The British Paul McCartney dazzled this Monday, December 9, at the age of 82, in the first of his two concerts at the Wizink Center (Palacio de Deportes) in Madrid, where he staged the final bars of the ‘Got Back’ tour.
The artist from Liverpool has led an almost three-hour review of his personal career, the band Wings that he formed with his wife Linda and, most especially, the repertoire of the legendary Beatles.
Almost 60 years had passed since the first concert of the legendary British band in the Las Ventas bullring and another 8 years since McCartney’s last concert in the now defunct Vicente Calderón stadium when at 9:15 p.m. the lights of the Wizink They went out to the illusion of a packed venue, with more than 17,000 attendees.
Thus, and with the visual prelude of McCartney’s bass on the screens with a spaceship touch, began a journey through songs like ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and the powerful ‘Letting Go’.
Accompanied by his band, consisting of Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens on keyboards, Brian Ray on bass and guitar, Rusty Anderson on guitar and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, as well as the horn band Hot City Horns, McCartney He greeted the local audience: “Hello Spain, good evening Madrid; I’m very happy to be here again… Yeah!”
“Tonight I’m going to try to speak a little (sic) of Spanish,” he remarked before giving way to ‘Drive My Car’ with the bass in hand, although throughout the concert the electric and acoustic guitars passed through his hands. , the piano, the mandolin and the ukulele; while at no time did the agility in his hands and the strength in his vocal cords falter.
“I have the feeling that we are going to have a good time,” the Briton said smiling, playing songs like ‘Got to Get You Into my Life’ and ‘Come On To Me’, while images of the four Beatles in the 60s flashed by.
After that energetic start, McCartney took off his jacket to the joy of the audience and their whistles, which motivated the artist’s traditional British irony: “It’s the only costume change there will be,” he mockingly warned.
The concert then moved to a more emotional level, full of tributes and memories; first a guitar solo in memory of Jimi Hendrix on ‘Fox Lady’ and then a moving piano performance of ‘Let ‘Em In.”
“I wrote this song for my beautiful wife, Nancy; she’s here with us tonight,” he said emotionally before playing ‘My Valentine’ and ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face.’
“Now we’re going to travel back in time to Liverpool,” McCartney said to nail ‘In Spite of All Danger’, the first song recorded by the Beatles.
In that memory line, the Brit, rising on a platform, played songs like ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Here Today’: “I wrote this song for my great friend John [Lennon]”, he noted about the latter, alone on stage, with the acoustic guitar under his arm.
THE BEATLES, ALWAYS PRESENT
The Beatles, ever present at the ceremony, reappeared on screen – even with Images generated by Artificial Intelligence – with songs like ‘Now And Then’, ‘Lady Madonna’ or ‘Something’, at which time George was evoked. Harrison.
The concert gained traction in its last third thanks to ‘Band On The Run’, ‘Let It Be’ and the exciting ‘Hey Jude’, by far the song that generated the most enthusiasm among a largely mature audience but in which also Profiles of all ages appeared.
The culmination was accompanied by pyrotechnics to the rhythm of songs like ‘I’ve Got a Feeling’, ‘Carry That Weight’ and ‘The End’. McCartney will return to the stage in Madrid tomorrow and will only have four concerts left – two in Manchester and two in London – to close his tour.