Big success for McCartney in Stockholm

Paul McCartney in Stockholm July 9, 2015. Photo: Sigurd Huckle/Radio Dupree.

Sir Paul's concert in Stockholm, Sweden on July 9 was nothing but a success. It lasted for 2 hours and 45 minutes and featured 40 (!) songs from his long career. 
The song selection was great, mostly Beatles songs of course but also some fine songs from his post Beatles carreer.

Paul was in top shape and moved around the stage so easy that one had to wonder if he he really is 73 years old.
The band was top notch and played really heavy on some songs.

Some of the highlights were Blackbird (Paul solo), Live And Let Die, Birthday, and from the final encore; Helter Skelter (very heavy!) and the Abbey Road finale Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End.
Epic, Sir Paul!

One of the surprises this night was when the band segwayed into Jimi Hendrix Foxy Lady at the end of Let Me Roll It. No vocals on Foxy Lady but here Paul showcased his abilities on the electric guitar. Paul took the chance to tell one of those nice little stories, this time about Hendrix playing gigs in the UK in the 60's and that he used his whammy bar so much that the strings got out of tune. Before the next song Jimi tried to get in contact with Paul in the audience and ask him to send up Eric Clapton to tune the guitar. But Clapton just smiled and shook his head and said something like: "You tune that guitar yourself." Jimi could surely have used a Floyd Rose.

Paul McCartney changed instruments a lot during the evening. Started off with the old Höfner bass and then he used severeal different electric and acoustic guitars.
Paul commented the many changes of instruments something like this:
"You may wonder why all these changes of guitars. But we want to let you know that we have them and we want to show off."
Half way through the show he told the story of the song Blackbird, that it is sort of a civil rights movement song. The lads had noticed how afro-americans were treated in the US south:
"We wanted to encourage them."
A funny story came at the end of the show around the song Back In The USSR. Paul told the audience about when Wings was the first rock group to play on the Red Square in Moscow (in 2003). There were many officials/hotshots around to see them and the Russian defense minister was one of them. He came up to Paul: "Hey Paul, you know the first record I bought was Love Me Do."

The songs performed in Tele2 Arena, Stockholm on July 9, 2015:
Eight days a week
Save us
Got to get you into my life
One after 909
Temporary secretary
Let me roll it (plus Foxy Lady)
Paperback writer
My Valentine
Nineteen hundred and eighty-five
The long and winding road
Maybe I'm amazed
I've Just seen a face
We can work it out
Another day
Hope for the future
And I love her
Blackbird
Here today
New
Queenie eye
Lady Madonna
All together now
Lovely Rita
Eleanor Rigby
Being for the benefit of Mr Kite!
Something
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Band on the run
Back in the USSR
Let it be
Live and let die
Hey Jude

Encore I:
Another girl
Birthday
Can't buy me love

Encore II:
Yesterday
Helter skelter
Golden slumbers
Carry that weight
The end

--S.H.