Paul McCartney

Much anticipated by young and old alike, this show provided the altogether anticipated sight and sound of an ageing rock star going through the motions. Albeit an ageing rock star who also happens to be one of the greatest pop composers of all time, with a fifty-year wealth of great songs (and also ’Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’), and a quite touching eagerness, over a whopping three-hour set, to please his live crowd going for him.

Such a lengthy show could afford to borrow from all facets of the braces-wearing, thumb-brandishing ex-Beatle’s musical psyche. There was unabashed sentimentality (early Fabs hit ‘And I Love Her’; a version of George Harrison’s ‘Something’ for ukulele; McCartney’s most famous collaboration with John Lennon ‘A Day in the Life’ becoming the latter’s ‘Give Peace a Chance’; plus a solo ‘Yesterday’), breakneck excitement (Wings’ ‘Jet’,’Live and Let Die’, ‘Day Tripper’, ‘Get Back’) and unashamed anthemics (‘Let It Be’, ‘Hey Jude’, and an unexpectedly sweet version of ‘Mull of Kintyre’ back by Musselburgh’s Loretto School Pipe Band). Everything you might have expected, in other words, which really was quite a lot.