Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 14 December 1979
Come 1979 Wings were just mega popular. The single “Mull of Kintyre” had been a massive hit in the UK, giving Paul and Co the 1977 Christmas number one, and it was the first single to sell over two million copies in the UK. In 1979, Wings began a 19-date concert tour of the UK to promote their newest album, “Back to the Egg”. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall on 14 December 1979. Demand for the concerts was huge, with fans camping outside venues across the country to secure a ticket. My mate Dave and I were seeing Abba the night before tickets went on sale, and drove straight back from that gig to the City Hall where Dave joined the queue in the middle of the night to score tickets. The UK tour was originally planned to have been the first leg of a world tour, with stops in Japan, Europe, and America. 
However, it was actually Wings’ concert tour after McCartney was arrested for possessing marijuana in Tokyo. Wings’ lineup for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, and new comers Laurence Juber, and Steve Holley. The set list once again comprised a mix of Wings, McCartney and Beatles classics, although there were not quite as many Beatles songs this time. Stand-outs for me were opener “Got to Get You into My Life” and the just beautiful “Fool on the Hill”. It was close to Christmas and they of course played “Wonderful Christmastime” and “Mull of Kintyre”. Happy days. Setlist: Got to Get You into My Life; Getting Closer; Every Night; Again and Again and Again; I’ve Had Enough; No Words; Cook of the House; Old Siam, Sir; Maybe I’m Amazed; The Fool on the Hill; Hot as Sun / Glasses; Spin It On; Twenty Flight Rock; Go Now; Arrow Through Me; Coming Up; Goodnight Tonight; Wonderful Christmastime; Yesterday; Mull of Kintyre; Band on the Run.
Archive for the ‘Wings’ Category
30 Nov
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 14 December 1979
29 Nov
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 16 September 1975
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 16 September 1975
Two years after their last visit to the City Hall, and Paul McCartney and Wings were back to promote their new album “Venus and Mars”. Wings’ lineup for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney, Joe English (drums), Denny Laine (vocals and guitar), and Jimmy McCulloch (vocals and guitar). They were joined for the tour by a brass and woodwind section. This time the set was much longer, and for the first time included five Beatles songs: “Lady Madonna”, “The Long and Winding Road”, “I’ve Just Seen a Face”, “Blackbird”, and “Yesterday”. Great! Denny Laine sang the Moody’s “Go Now” and Jimmy McCulloch sang “Medicine Jar”; a song that he contributed to “Venus and Mars”. I’d seen Jimmy previously with John Mayall, Stone the Crows and fronting his own band, but he still looked so unbelievably young. And so lucky to land a job with Paul McCartney. I was totally knocked out by “I’ve Just Seen a Face” which was performed acoustically. It remains one of my favourite songs from “Help” and it was sooo good to see Paul perform it that night. 
The set was a perfect mix of Beatles classics and new Wings songs. Probably one of the best times I’ve seen Paul McCartney, and it was particularly so because it was the first time that I’d seen him perform classic Beatle tunes (and complete with his violin bass). The tour was a massive success, taking Paul, Linda and the guys to Europe, the USA and Australia (and hence dubbed the “Wings around the World” tour). It returned to the UK and closed in London in 1976 (Wings over Wembley).
Just saw my mate Norm and he reminded me that Linda McCartney was giving out flowers (he thinks they were carnations) to fans down at the front of the stage. Norm was lucky and close enough to be given a few by Linda. He pressed them and kept them for some years, but they sadly disintegrated some years ago.
Setlist: Venus and Mars; Rock Show; Jet; Let Me Roll It; Spirits of Ancient Egypt; Little Woman Love; C Moon; Maybe I’m Amazed; Lady Madonna; The Long and Winding Road; Live and Let Die; Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me); Richard Cory; Bluebird; I’ve Just Seen a Face; Blackbird; Yesterday; You Gave Me the Answer; Magneto and Titanium Man; Go Now; Call Me Back Again; My Love; Listen to What the Man Said; Letting Go; Junior’s Farm; Medicine Jar; Band on the Run; Hi, Hi, Hi; Soily
28 Nov
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 10th July 1973
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 10th July 1973
My one big concert-going regret is never seeing the Beatles. I was just too young to have seen them in concert, being only 9 when they last toured the UK. So when Paul McCartney started to tour again, with his band Wings, I was determined to see him. However; I also missed the first time Wings played in the north east, which was a “secret” last minute gig at Newcastle University, McCartney and co simply turning up in a van and asking to play. A remember a girl at school coming in and telling me that her brother had seen Paul McCartney the night before (he was a student at Newcastle University), and at first not believing her. Anyway my first real opportunity to see McCartney in concert was on Wings 1973 concert tour which called at Newcastle City Hall on 10th July 1973. The tour was to promote the band’s new album “Red Rose Speedway” and the single “Live and Let Die” from the James Bond film of the same name. Wings’ lineup at the time was Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine (ex Moody Blues; guitar and vocal), Henry McCullough (ex Grease Band; guitar), and Denny Seiwell (drums). The support group for the tour was the excellent Brinsley Schwarz who Paul and Linda asked to accompany them after seeing the Brinsleys perform at the London Hard Rock Cafe a few weeks previously. I hadn’t managed to get tickets for the show which had of course sold out immediately, but wasn’t going to let that stop me. So I went along to the City Hall on the night to try and score a ticket outside. After wandering around outside the venue for some time without having any luck and still being ticketless, a shifty looking guy came up to me and asked me if I needed a ticket for the show. I explained that I did, and he offered to get me into the venue if I paid him a few pounds. I don’t remember exactly how much he charged me but it wasn’t too expensive, not much more than face value. 
I gave him the money and he walked to the door of the City Hall with me, placing his hand on my shoulder. The doormen obviously had “an arrangement” with this guy and let me pass through. I’d been told that once inside I was on my own, ticketless, but that if I stood at the back of the hall I would be ok; which, indeed, I was. So I was in 🙂 !. Hence I do not have a ticket stub for this gig, but I do have the programme and a flyer promoting “Red Rose Speedway”, both of which reassure me that my memory is not playing tricks with me on this occasion. Wings set that night was quite short in comparison to later gigs I saw, and just seemed to fly over. I stood at the back of the City Hall almost not believing that I was actually seeing Paul McCartney in concert. The set was a mixture of Wings and McCartney songs and a couple of Denny Laine tracks. Stand-outs for me were Maybe I’m Amazed, Live and Let Die and Hi Hi Hi. I was surprised that they played the Moody’s “Go Now”, which was just great to hear. They also played Denny’s song “Say You Don’t Mind” which had been a hit in 1972 for Colin Blunstone. The closest that we got to a Beatles song was the encore, which was Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”, which Paul used to play with the fab four. A great concert, and I was buzzing and on a high for days afterwards. Setlist: Soily; Big Barn Bed; When the Night; Seaside Woman; Wild Life; Little Woman Love; C Moon; Maybe I’m Amazed; My Love; Live and Let Die; Go Now; Say You Don’t Mind; The Mess; Hi, Hi, Hi. Encore: Long Tall Sally. Paul quote from the programme” “Performing hasn’t changed any since I last went out. It’s just a different band and different material. It could never change. Performing is performing. It’s still just you singing a song….”
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