"Y'alright? Got stuck in traffic," said Paul McCartney as he took the stage ten minutes late. To be fair, it was snowing outside on Oxford Street, and he probably had to fight his way through Christmas shoppers to get into the packed, sweaty basement of the 100 club.
It is a stage that has seen its fair share of stars, although mostly either on the way up or the way back down. Once a jazz venue, it got taken over by rock in the late 1970s. The Sex Pistols famously played the 100 Club because nowhere else would have them. Now, in the face of threatened closure, a Beatle made a late debut appearance to show solidarity with this little slice of London's musical history.
"Do you wanna save the 100 Club?" he asked the small, ecstatic crowd, but seemed vague on how that might be achieved. "Speak to Mr Hundred," he suggested.
Macca has retained an affection for small venues, periodically popping up in clubs and student halls, reminiscing about his days in Hamburg and the Cavern. His fame has made him a stadium superstar but tight spaces serve him just as well. Stripped of all the lights, video screens and pyrotechnics, he revels in his role as the leader of a hot, rocking band of virtuoso musicians with the greatest song catalogue in pop history to draw on.
From my position at the side of the stage, I could see his guitar roadie scribble a one word set list: Matchbox, Magical, Jet, Drive, Loving, 909, Honey, Roll It ... And that was just the opening salvo.
Looking sharp in white-check shirt, tie and waistcoat, Macca let out a Little Richard roar for a hot rocking version of Carl Perkins Matchbox. A roar went up for Magical Mystery Tour, and the place really started heaving for the sinuous lead guitar and cowbell stomp of Drive My Car. Then the screaming kicked in with All My Loving.
With McCartney on his upside-down Hofner bass, there is no better Beatle tribute band in the land. His voice is a little higher and thinner than in his glory days but somehow that only makes the moment all the more real. Five decades on, he still plays these songs with total commitment. And why not? They are fantastic songs.
A piano-driven 1985, burning Let Me Roll It and barnstorming Maybe I'm Amazed showed that best of his Wings material remains every bit of a match for his mop-top classics.
He gave the lucky few hundred ticket holders in the club a full, almost two-hour set, with a few personally nostalgic selections for good measure.
"Small clubs remind me of when we began – this song is from before we began," he said, reminiscing about writing The One After 909 in his Liverpool front room with John. When he messed up the intro, he playfully shrugged. "Well, it was a long time ago."
Versions of old covers from the Hamburg-era Beatles, including a rip-roaring Honey Hush and jazzy Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying were real collectors' items.
The rockers probably worked best in the small space. An encore of Hey Jude was probably the biggest singalong the 100 club ever seen.
The truth is that McCartney's own songs really belong in arenas and stadiums, where the multitudes can join in with massed voices. But it was a real privilege to see Britain's greatest living rock legend up close and personal.
It wasn't all about nostalgia. "We used to be asked to sign tickets and the back of cig packets," he recalled. "Someone just asked me to sign their iPad. Hey, time moves on."
And so it does, but it would be nice if we could preserve some of our great musical heritage. Saving the 100 Club might be the place to start.
Paul McCartney
100 Club, London W1
FIVE STARS
Setlist:
1. Matchbox 2. Magical Mystery Tour 3. Jet 4. Drive My Car 5. All My Loving 6. One After 909 7. Hi Ho Silver 8. Let Me Roll It 9. The Long And Winding Road 10. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five 11. Maybe I'm Amazed 12. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying 13. Blackbird 14. Calico Skies 15. I'm Looking Through You 16. And I Love Her 17. Dance Tonight 18. Eleanor Rigby 19. Hitch Hike 20. Band on the Run 21. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 22. Let It Be 23. Hey Jude
Encore 24. Yesterday 25. Get Back 26. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End
Fantastic atmosphere and Paul was rockin'
Review from the Daily Telegraph:
"Y'alright? Got stuck in traffic," said Paul McCartney as he took the stage ten minutes late. To be fair, it was snowing outside on Oxford Street, and he probably had to fight his way through Christmas shoppers to get into the packed, sweaty basement of the 100 club.
It is a stage that has seen its fair share of stars, although mostly either on the way up or the way back down. Once a jazz venue, it got taken over by rock in the late 1970s. The Sex Pistols famously played the 100 Club because nowhere else would have them. Now, in the face of threatened closure, a Beatle made a late debut appearance to show solidarity with this little slice of London's musical history.
"Do you wanna save the 100 Club?" he asked the small, ecstatic crowd, but seemed vague on how that might be achieved. "Speak to Mr Hundred," he suggested.
Macca has retained an affection for small venues, periodically popping up in clubs and student halls, reminiscing about his days in Hamburg and the Cavern. His fame has made him a stadium superstar but tight spaces serve him just as well. Stripped of all the lights, video screens and pyrotechnics, he revels in his role as the leader of a hot, rocking band of virtuoso musicians with the greatest song catalogue in pop history to draw on.
From my position at the side of the stage, I could see his guitar roadie scribble a one word set list: Matchbox, Magical, Jet, Drive, Loving, 909, Honey, Roll It ... And that was just the opening salvo.
Looking sharp in white-check shirt, tie and waistcoat, Macca let out a Little Richard roar for a hot rocking version of Carl Perkins Matchbox. A roar went up for Magical Mystery Tour, and the place really started heaving for the sinuous lead guitar and cowbell stomp of Drive My Car. Then the screaming kicked in with All My Loving.
With McCartney on his upside-down Hofner bass, there is no better Beatle tribute band in the land. His voice is a little higher and thinner than in his glory days but somehow that only makes the moment all the more real. Five decades on, he still plays these songs with total commitment. And why not? They are fantastic songs.
A piano-driven 1985, burning Let Me Roll It and barnstorming Maybe I'm Amazed showed that best of his Wings material remains every bit of a match for his mop-top classics.
He gave the lucky few hundred ticket holders in the club a full, almost two-hour set, with a few personally nostalgic selections for good measure.
"Small clubs remind me of when we began – this song is from before we began," he said, reminiscing about writing The One After 909 in his Liverpool front room with John. When he messed up the intro, he playfully shrugged. "Well, it was a long time ago."
Versions of old covers from the Hamburg-era Beatles, including a rip-roaring Honey Hush and jazzy Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying were real collectors' items.
The rockers probably worked best in the small space. An encore of Hey Jude was probably the biggest singalong the 100 club ever seen.
The truth is that McCartney's own songs really belong in arenas and stadiums, where the multitudes can join in with massed voices. But it was a real privilege to see Britain's greatest living rock legend up close and personal.
It wasn't all about nostalgia. "We used to be asked to sign tickets and the back of cig packets," he recalled. "Someone just asked me to sign their iPad. Hey, time moves on."
And so it does, but it would be nice if we could preserve some of our great musical heritage. Saving the 100 Club might be the place to start.
Paul McCartney
100 Club, London W1
FIVE STARS
Setlist:
1. Matchbox
2. Magical Mystery Tour
3. Jet
4. Drive My Car
5. All My Loving
6. One After 909
7. Hi Ho Silver
8. Let Me Roll It
9. The Long And Winding Road
10. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five
11. Maybe I'm Amazed
12. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying
13. Blackbird
14. Calico Skies
15. I'm Looking Through You
16. And I Love Her
17. Dance Tonight
18. Eleanor Rigby
19. Hitch Hike
20. Band on the Run
21. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
22. Let It Be
23. Hey Jude
Encore
24. Yesterday
25. Get Back
26. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End