22 December 2009: Paul McCartney live at The O2, London

Paul McCartney performed at the O2 Arena in London, England, on 9 December 2009.

It was the final show of the Good Evening Europe Tour, which lasted for eight dates in December 2009. This show was seen by 17,700 fans, and took place 46 years to the day since McCartney played the first Beatles Christmas gig at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.

McCartney’s only UK concert of 2009 began with ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ and ended with, fittingly, ‘The End’. In between he performed solo hits, Wings songs, ‘Sing The Changes’ from the recent Fireman album Electric Arguments, and a number of Beatles favourites.

McCartney paid tribute to his late wife Linda, and his former bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison.

This was McCartney’s only UK show of his Good Evening Europe tour, which also took in Hamburg, Berlin, Arnhem, Paris, Cologne and Dublin. All 23,000 tickets for the London show sold out in advance.

Celebrities on the guest list for the London show are said to have included Ringo Starr, Madonna, Gary Barlow, Noel Gallagher, Chris Martin, Kate Moss, and David and Victoria Beckham.

During his performance of ‘Live And Let Die’, McCartney jokingly clutched his heart as fireworks and flames were shot upwards from the stage. He also strummed part of George Formby’s ‘Leaning On A Lamp-post’ on a ukulele before launching into Harrison’s ‘Something’.

McCartney’s final concert before Christmas included the 1979 hit ‘Wonderful Christmastime’, for which the pit was filled with people wearing Santa hats and carrying candles. At the end of the concert fake snow cascaded from the venue roof as the audience left the O2.

The songs were mostly the same as those performed througout McCartney’s 2009 US and European tours, with the exception of ‘Mull Of Kintyre’, for which the band was joined onstage by 18 bagpipers wearing traditional Scottish costumes.

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).

McCartney returned to the O2 Arena on 5 December 2011 for the On The Run Tour; 23 and 24 May 2015 for the Out There Tour; 16 December 2018 for the Freshen Up Tour; and 18 and 19 December 2024 for the Got Back Tour.