Paul McCartney
London Royal Albert Hall29/3/12
29th March, 2012

View: centre, rear stalls

  Unable to play the Teenage Cancer Trust shows last year, Paul McCartney made good on his promise with a headline-grabbing appearance at this year’s series. He squeezed in a little European jaunt to make it viable to bring his stadium show to the Albert, so the only worry was the failure of some arena sets in such intimate surroundings. But no way was that the case here; if anything, the vibe was loose and relaxed, right down to the odd “deliberate mistake”. He had all the regular touchstones in place, the shout-out to John that preceded Here Today, and George’s ukulele anecdote ahead of Something, but also a Fireman tune and a lovely new ballad dedicated to Nancy. A Beatles-heavy set-list, for sure, but what else would you have him do? The band were joined in an encore by Ronnie Wood, Paul Weller and Roger Daltrey on a rockin’ Get Back. A truly Fab night.

Reviewed by Danny Neill
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