McCartney rocks Hollywood store
2007-06-29 10:51
Los Angeles - Paul McCartney's
informal world tour of small venues brought him to Hollywood
this week where he played a free concert at a record store for
an audience that included fellow Beatle Ringo Starr.
"No shoplifting please," McCartney jokingly told the
900-strong crowd, who had come from as far afield as Canada,
Japan and Australia for the historic 85-minute event on
Wednesday.
Any illegal activity would have been difficult. Fans were
herded into rows behind the display racks, hemmed in by yellow
tape as fire marshals and security guards patrolled the aisles
making sure no one left their designated areas.
Visibility for
those at the back and sides was severely limited.
Hundreds of fans started lining up at Amoeba Records on
Monday when the concert was announced.
Unorthodox promotional blitz
The lucky ones were
given blue wristbands on a first-come, first-served basis.
Earlier this month, McCartney played clubs in London and
New York, all part of an unorthodox promotional blitz for his
well-received new album, Memory Almost Full.
The set list was largely the same each time, heavy on
late-era Beatle tunes such as Get Back, Hey Jude, The Long
and Winding Road and I've Got A Feeling.
He dropped in a few cuts from his new album, including the
single Dance Tonight and the nostalgic That Was Me.
Wearing a red sweater that he later took off to reveal a
white "Von Dutch"-branded t-shirt, McCartney was in a playful
mood, at one time asking the audience to repeat various silly
sounds, and then to nod their heads in unison.
He got serious once when he played Here Today, his 1982
tribute to fallen Beatle John Lennon.
Others at the venue included Olivia Harrison, the widow of
George Harrison, English rocker Jeff Lynne, and actress
Jennifer Love Hewitt.