The former Beatle returned to Manchester for the first time in more than a decade
I raise you Paul McCartney blasting out Wonderful Christmastime backed by a children’s choir and brass section dressed as elves, while fake snow plummets from the ceiling of the Co-op Live arena.
John Lennon makes several appearances, the first of which is an emotional performance of Here Today, written in tribute to his former bandmate following his death in 1980. McCartney tells the crowd: “It was difficult to say to your mate ‘hey, I love you man’. It didn’t go down well. So after John died, I just wrote this song and I just thought what the hell?”
But it is a rendition of Something, started on a battered ukulele gifted to McCartney by the late George Harrison, which provides the emotional centrepiece of the evening. Pictures of Harrison appear behind the band as the song builds slowly. And as it ends, McCartney turns to look at images of his friend before saying: “Thank you George, that’s a very cool song.”
It feels almost outrageous to think the third song of the evening, Letting Go, flopped when it was released in 1975. Here it stands strong next to the finest classics from McCartney’s post-fab four oeuvre. Likewise, Jet also sounds far more current than you’d reasonably expect from a song released over 50 years ago.
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