Paul McCartney – Mt Smart Stadium December 16, 2017

This was a show for the ages. It was the last date on Paul McCartney’s One On One tour and the ex-Beatle pulled out all the stops…an incredible set list, an amazing band, lights, video clips, fireworks…the whole shebang.

The Auckland weather was perfect as fans poured in to Mt Smart Stadium. The atmosphere was electric. With McCartney now 75 years old, the underlying feeling was that this was going to be the last chance to see the former moptop. This would be a show to be remembered, talked about and savoured…for many it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

I realize that I am gushing here (and I haven’t even begun to review the show) but if you are any kind of music fan and you can’t get excited about seeing Paul McCartney, then I feel very sorry for you. Here is a guy who has written, or co-written, the most incredible canon of songs, ever. Only Dylan comes close.

But not only does Paul have that amazing catalogue to draw from, he’s a fantastic musician. His bass playing alone makes him a singular performer, then add his skills as a piano player, vocalist and guitarist and tell me there is anyone else touring today who even comes close to what he can do.

Clearly, I wasn’t alone thinking this as 40,000 + others showed up to take in the show including quite a few local musicians. I spotted Neil Finn in the crowd, along with Marlon Williams and his band. Tami Neilson was there, but my favourite encounter was running into Nadia Reid and Aldous Harding before the show. The former flatmates arrived together, both dressed in black. Knowing that McCartney’s song Single Pigeon is a favourite of Harding’s, I was hoping that someone might have arranged for Aldous to join Paul on stage for a duet of the tune, but it wasn’t to be.

The show itself began at 8:30pm and ran for a good three hours beginning with that familiar first chord from A Hard Day’s Night and wrapping, appropriately enough, with The End, from Abbey Road.

Along the way we got about 40 songs, nearly every on a stone classic, nearly every one a song you knew all the words to.

I say nearly, because Paul did throw in a few newer tunes, that despite their quality, didn’t tear up the charts. Before playing a couple of songs from his 2013 album, titled New, he noted that when he played an old Beatle song, the stadium lit up thanks to the number of phones being held up, but when he played the new material, it was like playing to a black hole.

McCartney was full of stories to accompany his songs. He talked about hanging with Hendrix and Clapton, paying a brief musical tribute to Jimi after Let Me Roll It, about how he recovered the acetate for The Quarrymen’s first recording from his former bandmate before playing In Spite Of All The Danger, one of his very first compositions, how he and John hopped into a cab with Mick and Keith and decided to write I Wanna Be Your Man for the struggling Stones. He also paid tribute to fallen bandmates George Harrison, who he referred to as “Georgie” with a delightful, ukulele-led version of Something and John Lennon, by leading the crowd in a singalong of Give Peace A Chance coming out of A Day In The Life.

One of the evening’s most emotional moments came when Paul spoke about John’s death and performed Here Today, a tune from 1982’s Tug Of War album written in response to Lennon’s death. I’m sure he’s sung that song many times, but the feelings are obviously still raw.

The set list itself was nearly perfect, a wonderful mix of Beatles and solo songs, plenty of big hits and plenty of lesser known gems. In fact there was plenty of everything.

My only complaint was the inclusion of Mull Of Kintyre during the encore. It’s not one of my favourite songs, and I would have preferred something like Get Back or Penny Lane, but even that turned out to be OK when the Auckland & District Pipe Band showed up to add a bit of local colour to the proceedings. After, Paul spoke to two young women who were part of the Pipe Band and the exchange was utterly charming.

Musically, the Paul seemed a bit tentative and his voice wasn’t quite 100% during the first few songs, but once he got warmed up, all was good.

People wonder why an artist like McCartney still tours, still works so hard well into his 70s, After all, he doesn’t need the money, or the recognition. And while I’m sure Paul has plenty of ego, I don’t think it’s the adoration that keeps him going either. Judging by the fun he seemed to be having on stage, just playing great rock & roll songs with other great musicians, I think it is simply the power and love of rock & roll that drives him. The sheer joy of rocking out was apparent in song after song…often they’d finish a tune, only to start it up again because they were enjoying it so much.

That kind of passion and enthusiasm makes for a three-hour show that goes by in a flash. I could have easily done with a show twice the length, but, as they say, all things must pass.

So, take a look at the photos and the set list…chances are nothing like this will ever make its way down here again. What a night!

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Veronica McLaughlin:

Paul McCartney set list:

  1. A Hard Day’s Night
  2. Junior’s Farm
  3. Can’t Buy Me Love
  4. Jet
  5. All My Loving
  6. Let Me Roll It
  7. I’ve Got A Feeling
  8. My Valentine
  9. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
  10. Maybe I’m Amazed
  11. I’ve Just Seen A face
  12. In Spite Of All The Danger
  13. You Won’t See Me
  14. Love Me Do
  15. And I Love Her
  16. Blackbird
  17. Here Today
  18. Queenie Eye
  19. New
  20. Lady Madonna
  21. FourFiveSeconds
  22. Eleanor Rigby
  23. I Wanna Be Your Man
  24. Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!
  25. Something
  26. A Day In The Life/Give Peace A Chance
  27. Ob-La-De, Ob-La-Da
  28. Band On The Run
  29. Back In The USSR
  30. Let It Be
  31. Live And Let Die
  32. Hey Jude
  33. Yesterday
  34. Birthday
  35. Mull Of Kintyre
  36. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
  37. Helter Skelter
  38. Golden Slumbers
  39. Carry That Weight
  40. The End