Being an old punk, I never thought the last gig I would be shooting before the end of 2018 would be that of music legend Sir Paul McCartney.
I was supposed to be attending The Angelic Upstarts gig in Paisley’s Bungalow but it was unexpectedly cancelled a few days ago. Imagine my delight when I received an email telling me that Paul McCartney’s people had given Renfrewshire News the green light to shoot McCartney’s FRESHEN UP tour at the Glasgow SSE Hydro. His legion of fans had waited years for him to return to Glasgow to play a show.
An old friend of mine, and one time guitarist for the band Fire Exit, Paul Thompson told me “McCartney’s shows are second to none and when I saw him at Hampden, it was the best gig I’d ever seen”.
Photo Credit: David Cameron / Renfrewshire News
With such high praise for the world renowned legend of rock I was feeling a mix of nerves and excitement as I stood beside the mixing desk, about 100 metres away from the stage waiting for the show to begin. Myself and the other photographers were only allowed access for the first two songs of the set before we had to leave to allow the man himself and his band to continue with the show.
We were behind a row of seats and when Paul came on stage we had to shoot through the waves of arms and mobile phones of the people in front.
McCartney announced the live UK dates back in July. He began the tour in Liverpool at the city’s Echo Arena on the 12th of December followed by the SSE Hydro in Glasgow. The next stop on his tour is The O2 Arena in London where even more of his adoring fans can see him in action.
Photo Credit: David Cameron / Renfrewshire News
The SSE Hydro, on the bank of the River Clyde, is a truly impressive purpose built music venue with a capacity of seating 12,000 people or a mix of 13,000 standing and seated. The 76-year-old Beatles legend had no problem filling the large venue and the tickets sold out seconds after going onsale. He still has what it takes to be a legend of rock who has never lost “it” over the many decades he has been in the music industry.
Yes, we all get older and start to look different meaning some people had to do a double take and questioned if it was him. However, our true character and what we stand for lives on in the things we do and in the people we inspire. McCartney embodies that. When he opened his mouth to sing the first note of A Hard Day’s Night there was no doubt this was him and here in Glasgow time stood still for all of us.
His track list consisted of a mixture of The Beatles hits, Wings classics and his solo material.
Tonight, I have been informed that The Angelic Upstarts will be playing The Bungalow on the 22nd of December. I will get to shoot them after all.
Happy Christmas, David