change the mood of the audience, and Paul's performance for almost three hours is, for the most part, stunning - surprisingly strong vocal performance, superb at the piano, serviceable on guitar...and then there's the bass! What was perhaps the biggest disappointment was the lack of depth in the sound when it came to those songs that featured strings and/or brass (e.g. 'Yesterday'). There is no substitute for the quality and depth of sound genuine strings and horns bring, and to replicate this with lacklustre flourishes from the keyboards lessens the impact. Picky? Maybe, but this is Paul McCartney after all.

Musically it was great, although Paul McCartney at the O2 isn't in the ten best shows I've ever seen (nor did I expect it to be), but when it comes to the most cherished musical events I've ever seen then it sits mighty close to the top of the pile. And what of the 9yo sitting next to me.

Apart from the 30 minutes when he nodded off(!), he loved it, his favourite moment coming with the appearance of the Epiphone Casino and 'Paperback Writer'. If my musical taste is generally not shared by Liam, the music of The Beatles is the one concession he makes. In future years, he will be able to say that his first ever rock concert was as a 9yo seeing Paul McCartney, a Beatle, the greatest living composer of popular music in the 20th century. Not many kids can boast that!

Setlist:
Eight Days A Week
Save Us
Can't Buy Me Love
Listen To What The Man Said
Temporary Secretary
Let Me Roll It
Paperback Writer
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
The Long And Winding Road
Maybe I'm Amazed
Falling
We Can Work It Out
Another Day
Hope For The Future
And I Love Her
Blackbird
Her Today,
New
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna
All Together Now
Lovely Rita
Eleanor Rigby
Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
Something
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
Band On The Run
Back In The USSR
Let It Be
Live & Let Die
Hey Jude

Encore:
Another Girl
Hi Hi Hi
I Saw Her Standing There (with Dave Grohl)

2nd Encore:
Yesterday
Helter Skelter
Golden Slumber
The Weight
The End