Wings live: York University

The second date of Wings’ first tour was at the University of York, England, on 10 February 1972.

Wings had initially intended to perform at Leeds University on this day. However, media attention following their debut concert in Nottingham led Paul McCartney to cancel the plans and head to York instead.

The band arrived six hours before stage time. Unable to play at the student union’s theatre, the show took place in the dining hall of the university’s Goodricke College. Five hundred and fifty students attended the gig, with a further 400 listening outside.

Looking back, I don’t believe we did that. In the van we had the band, the dogs, the kids, it was madness. But we had fun times, and we did learn new stuff. It really was like I’d never been in the Beatles, couldn’t rely on any of that fame as a crutch.

We went up to these universities, and of course fate had it that a lot of them were having exams. We didn’t ring them up, and we forgot to ask if they’d be ready for us. But we found a couple. Nottingham, Lancaster, Newcastle City Hall, Durham. When we did find ’em it was cool. The students had a good time.

• ‘Lucille’
• ‘Give Ireland Back to the Irish’
• ‘Blue Moon Of Kentucky’
• ‘Seaside Woman’
• ‘Help Me Darling’
• ‘Some People Never Know’
• ‘The Mess’
• ‘Bip Bop’
• ‘Say, Darling’
• ‘Smile Away’
• ‘My Love’
• ‘Henry’s Blues’
• ‘Wild Life’
• ‘Long Tall Sally’

The Wings University Tour took place in the UK over eleven days in February 1972, and visited Nottingham (9 February), York (10), Hull (11), Newcastle upon Tyne (13), Lancaster (14), Leeds (16), Sheffield (17), Salford (18), Birmingham (21), Swansea (22), and Oxford (23).