2 December 2009: Paul McCartney live at Color Line Arena, Hamburg

Paul McCartney performed at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany, on 2 December 2009.

It was the first show of the Good Evening Europe Tour, which lasted for eight dates in December 2009.

Hamburg is the city in which everything changed for The Beatles: they became a rock ‘n’ roll powerhouse, lost their bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, discovered sex and drugs, and acquired their famous haircuts.

Not that such significance meant much to parts of the Hamburg audience, who booed and slow-handclapped McCartney. The show’s late start was due to McCartney having to attend a school play in London in which his daughter Beatrice was appearing.

McCartney was noticeably surprised by the reaction from elements of the crowd. But after a shaky start, the audience was soon won over with songs from the Beatles, Wings and solo eras.

“I’m so happy to be back in Hamburg where it all began 49 years ago,” the 67-year-old told the crowd in German.

From the rehearsals for the tour, here’s McCartney and his band performing ‘A Day In The Life’:

During the show McCartney acknowledged several old friends, including Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voormann, who were both in the audience. He was also reunited backstage with Horst Fascher, the former nightclub bouncer who befriended The Beatles during their first Hamburg trip in August 1960.

At the Color Line Arena, McCartney’s band played new song ‘(I Want To) Come Home’ for the first time. The song features on the Robert De Niro film Everybody’s Fine.

Other changes from the recent US tour included the omission of ‘I’m Down’ and ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, and the addition of opening song ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ and ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’.

McCartney’s band was Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens (vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion, harmonica), Brian Ray (vocals, guitar, bass), Rusty Anderson (vocals, guitar), and Abe Laboriel Jr (vocals, drums).