Paul McCartney
The Roundhouse, Camden
25th October, 2007

View: from the bar!

Part of the BBC’s Electric Proms, Macca’s appearance was by far the highlight of the week-long festival. The Roundhouse was packed to its Victorian rafters with 3,000 jolly promenaders and, with little or no fuss, rock god Paul McCartney strode onstage and opened proceedings with the psychedelic anthem Magical Mystery Tour. Backed by an orchestra, this should have been an ideal showcase for the man who unquestionably invented much of today’s pop music to flaunt his experimental side. Sadly, Paul stuck to his tried-and-tested formula: a handful of songs from his new album, a couple of Wings classics, and then the crowd-pleasers, mixing all-time-fave Fab album tracks such as Back In The USSR with some of the greatest singles ever released. Nobody seemed to be complaining about hearing Eleanor Rigby, Lady Madonna and Get Back for the umpteenth time. However, it would have been great to hear some of the more left-field music that McCartney has created down the years. An airing of Carnival Of Light, composed for a festival at this very venue 40 years ago, would have been too much too hope for though! Still, McCartney is one of the great live acts. A 20-something next to me declared it was the best concert he had ever attended – obviously he had never seen Macca live before.

Reviewed by Pete Nash
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