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Paul McCartney Delivers Emotional Performance at Coachella

At Coachella on Friday night, Paul McCartney honored those that have passed, and, in his own way, made them very much alive, in an unusually emotional performance. It was the 11th anniversary of the death of his wife Linda. "But she loved the desert, she loved music," said McCartney, who performed a two-and-a-half hour set containing many Beatles tunes in a charged performance that was as poignant as it was celebratory. In addition to giving shout-outs to his late ex-Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison, Sir Paul also prefaced 'Blackbird' by explaining that it was written in the 1960's as a response to the civil rights movement. "Now you've got President Obama," he said proudly. "We've come a long way."

Macca performed songs from throughout his music career including hits from his "other" band Wings, as well as newer ones from his electronica-tinged "alter-ego" Fireman. But it was his generous dip into the Beatles canon, which included 'Eleanor Rigby,' 'A Day in the Life,' 'Give Peace a Chance,' 'Back in the USSR,' 'Paperback Writer,' 'Can't Buy Me Love,' 'Get Back,' 'Hey Jude' and 'Let It Be' that kept the crowd hanging on till the final notes.



"It's an emotional day for me," said Macca. "And that's OK. That's good." He dedicated 'Something' to Harrison's widow, Olivia (who was at the show), beginning it on a ukulele that was given to him by George. And by george, he didn't stop there. For the start of his second encore, McCartney took to the stage, solo with an acoustic guitar, for a version of 'Yesterday' that was particularly moving given the anniversary of Linda's passing. Wearing his emotion on his sleeve wasn't all mournful, however -- McCartney threw himself into turning it into a celebration, often joking with the crowd and very obviously enjoying himself.

As he left the stage before the encore, he leaned down towards the audience to give his guitar pick to someone who had brought a sign asking for it. Earlier in the show, he joked that the many audience-made signs distracted him from remembering lyrics as he tried to read them while singing. Reading the one that asked for his pick, McCartney quipped, "No, it's mine." Guess he changed his mind.

In a testament to the enormity of each Beatles song, almost every one seemed like it could be the climactic show closer. Hours later, a medley that kicked off with 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)' became the actual punctuation mark. At the very beginning of the night, McCartney promised to "rock the roof off tonight." If by "roof" he meant "desert sky," then OK, Macca -- we're with you.

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ringo

somehow, this is all george bush's fault..... once again....

January 30 2010 at 7:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ELVIS

Paul McCartney is a REAL star, not like some of these bozos in music today.

July 13 2009 at 7:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mark

Paul didn't necessarily imply that he thought Obama would be a good President, he just said that when he wrote "Blackbird", it was inspired by the civil rights movement that was going on and that we've come a long way since then because we now have President Obama. I wasn't too stoked to hear him say that since I don't care much for Obama (although, I most certainly didn't want McCain to win either), but he did make a good point in acknowledging the progress that Americans have made in regards to overcoming racial prejudice, and it surely didn't stop me from singing along.

love/peace

April 21 2009 at 3:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

Paul's an idiot if he thinks Obama is a good thing. Love his music, but politically, like so many other musicians, he has no clue. I wonder if Linda would've talked some sense into him, if she were still alive?

April 21 2009 at 2:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
hearthead2

For years, I considered the Paul McCartney and Wings (with Linda) concert the best I had ever seen. Then I discovered HIM, with Ville Valo. But that Wings concert from the seventies remains in my memory as one of the greatest shows ever.

April 21 2009 at 12:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John

First off, "Give Peace a Chance" was a Lennon solo track, not a Beatles song, but it's cool that he played it.

Since The Beatles stopped touring in 1966 and the way concerts were set up way back then, I don't think that anyone ever saw a 2 1/2 hour Beatles show. And with today's tech, they could actually perform the Sgt Pepper songs now.

Looks like he knows we still loved him when he was 64. And still.

April 21 2009 at 12:25 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ed

That's a touching & fitting tribute. Sir Paul's Linda was never given proper credit for the talent she possessed. Her background vocals were beautifully astounding as well as her light percussion work. Her background vocals turned ordinary songs into reverberating classics with "Uncle Albert" & "Silly Love Songs" as classic examples. It's hard to believe it has been 11 years since her premature unfortunate departure but her gifted touch contribution to pop music will live forever.

April 21 2009 at 12:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim Nightshade

Congrats to paul and all you lucky people that got to see him there at the festival...A desert setting must have been awesome! I have seen Paul 3 times, once at the KINGDOME in seattle in 90, Once at the Tacomadome in tacoma where I live, and once a few years ago at the Seattle Center Arena....I will remember each with joy and at the first one my entire family was there from my father 70s something at the time, to relatives that were 14....and we all loved the show...Rock On Paul...

So nice to Honor Lindas Memory as well as george and Johns too!

April 21 2009 at 12:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
goddessofdos

I was always a John Lennon fan. Now I appreciate Paul and I have become a fan of Ringo because Ringo is so self deprecating and funny. Paul and Ringo are alive for a reason. We need them.
I always wondered when Paul would dedicate some music to his late wife, Linda. She adored him. He must miss her. She was so pretty, too.

Swtlatinrose> Sounds like you don't know this, but
the reason he is called Sir Paul is because he was knighted by the Queen. That's how you attain the title of "sir", officially. Now you know. You're welcome.
John Lennon was killed way too young. I love modern music, but there is no doubt that the Beatles changed the face of music forever. Thank you. Paul, please keep giving us that talent that you have, please.......

April 20 2009 at 11:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Peter Nerenstone

I saw Sir Paul in concert in Washington D.C. in 1989 during his "Tripping the Live Fantastic" tour. He played R.F.K. statium and filled it up twice (55,000 plus people at each concert) To quote most of you, it was a dream come true for me too. I have been a "Beatles" fan since childhood in the 1960's. Paul's tour in 1989 was when he first started dipping very extensively into the Beatles catalogue and when he first started performing "Hey Jude" in concert. Also, I was lucky in that Linda, may she rest in peace, was still alive and still playing in the band so I got to hear and see her as well. I will never forget when Paul started into "Hey Jude". The audience roared with approval and at the same time 55,000 bic lighters lit up and then 55,000 people were swaying back and forth together arm in arm and singing every word of the song along with Sir Paul. It was an experience not to miss. Sir Paul played for 3 hours without a break and close to one hour of it was Beatles songs.

April 20 2009 at 11:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply