Last night in Paris … Paul McCartney

His last concert in Bercy had left us a taste of overflow. In 2016, Paul McCartney had taken the game to get fans on stage in a kind of big fair a little strange. Which seemed totally out of place for a musician of his rank. Yesterday evening, Paul tumbles at 20h20, his Hofner bbad in hand, wearing a small jean jacket tight at the waist. Chic and clbady. A few locks finally appear on his hair, giving him even more air of a legend. Legend that it maintains copiously by starting his Paris show with "A hard day's night", huge tubes of the Beatles. "Junior's Farm" from the Wings repertoire surprises Paris with its aggressive rock side. Especially since the sound is impressive in this huge room.

McCartney does not look so happy to be here and seems tired

Surrounded by his usual band, McCartney plays simple and effective "Hi Paris, it's great to come back here" he says before "All my loving". "Letting Go" that follows allows a bit of novelty: three horns appear in the middle of the crowd and give new impetus to this little-known song Wings. "I speak a little French and here's a new song" says Paul before "Who Cares", taken from his very successful "Egypt Station". But the crowd roars on "Got to get you into my life". The concert seems in its first part going to a senator train. McCartney does not look so happy to be here and seems tired. Some songs are played almost mechanically such as "let me Roll it" which we would happily happen or "I've got a feeling" which is terribly lacking in power. But when we get bored, Paul sits down on the piano and attacks "Let 'em in" worn by the brbad. When Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman appear on the screens during the song "My Valentine", we smile: Vanessa Paradis and her husband Samuel Benchetrit are sitting right in front of us.

"Nineteen hundred and eighty five" another nugget of Wings is doing miracles again, because this time we feel that Paul is more to his business. He has also dropped the jacket from several pieces and plays shirt-arm, very serious behind his keyboard. A disaster is looming though. "Maybe I'm amazed" title composed at the time for Linda, is a total failure, vocally speaking. McCartney can not reach the highest notes that are the strength of this song. We forgive him obviously because it is armed with an acoustic guitar then he revisits the first period of the Beatles. "From me to you", played for the first time in Paris since the sixties, "Love Me do" make the crowd sing, the two interspersed with a "Michelle" mandatory. "It's the only song in French I know. The concert then enters a new comfort zone. The emotion sequence first with a "Blackbird" played alone above the crowd. Then "Here today" "this dialogue in song with John that we never could have". The brbad gives a new youth to "Lady Madonna", "Fuh You", title of 2018, takes a real scale in live, when "Being for the benefit of mister kite" vibrates the most advanced of the fans.

The whole room is standing and vibrates in a rare communion

And what better than an "Ob la di ob da da" to blackmail the crowd? Paul has been on stage since 1h50 when the first notes of "Band on the run" sound. The last volley of tubes is launched and this time it will take everything in its path. Forget the fatigue of the first hour, the weariness that could break sometimes. This time the greatest musician on the planet is in his element and totally galvanized. "Back in the USSR" and his Dantesque choruses, "Let it be" played as always with emotion, "Live and let die" and its pyrotechnie enjoyment and especially "Hey Jude" finish to finish Paris. For ten minutes, the crowd spits on the famous chorus. The whole room is standing and vibrating in a rare communion. Mbad was said.

As a reminder, Paul remains on a very rock dynamic. "Birthday", "Sergeant Pepper Lonely Heart's Club Band" or "Helter Skelter" are shaking the walls of the Paris Defense Arena. "Thanks Paris, see you next", the singer launches before the fabulous finale "Golden Slumblers / Carry That Weight / The End".

Read too.Yesterday evening in New York … Paul McCartney

So we note that last night in Paris, Paul did not sing "Yesterday". That he could very well also take more risks by interpreting all the white album of the Beatles for example. But in the end, the repertoire is so strong, so impressive that it takes everything in its path. And that it is beautifully defended by a young man of 76 years.

setlist

1 / A hard day's night

2 / Junior's Farm
3 / All my loving
4 / Letting go
5 / Who cares
6 / Got to get you into my life
7 / Come on to me
8 / Let me roll it
9 / I've got a feeling
10 / Let 'em In
11 / My valentine
12 / Nineteen hundred and eighty five
13 / Maybe I'm amazed
14 / I've just seen a face
15 / In spite of all danger
16 / From me to you
17 / Michelle
18 / Love me do
19 / Blackbird
20 / Here Today
21 / Queenie Eye
22 / Lady Madonna
23 / Eleanor Rigby
24 / Fuh you
25 / Being for the benefit of mister Kite
26 / Something
27 / Ob the di ob la da
28 / Band on the run
29 / Back in the USSR
30 / Let it be
31 / Live and let die
32 / Hey Jude

33 / Birthday

34 / Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band

35 / Helter Skelter

36 / Golden Slumbers

37 / Carry that weight

38 / The End

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