IHe is one of the heroes of the sixties, with Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, still standing: Paul McCartney, survivor with Ringo Starr of the fabulous adventure of the Beatles.
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At 82 years old, still enthusiastic, his figure impeccable and his voice miraculously preserved, he continues to tour stages around the world, like his tour Got Back launched in 2022, in the United States, and which passes through France with two sold-out concerts at the Arena La Défense, Wednesday December 4 and Thursday December 5.
Six years after his last visit, he is in good shape and back with a two-and-a-half hour concert and around thirty classics which mark a career of six decades marked by the end of the Beatles, the adventure of the Wings, the brutal death of John and the disappearance of George. Suffice it to say that he carries on his shoulders a heritage which symbolizes the vitality, and also the genius, of British pop.
At 8:40 p.m., just after the “A Day in the life” which resonates in the huge hall, Paul McCartney enters the stage with his faithful musicians and attacks, accompanied by his Hofner bass, with “Can't buy me love”, which takes us back sixty years .
The Beatles, artificial intelligence version
The tone is set, energetic, without embellishments, supported by perfect rhythm. From the Beatles, he moved on to the Wings period, with “Junior's Farm” (1974), a bucolic single in memory of his farm in Scotland with his wife Linda – and to “Letting go”, taken from the album Venus and Mars 1975). As usual, he tries a few words of French (“We have some old songs, some new ones and some in between”) before segueing into the big bass sound of “Drive My Car” and on “Got to Get You into My Life,” powered by a small but great horn section.
ALSO READ From Worst to Best, We Ranked All 238 Beatles SongsNo doubt, Paul McCartney is as if boosted by a group with which he has been playing for years. After an unbridled cover of the riffs of “Foxy Lady” in homage to his friend Jimi Hendrix, he continues with “Let me Roll it”, taken from his flagship album Band on The Run (1973). He takes the opportunity to salute his “great friend” (or his best enemy) John Lennon, to whom he returns in “Blackbird”, followed by the moving ballad “Here to day”, composed after his assassination.
The moment comes for “Now and then”, an unreleased Beatles song designed, thanks to artificial intelligence, by Paul and Ringo Starr from a model by John. A beautiful sequence in time when we discover on the giant screens of the stage the current faces of Paul and Ringo mixed with those of John and George. Another “brother” that Paul does not forget either by covering the marvelous « Something ».
The catchy “Getting better”, taken from Sergeant Pepperlike the sensitive “Let'em in”, played on the piano, and “My Valentine”, which he dedicates to “his wonderful wife Nancy”, naturally stand out as obligatory passages. He also didn't forget to include “Maybe I'm Amazed” on his set list, a superb love song to his wife Linda, who died in 1998.
Des oldies, but goodies
A bit nostalgic, Paul McCartney continues his “oldies” sequence, a bit nostalgic, by playing, accompanied by his Martin acoustic guitar, “his very first song”, “In Spite of all the danger”, followed by the Beatles' first world hit , “Love Me Do” (1962), written at the age of sixteen in her bedroom with John. The unmissable “Michelle” is required, as is the ballet of cell phone lights that accompanies her in the room. Ditto for “Let it be” and “Hey Jude”, designed to thrill the crowds.
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On the program then, other classics, nothing but hits: « Lady Madonna”, “Being for The Benefit of Kite”, the indestructible “Obla Di Obla Da” and its refrain taken up in chorus by the public, “Get back”, with images from the Peter Jackson film, “Live and Let Die”, the theme song of James Bondand its impressive pyrotechnics. Without forgetting a surprising and moving sequence with this virtual duet performed on “I've Got a Feeling” between McCartney on stage in Paris and Lennon on the roof of the Apple building, in London, in January 1969. Together again fifty- five years later by the miracle of technology.
It is one of the many highlights of an exceptional concert, rich in emotions and which, after the very electric “Helter Skelter”, always ends with a farewell song, the magnificent medley of “Golden Slummers” taken from the album Abbey Road. End of the evening with the certainty that the elegant and prolific Paul McCartney remains a giant of popular music.
