Sir Paul McCartney MBE - Live in Liverpool.

As promised, I'm going to try and keep this blog updated more oftenm and that starts... now!  


So, back to normal after the Christmas and New Year so a quick update on what happened in the run up to Christmas..

The Works Christmas Night out on Friday 16^th December was cut short as I was informed of the death of my friend Cameron McNair.  You couldn't really have fun after that, so I left the party and headed home.  Cammy and I used to attend Quo gigs together including the gig at Middlesborough (Father P's first Status Quo gig) and the famous “4 nights in a Row – Carlisle, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen back in 1999).  His funeral was held on Wednesday 29^th December.  It'd the first time that I've been to a funeral where at the end of the service, Status Quo's "Rocking All Over The World" has been played as the congregation filtered out.

Saturday 17^th December saw myself and Miss Carlan heading down to Newcastle to see Father Pertus and Sister Agnes to share an early Christmas with them.  It was nice to see them both and I think that everyone had a good couple of days.  Christmas Dinner (on this occasion) was lobster - nice.

We left Newcastle in the early afternoon of Monday 19^th December and headed down to Liverpool.  The roads were busy (and very wet) but we made good time arriving in Liverpool at about 5:00pm.  We also managed to avoid a couple of crashes that happened on the road down so if we'd left any later, we eould have been caught in the traffic jams.  I realised about half way down that this is the furthest that I’ve ever driven before, but I managed okay – as did my wee car.

Arriving in Liverpool, our hotel was right across a pedestrian precinct from the venue (The Echo Arena) and our bedroom was situated on the 6th Floor, so that the view from the only window included the Liverpool Wheel, the Albert Dock and the Liver Building in the distance.  How lucky were we?  A quiet tea in a local PizzaExpress was followed by a walk around the Albert Dock before we retreated from the cold into a local hostelry called The Pump House (http://www.albertdock.com/the-pump-house) where we discovered Jack and Ginger (Single Barrel Jack Daniel's and Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer).

The next day was gig day and a trip to The Beatles Story exhibition (http://www.beatlesstory.com)  started things off nicely.  It took us about 90 minutes to get round it and we escaped the shop without buying anything at all!  After this, a nice leisurely walk round Liverpool One (only 10 minutes walk from the hotel) and the Matthew Street area of the city centre including a few beers in The (famous) Grapes Bar (http://www.mathew.st/venues.php?VenueName=The+Grapes) before returning to the Hotel for a glass of wine and some food before the gig.  Because the venue was so close we opted for drinks in the room as opposed to fighting for drinks at the bar downstairs!

At 7:15pm and we headed across to the arena only to be told that “McCartney’s people” wouldn’t let anyone into the venue as the band were still sound checking so after a 15 minute wait in the rain we were finally allowed in.  A quick queue for a t-shirt and a couple of beers and we headed to our seats.  Lovely helpful staff made sure we got seated in plenty of time before the show started – nothing like the rather ubrupt staff you get at the SECC in Glasgow - and we caught the DJ spinning discs before a video montage of Paul's life was played.  Slightly later that planned, however, the lights went down and the show began - and what a show it was.  Over 3 hours of tunes from The Beatles, Wings and McCartney solo back catalogue with McCartney frequently making jokes and telling stories of being back “home”.  Fabulous entertainment and certainly worth making the effort to go and see him.  The set list was as follows:

Hello, Goodbye  
Junior's Farm (played for the first time in Liverpool)
All My Loving
Jet
Drive My Car
Sing the Changes
The Night Before (played for the first time in Liverpool)
Let Me Roll It (with Foxy Lady Snippet)
Paperback Writer
The Long and Winding Road
Come and Get It (played for the first time in Liverpool)
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
Maybe I'm Amazed
I've Just Seen a Face
I Will
Blackbird
Here Today
Dance Tonight
Mrs. Vandebilt
Eleanor Rigby
Ram On (played for the first time in Liverpool)
Something
Penny Lane
Band on the Run
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Back in the U.S.S.R.
I've Got a Feeling
A Day in the Life / Give Peace A Chance
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

Encore:
The Word / All You Need Is Love (The Word played for the first time in Liverpool)
Wonderful Christmastime (with a girls choir from LIPA)
Day Tripper
Get Back

Encore 2:
Yesterday
Mull of Kintyre (with Pipe Band)
Helter Skelter
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End
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