Sir Paul McCartney plays surprise concert in small New York venue
The 82-year-old announced the gig at the Bowery Ballroom just a few hours before taking to the stage.
Sir Paul McCartney has staged a surprise performance before a small crowd in New York.
His previous show in the area took place at MetLife Stadium with a capacity of 82,500. Tuesday’s surprise appearance at the Bowery Ballroom was in front of, at most, 575.
It was probably less than that since McCartney’s sound board and gear — too much to fit backstage — occupied a portion of the floor space at the downtown theatre.
McCartney announced the show just hours before taking to the stage, sending New Yorkers sprinting down Delancey Street for a chance to snag one of the few tickets at the Bowery. Most in attendance, including McCartney, himself, could hardly believe it was happening.
“So, here we are,” McCartney said, grinning. “Some little gig. New York. Why not?”
Later, he added before launching into Let Me Roll It: “I can’t quite believe we’re here, doing this. But we are here, doing this.”
The Beatles famously performed atop the roof of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row in London in 1969.
In 2009, McCartney returned to the Ed Sullivan Theatre, site of the Beatles’ famous US debut, and performed above the marquee. In 2018, he popped up in Grand Central Terminal to promote the release of his album Egyptian Station.
McCartney, 82, this time opted for an intimate, indoor show. Tickets were sold only physically at the venue, one per person, and all were snapped up within about 30 minutes.
Amy Jaffe, 69, was at home about 30 blocks north when she saw the announcement on Instagram.
“I thought: I can do this,” she said before the show. “I put on jeans, grabbed a coat, called a Lyft.”
She has seen McCartney many times before, including with the Beatles in 1964, but she was still incredulous, smiling and shaking her head: “I don’t actually believe it.”
Phil Sokoloff, 31, was on his way to work nearby when he saw the news. He ran in and told his co-worker, Mat Fuller, and they rushed over to the Bowery Ballroom.
“We just got lucky,” he said. “I’m always learning about these things the day after.”
McCartney took the stage roughly on time at 6.30pm with his regular band, along with a three-member horn section. They had only rehearsed once, the day before, McCartney said. Someone shouted: “You don’t need to rehearse!”
If the location was stripped down, the former Beatle did not come with a minimised show, packing in a blistering tour through his entire catalogue, from Beatles classics to Wings hits. He began with A Hard Day’s Night and also performed Got To Get You Into My Life, Maybe I’m Amazed, Lady Madonna, Jet, Get Back, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Let it Be and Hey Jude.
Blackbird was a solo number on acoustic guitar and afterwards McCartney reflected on how he wrote it for the Civil Rights Movement, a memory that brought back his first trips to the United States.
“We were just kids,” McCartney said. “I’ve got grandchildren older than that now.”
In the early days, he said, he and John Lennon were always writing for the audience, and the songs were all about reaching out with I Want to Hold Your Hand and From Me to You.
“It had everything to do with the fans, really,” he said.
Before playing the Wings song Mrs Vanderbilt, McCartney spoke of playing it in front of 350,000 people in Kyiv, when Ukraine was exuberant with a newfound freedom.
“Let’s hope it gets back to that soon,” he said.
McCartney also performed the so-called last Beatles song, Now and Then, a ballad penned by Lennon in the late 1970s but only released in 2023 with the help of some of the technology used in Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary, The Beatles: Get Back. The song made McCartney wistful for his songwriting partner, whom he noted loved New York.
“Let’s hear it for John,” he said.
McCartney, who was spotted on Sunday at the Super Bowl in New Orleans chatting with Adam Sandler, was in New York for the upcoming Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary festivities. He is to be a guest on the star-studded television special on Sunday.
For now, though, it was a one-night-only event. One crowd member asked McCartney if it could go all night.
“Some of us need to get some sleep, you know,” he replied.
McCartney still came back, bouncing on the stage for an encore. He closed with the rousing Abbey Road send off of Carry That Weight and The End.
