Live And Let Die


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Published: June 11th 2004
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Nya Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden. Largest arena in the country. The arena that back in 1985 literally caved for Bruce Springsteen. The crowd back then got excited and carried away to the extent that they rocked the foundation of the building until it cracked. No injuries or such, but they decided to close the arena for concerts. Nowadays it’s improved and enhanced, and again open for big concerts. Paul McCartney puts on one of those big shows that requires a stadium of this size.

The arena is not completely filled despite the big name and a beautiful summer day, but still around 40,000 people have decided to come see the ex-Beatle perform. Three hours after the announced starting time of the concert Paul enters the stage. Performs some of his known songs, some less known songs. Even one of the most famous artists and song writers of our time has a few songs that are less known to the wide public. Regardless of the titles though, it is obvious that the man enjoys performing, the attention as well as the interaction with the audience. Even 35 years after the split-up of the Beatles, the songs live on. Sadly enough, two of the four Beatles do not. So, about halfway through the show, Paul announces before “The long and winding road” that “this one is for John”. The audience goes wild. The following song he dedicates to George. Ringo, who’s still around, has to settle with a few tunes from “Yellow Submarine”. If one should be critical, it’s a bit sad that Paul uses John to get the show started. He wouldn’t have to, the music speaks for itself. But, the crowd loved John, and the gesture of honoring an old friend with a song at a concert is quite harmless. Crowd pleasers such as “Yesterday” and “Let It Be” are obligatory - write songs like those and you can’t possibly fail to please the crowd. The highlight of the show is however from the post-Beatle era. “Do you like fire?” one of the band members asks. A bit strange to associate Paul with fire, but sure…A rather impressive fire show kicks off around the piano on the stage. The fire dies out and is replaced with the opening tunes to “Live And Let Die”. With a great deal of enthusiasm, Paul performs. Originally the theme song to the James Bond movie with the same name, but it is quite obvious that this is more than a soundtrack. The show goes on for some two hours, and is rounded off with the ultimate sing-along song. A song that everyone in the western word have heard. Most probably don’t know the lyrics, and even fewer know what the song is about. But, everyone can hum “laa laa laa lalala laaaaaaa lalala laaaa”. Wave your arms and sing a few “Hey Jude” for as long as you want. The Rolls Royce of crowd songs. Paul McCartney is very much alive, and he’s not going to let (the music) die.

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