LONDON, Dec 20 — Paul McCartney welcomed his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr to the stage last night while playing to a packed crowd at London’s O2 Arena, reported PA Media/dpa news agency.
Arriving on stage, Starr said: “I’ve had a great night tonight, it’s been a great show.”
The pair then tore through Helter Skelter and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, before The Beatles’ drummer left, adding: “I’m off now, I’ve had a great night and I love you all.”
McCartney was also joined by Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood for the song Get Back, during which he played his original Hofner 500/1 bass for the first time in 50 years, after it was stolen in 1972.
Starr and McCartney have reunited a number of times since leaving The Beatles, including on McCartney’s 2019 Freshen Up tour, and at Starr’s 2015 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction.
The performance was the last in McCartney’s Got Back Tour, which began in October, with the veteran singer playing dates in Paris, Madrid and Sao Paulo, as well as two dates at Manchester’s Co-Op Live and The O2.
During the show, he treated fans to a jumbo set packed with the hits of The Beatles and Wings, and more.
Opening with a raucous rendition of the Fab Four’s A Hard Day’s Night, the 82-year-old kept up his tradition of having no opening act, performing just under 40 tracks from one of the most impressive songbooks the United Kingdom has produced.
At the start of the night, McCartney told the crowd: “Oh London, this is the last night of our current tour, we’ve been around South America and all over the place.
“So it’s great to be back and we’re going to have some fun tonight.”
The audience was thrown into Wings’ prog rock song Junior’s Farm and the bluesy grind of Letting Go, before McCartney prompted hysteria with Drive My Car.
Later in the set, the singer played a snippet of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Foxy Lady and took to a second elevating stage to perform The Beatles’ Blackbird and solo track Here Today.
After playing the Hendrix snippet, McCartney said: “I was lucky enough to know him a bit in the 60s and he was a great guy, a great guitar player but a very humble person.”
He also played The Quarrymen’s (McCartney’s first band which he played in alongside John Lennon and George Harrison) In Spite Of All The Danger, before performing what is thought will be The Beatles’ last single in 2023’s Now And Then.
The set also saw him repeat his virtual duet with John Lennon on I’ve Got A Feeling, played during the Liverpool band’s infamous rooftop concert on top of Apple Corps’ headquarters in London.
Other set highlights included McCartney’s attempt at Sweet-esque glam in Jet and a euphoric rendition of Wings’ James Bond theme Live And Let Die, which prompted fireworks and pyrotechnics, replicating the film’s opening title.
McCartney was also joined by a children’s choir for Wonderful Christmastime, adding some festive cheer to the evening. — Bernama-PA Media/dpa
