A single chord was enough to unleash euphoria. “Can’t buy me love” is the first phrase that Paul McCartney recited immediately afterwards, to confirm it. The WiZinink Center in Madrid has surrendered this Monday to the artist in the first of the two concerts he is going to give in the capital, and which will be the finishing touch to his tour Got Back –The second shift will be this Tuesday. The singer has chosen a song by The Beatles to open the show with which for two and a half hours he has invoked the legendary band, pop, rock and, above all, the history of music. And along the way, he has even dared to speak Spanish. “Hello Spain. Good evening Madrid. I am very happy to be here again. “Oh Yeah,” he said before singing. Letting Go.
McCartney, who has not played in Spain since 2016, has combined in his setlist songs from the group he formed with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr; along with those who have subsequently taken over his solo career, generating a balanced combo of nostalgia, shock and pure energy. The stage has been flanked by two vertical screens that have projected images of the singer and The Beatles before the show began, with the 15,600 fans present expectantly, after the corresponding hours of queuing to enter; in addition to the fifteen minute delay at the start – British punctuality was not respected. During the wait, some of the hits of the British group, as Twist and Shout –It’s a shame he didn’t perform it live later.
One of the most acclaimed songs of the first block of the concert has been Drive My Carwith which, if there was still someone left to stand up to dance, he has finished convincing them. “Tonight I’m going to try to speak a little bit of Spanish,” he insisted again. The public has faithfully followed his instructions on when to clap at his own pace and sing choruses like that of Come On To Me. And at 82 years old, and dressed in a suit – vest included – the artist has proven to be, in addition to being a source of talent, a source of charisma, from which he overflows. As the topics have progressed, the heat has taken its toll and, after ending up taking off his jacket to stay in his shirt sleeves, he joked: “This is the only wardrobe change you are going to see.” He has subsequently invoked Jimmy Hendrix with Let Me Roll Itbefore returning to the Beatle spirit with the song of optimism – and love – Getting Better.
The next thing was to take down the bass to sit in front of the piano to sing, along with his seven musicians, Let ‘Em In. In the background of the stage, the screen has been occupied by images of bands playing in the streets of different corners of the world, with posters in defense of respect, coexistence and love. At the piano he immediately sang My Valentine. “I wrote this song for my beautiful wife, Nancy. “She is here with us tonight,” he clarified before beginning. Its melody and voice have featured two other protagonists, Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp, who have interpreted part of the lyrics in sign language on screen.
After Maybe I’m AmazedMcCartney has abandoned the piano to pick up the guitar, Spanish in this case, and has taken the opportunity to join in with the fans’ chant, to the rhythm of “oe, oe, oe, oe” – as if it were a World Cup final. – to orchestrate the shouting. All this before invoking The Beatles again with the one closest to country I’ve Just Seen a Face.
Four boys from Liverpool
He show has become a well of nostalgia for McCartney himself, who before ceding the spotlight to In Spite Of All the Dangerexplained that the time had come to “travel back in time, to a small place in the north of England, called Liverpool.” “There were four kids there who wanted to record an album. “This is the first song that The Beatles recorded,” he added to applause before the first chords of the song transported Madrid directly to the sixties, and to the first steps of the group that would end up changing the history of rock. “After making that album, we went to London, to the Abbey Road studios,” he indicated to present Love Me Do. And, mandolin in hand, he continued with Dance Tonight to remind his fans what the purpose of the night was.
The scenery has changed in the most emotional block of the concert, with McCartney standing on top of a platform that has been raised about four meters, projecting a starry sky both at his feet and behind him. Thus, alone with his guitar, he has sung Blackbird and Here Todayhis particular tribute to his “great friend” John Lennon, ‘Juan’, as he translated before dedicating himself to the song.
Once again, together with the rest of the band, he has given way to Now and Thento which he has given his own chapter within the recital. The Briton has performed this song published at the end of 2023, which was based on a model of John Lennon that Yoko Ono had kept for decades until the AI that Peter Jackson used in the documentary The Beatles: Get Back allowed them to separate their tracks. After cleaning the voice of the demo, McCartney and Ringo Star recorded the rest of the instruments, to complete the composition with echoes to Eleanor Rigbyof this special ballad widely applauded in Madrid. “John, thank you for this song,” he thanked at the end.
The extensive list of instruments McCartney has played during his show has included a ukulele, but not just any one, the one given to him by George Harrison, the “brother” to whom he has dedicated something. The tribute to the late guitarist has paved the way for the most celebrated – and jumped – block on the venue’s dance floor, thanks to Obla Di Obla Da, Back On The Run and Get Back. Of course, the main course was yet to come, with the triplet Let It Be, Live and Let Die and Hey Jude. A climax to the sound of The Beatles that made you cry and dance in equal parts majestically. With the first, which at this point has been established as one of those chosen anthem-songs for many years, it has finished winning the hearts of those present. The second even included fireworks timed to the drum beats and, with the third, he finished confirming that if his concert deserves to have any surname, it would be ‘Unforgettable’.
But there was still more. After making the appropriate salute with the band and leaving the stage, he returned, with three flags: that of Spain, that of the United Kingdom and that of Pride. His conquest of Madrid, in the first of his two performances, has been finished with a final team, led byI’ve Got a Feeling. McCartney has warned that it was a “very special” topic for him. The reason: he was going to have the voice and image of John Lennon alongside him from the second verse. The finishing touch to an outstanding exercise in nostalgia for British training.
SGT Pepper Helter Skelter and Golden Slumbers have closed with rock as their flag and, after presenting what they have defined as “the best band on the planet”, the hit farewell has been The End. And with it, a goodbye – or see you later for the lucky fans who will repeat tomorrow – to an artist, now eternal.
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