Paul McCartney - Good Evening New York City

Get back to where you once belonged

The Beatles’ gig at New York’s Shea Stadium in 1965 has long been an iconic part of their live legacy, not so much for the quality of the performance but for its sheer scale in terms of audience. Such events are commonplace today, though there’s an inevitable frisson in having McCartney return to the site 44 years later.

Rebuilt and renamed Citi Field, after its banking paymasters, there’s little to distinguish it from any other sporting mecca that doubles as a concert venue, but Macca teasingly turns back the clock in this engrossing film. His rendition of I’m Down is intercut with footage from the Fabs playing the same song at Shea, just one of several Beatles classics given a fresh lick of paint.

In all honesty, the band and performances are workmanlike, but the evocative nature of the material makes for something special. Lennon is remembered in a medley of A Day In The Life and Give Peace A Chance, Harrison in Something (complete with ukulele intro), while Wings favourites and later solo gems also attest to McCartney’s long-standing skill as a live entertainer, even if future creative peaks seem unlikely.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

Hear Music | HRM 31857 (DVD+2-CD)

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
<< Back to Issue 373

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk