Paul McCartney live: Cavern Club, Liverpool

Thursday 26 July 2018 Live, Paul McCartney No Comments

Paul McCartney got back to where he once belonged, with a special concert at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

Around 250 lucky people saw the performance by McCartney and his band – guitarists and Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson, keyboard player Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens, and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.

McCartney had announced the show during a Facebook live Q&A at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, where he took part in an onstage conversation with former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker.

We are playing at the Echo Arena in December but we also have tomorrow. We have a little secret gig somewhere in Liverpool – I’m not kidding you Jarvis.
Paul McCartney

A news item on McCartney’s website confirmed that the concert would take place from 2pm, with free tickets available from 10am at the Echo Arena box office.

Paul McCartney will play at The Cavern today at 2pm. Space is EXTREMELY limited. Tickets will be made available for free from the Echo Arena Box Office from 10am this morning on a first come, first served basis. Tickets are strictly limited to one per-person and photo ID will need to be shown at the Box Office. Lucky fans will be issued with a wristband and a personalised printed ticket.

For entrance into The Cavern you will need photo ID, the wristband and personalised ticket. Tickets are non-transferable and void if transferred. No tickets will be available from The Cavern.

The queue for entrance into The Cavern will open at 12 noon. Doors scheduled to open at 1PM. All times are approximate and subject to change.

No under 16s allowed.

McCartney and the band began with a jam, before playing Eddie Cochran’s ‘Twenty Flight Rock’, the song McCartney played to impress John Lennon the first time they met, on 6 July 1957.

Also performed were the Quarrymen’s first recorded song, In Spite Of All The Danger, and The Beatles’ first EMI single Love Me Do.

The show was being professionally filmed. McCartney stopped the show at one point to tell people to turn off their phones: “You’ve all been told not to take photos. You’re taking them, and you’re taking them, and it’s putting me off! So, you know, play by the rules, man!”

After finishing the song, he explained further: “The phone thing – I went to a Prince concert and he really was serious about that, he wouldn’t start, you know. Put ‘em down! You know what I’m saying?”

Following a performance of Magical Mystery Tour, McCartney told the crowd: “All those years ago we came here and played and we didn’t know if we had any future. We did OK. Coming back here with all my guys and all my crew and stuff, it’s pretty amazing for me.”

McCartney also performed some new songs from his forthcoming album Egypt Station. In addition to recent single Come On To Me, he played Who Cares, Fuh You, and Confidante, which he explained was written about his guitar.

When I was a kid I’d be playing that guitar all the time. But I hadn’t done it for a while. It was there looking a bit forlorn. It used to be my confidante, my under-the-staircase friend. I had other friends!
Paul McCartney

McCartney previously returned to Liverpool in June 2018, when he filmed an episode of Carpool Karaoke with James Corden, and performed a secret gig at the city’s Philharmonic pub.

The former Beatle had played solo shows at the Cavern twice before, on 14 December 1999 and 30 May 2003. His Freshen Up tour will arrive at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on 12 December 2018.

The Beatles played nearly 300 times at the original Cavern Club, at 10 Mathew Street, Liverpool. The club closed in 1973, but reopened at 7 Mathew Street shortly afterwards.

Concert setlist

Last updated: 21 June 2022
Paul McCartney live: Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, Liverpool
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