The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Evergreen Sir Paul thrills Glastonbury
Almost four million people tuned in to watch Sir Paul McCartney’s history-making Glastonbury headline set with surprise guests Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen.
The Saturday performance at Worthy Farm had a peak audience of 3.9 million and an average audience figure of 2.6 million on BBC1, the broadcaster said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the festival said Sir Paul’s set on the Pyramid Stage attracted “one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever had”.
Actor and comedian Steve Coogan described watching Macca’s set as “quite overwhelming”.
Alan Partridge star Coogan, 56, was among the crowd on Saturday night for the performance by Sir Paul, who at 80 became the festival’s oldest solo headliner.
Sir Paul performed Beatles and Wings songs in a set lasting more than two hours, and was joined on stage by Springsteen for Glory Days and I Wanna Be Your Man.
He had earlier introduced Grohl to the stage to sing I Saw Her Standing There and Band On The Run.
It was Grohl’s first public performance since the death of his Foo Fighters bandmate, drummer Taylor Hawkins.
While the crowd sang Hey Jude in the background, Coogan told the BBC: “I don’t know what to say, it’s quite overwhelming.
“I don’t think there’s anyone else in the world who can just give such unadulterated joy to people... very, very privileged to be able to see that.”
The Guardian review gave Sir Paul four stars out of five for his gig, with The Telegraph honouring him with five stars and suggesting Glastonbury may have to be renamed “Maccabury”.
The performance paid homage to those near and dear to the Beatle, with Sir Paul dedicating a song to his wife of more than a decade Nancy, and to former bandmate, John Lennon, who was killed in 1980. Using special technology which could isolate Lennon’s vocals from old recordings, Sir Paul was able to duet on the Beatles’ track I’ve Got A Feeling alongside his former bandmatee.
On Friday, Billie Eilish became the festival’s youngest solo headliner as she took to the Pyramid Stage.