A Hard Day’s Night for McCartney fans
He didn’t look 75 and he didn’t act it either. Paul McCartney played the old hits like it was still the 60s. Got the original versions? Close your eyes and you could hear the same arrangements.
McCartney’s two-hour-plus set built momentum and atmosphere as the night drew on and the realisation grew that we would most likely never hear the cowriter of such iconic songs deliver them live here again.
Striding on stage at Mt Smart Stadium without a word but with a salute, McCartney launched into a note-perfect ‘‘A Hard Day’s Night’’ that set the scene for the marathon gig to come.
He had rehearsed his kia ora and promised the crowd ‘‘some old songs, some new songs and some in-between songs’’ and a good night.
They were on their feet for ‘‘Can’t Buy Me Love’’ and the cheers almost seemed to surprise McCartney.
When he rolled out a Beatles tune they were up on their feet and dancing straight away, but they also loved an elongated version of ‘‘Let Me Roll It’’ which led McCartney into a long anecdote about Jimi Hendrix.
McCartney’s 150-minute set had drawn uniformly good reviews in Australia and particularly for his willingness to mine the Beatles’ back catalogue for his set-list – comprising about 70 per cent of his shows there. That was a relief, given the mixed nature of his post-Beatles output (remember the ‘‘Frog Chorus’’?).
A close to capacity crowd – including Sir Peter Jackson and Neil Finn – were as enthusiastic as they come, a relief given suggestions of slow early sales. Those who didn’t come missed out.
An early mix of songs which included the first demo track from the Beatles’ forerunner The Quarrymen all the way up to McCartney’s recent collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West, ‘‘FourFiveSeconds’’, gave way as the night went on to a heavily Beatles-oriented list – and some cracking yarns.
Highlights included an acoustic ‘‘Blackbird’’, a highly charged ‘‘Back in the USSR’’, – flamboyant fireworks, flamethrowers and lasers for ‘‘Live and Let Die’’ and a closing ‘‘Hey Jude’’ that had the entire crowd singing along.