Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The end is nigh for Paul McCartney’s Got Back tour. It began in 2022 in Spokane, Washington, which connoisseurs of sentimentality will know as the birthplace of Father’s Day. After a long and winding road that has taken in four continents and a headline appearance at the Glastonbury Festival, the last two of the tour’s 59 dates have brought Macca “back home”, in his words, to London’s O2 Arena. A sense of occasion gripped the venue for the first of the two nights. “The Long and Winding Road” did not feature, as it happens, but there was no cavilling about the scope of the setlist. It consisted of 36 songs, the oldest dating back to The Quarrymen’s skiffle in 1958, the most recent from 2018’s Egypt Station. He performed for two hours and 40 minutes, which followed an earlier soundcheck involving a 50-minute set of mostly different material. It is scarcely conceivable, but McCartney is 82. Will we see him mount a show on this scale again?It opened with the sound of the steepling orchestral swell from The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” and screened animation of his familiar Höfner bass guitar in the guise of a rocket about to lift off. Then Macca took to the stage with the actual bass guitar, with hand on chin and head cocked, as if to say: hmm, are you all here to see lil’ ol’ me? A countdown to his band and boom, he was up and running with a sprightly hit that is 60 years old, The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love”.The song cast McCartney as an impecunious suitor with empty pockets and a big heart. In reality, the Got Back tour grossed almost $200mn during its 2022 and 2023 legs alone. Money may not buy love but it could gain access to the soundcheck earlier, witnessed by VIP ticket holders. However, McCartney’s attachment to the stage transcends material reward. One of the greatest figures in the history of pop remains motivated by an artistic life force that was intoxicatingly captured by this big, punchy, entertaining arena spectacle.Most of the material was drawn from The Beatles and Wings. The latter’s ebullient 1970s rock set the tone for the first part of the set, epitomised by the curlicue of guitar riffs decorating “Junior’s Farm”. Beatles classics such as “Drive My Car” were beefed up as though given a Wings makeover. Both lighting and sound quality were dynamic.McCartney played no fewer than seven instruments during the course of the evening; eight if you include his whistling in Wings’ “Let ’Em In”. He was accompanied by guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray (who played bass when Macca switched to piano, mandolin, electric guitar and so on). Paul “Wix” Wickens was on keyboards. Abe Laboriel Jr drove songs forward on drums. A brass trio, Hot City Horns, also featured.The yuletide schmaltz of “Wonderful Christmastime”, complete with children’s choir and fake blizzard, made a seasonal appearance. The set otherwise followed a well-worn, effective groove. There was a ukulele-led “Something” in tribute to George Harrison and a duet with a screened John Lennon for “I’ve Got a Feeling”. “Live and Let Die” had more pyrotechnics than New Year’s Eve, with audience shrieks as the big bangs went off. Macca delivered his between-song patter in the appealing manner of one who will never grow tired of it.His voice was crumbly but did not flag over the course of the concert. He rationed the unsteady high notes and kept the yowls to a pragmatic minimum. It was the singing of an older, more fallible McCartney — but still unmistakably him. The highlights were sentimental gut punches. One was a solo “Blackbird”, played on a raised platform against a backdrop showing the night sky and wintry branches. The other was the mass singalong to “Hey Jude”. In keeping with its message of making a sad song better, Macca’s last words to us, uttered amid an explosion of red, white and blue confetti, were consoling: “See you next time.”★★★★★paulmccartney.com
