Live Review: Paul McCartney

We don't need to consult our tickets to confirm we're walking in the right direction since Macca fans have a particular look, favouring threads (especially leather jackets) that probably haven't seen the light of day since any of The Beatles last graced our shores and we follow the hype to AAMI Park. 

There's a bit of time to kill before Paul McCartney hits the stage, and the bars and merch stands do a roaring trade at this once-in-a-lifetime event. When The Beatle finally arrives on stage after a DJ pumps us up with a selection of the band's hits, the adoring masses totally lose their shit. McCartney sports a navy jacket with bright yellow daffodil pinned to the lapel and A Hard Day's Night elevates the stadium. It's emotional, especially for those who had tickets for McCartney's 2002 east coast dates, which were cancelled following the Bali bombings. We last clapped eyes on McCartney and his Rickenbacker back in 1993 and we're ready to get One On One with him on this tour. 

"G'day, Melbourne!" is how Macca greets us. Can't Buy Me Love is greeted with much enthusiastic singing within the crowd and the whoops that follow various audience members' favourite songs are deafening. Even though All My Loving sadly reminds of Johnny Young singing this song to close out Young Talent Time each week, we're thrilled to hear the gorgeous melody live and those pure intentions reflected in the lyrics fill us with nostalgia. A segment of Foxy Lady closes out Let Me Roll It, which McCartney acknowledges is a tribute to Jimi Hendrix who he tells us was "a lovely man, really humble guy". He then tells us that two days after The Beatles released Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Hendrix learned the song and opened his show with it. The way Hendrix played the song put his guitar wildly out of tune, McCartney tells, and he called out to see if Eric Clapton was in the audience (he was, but didn't wanna know about it). McCartney's warm personality shines through when he tells these captivating tales and we particularly love the way he overemphasises the 'g' in words such as "wrong" in typical Liverpudlian style. 

"This one here's for the Wings fans," McCartney says and a dude in the row behind us giggles, "Haha, Wings fans," before eyeing off those who get up for a dance as if he's judging them. McCartney introduces a new song, My Valentine, that he wrote for his wife Nancy, explaining that she's in the house tonight. Introducing Maybe I'm Amazed as the song he wrote for Linda, we all envy her for inspiring such a masterpiece. McCartney points out the little baby in his jacket that features in this song's video now has four kids of her own.

He then reveals pre-The Beatles band The Quarrymen comprised five band members who each put in a pound to record a five-pound demo. Hilariously, McCartney then explains John "Duff" Lowe held onto this demo for 20 years before selling it back to him at a profit. In Spite Of All The Danger follows and the crowd sing along voraciously with the "Oh-OH-Oh-Oh" bits. McCartney dedicates Love Me Do to the late Beatles producer George Martin, acknowledging that without him there would be no Beatles records and this song gets everyone back up on their feet thanks to that unhinged harmonica and raw appeal. McCartney reads out some signs such as "Your Music Lights Up My Life". A midfield fan holds up some Christmas paper with something scrawled on it with black marker that we can't even read at close range. Do they really think Macca could read it? 

We swoon along with And I Love Her. McCartney performs Blackbird solo, a song he wrote to give hope to those going through tough times, while he's lifted up into the sky on a hydraulic platform so that fans in the back stalls score a golden photo opportunity. McCartney encourages us to tell people how much we appreciate them while they are still around before performing Here Today, which he tells us is a conversation he wishes he'd had with his mate John Lennon. After telling us they can tell which songs we like, because the arena lights up with smartphones, McCartney adds, "When we do a new song, it's like a black hole," adding they don't care and will "do 'em anyway" - it's a three-hour set after all! Kate Moss is resplendent on the giant screens in the video for Queenie Eye. 

The cheeky brass blasts during Lady Madonna lures out all our daggy dance moves. It's a smart move putting lyrics up on the screens, karaoke-style, so we can sing along with FourFiveSeconds. Eleanor Rigby is sublime: "Aaah, look at ALL the lonely people." Those strings break our hearts. McCartney then gets all the ladies to replicate a "Beatles scream". His between-song banter stories are awesome! We're taken back to Charing Cross Road where McCartney and Lennon were window shopping for guitars before sharing a taxi with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and then offering The Rolling Stones a song they wrote, I Wanna Be Your Man, which became The Stones' first UK number one.

McCartney asks us to give it up for the late George Harrison who he praises as a master ukulele player before launching into a jaunty version of Something. A Day In The Life (with Give Peace A Chance outro) is suitably epic and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da has gotta be one of the most fun songs to sing ever. Macca points out The Beatles were the first band to perform in the Red Square after performing Back In The USSR. Let It Be is a spiritual moment. Live And Let Die unleashes all of the spectacular fireworks and pyros, which detonate dramatically on the beat but smell like Satan's asshole - a wall of stank! And one should never underestimate the redemptive power of main-set closer Hey Jude! Especially the "na-na-na-na," singalong. 

The encore rolls out a slew of faves such as Yesterday, Helter Skelter, Mull Of Kintyre (complete with pipers) and Birthday. We leave delighted. Many dreams come true this evening as families unite to celebrate one of the all-time greats. We laugh, we cry and somehow feel there's still some hope left for our doomed planet.