TIME TO LET IT BE, MACCA
Mirror Music Critic GAVIN MARTIN's verdict on Sir Paul's dire US tour
SIR Paul McCartney's accomplishments are legendary. But on the opening night of his US tour, he achieved the unthinkable... and made the Beatles' legacy sound tired.
Macca has long looked like a man desperately trying to hide his age. But this performance exposed weaknesses far greater than mere passing years.
First came a supremely sycophantic film about the life of the great man himself that preceded the show. If proof were still needed, it blew away any pretence that Mister McArtless is a modest, down-to-earth bloke.
And while the 18,000 fans at the American Airlines Stadium, Miami - happy merely to be in the presence of a living Beatle - may have tolerated such a film, surely he won't dare show it when he comes to the UK.
But maybe he will - the movie suggests that Sir Paul is under the illusion he was recently made a saint, rather than a knight.
Yes, McCartney's past achievements are great, so are only worth revisiting with deep commitment and raging conviction - qualities conspicuously absent for much of this show.
The opening Magical Mystery Tour was plodding where it should have been spectacular. On Jet, he sang flat over a dragging tempo. Later, he tarnished pop jewels such as Penny Lane with a grating, cheesy delivery.
Of course, with such a rich songbook to call on, it's impossible to play a complete howler.
But while the excitement level rose for Drive My Car and a solo take on the new Jenny Wren had real passion and beauty, even show-stopping rockers such as Back In The USSR and Helter Skelter failed to soar.
Perhaps sixtysomething fatherhood has sapped Sir Macca's energy reserves. But what excuse did his comparatively young American band have? When Macca did manage to work himself into a frenzy - on I Got A Feeling and Maybe I'm Amazed - the band couldn't stop it sounding forced.
Sadly, compared to last month's "all guns blazing" return of Mick Jagger and the Stones, Macca was an embarrassment - a reminder that he founded the school of bland, nice-guy rock performance.
Small wonder, then, that he's content to be the custodian of a musical museum dedicated to himself, rather than be an artist with something vital to impart.
WHILE keen to appear as a good-natured man of the people, McCartney's cynicism and egotism are also never far from the surface.
Indeed, it was shameful that with over half the set consisting of Beatles songs, no meaningful tribute was paid to John and George.
His former colleagues probably wouldn't be surprised to see Macca raid the collective piggy bank so freely.
But some acknowledgement would have been only fair.
After all, if Paul hadn't met them, the pushy Beatle would probably have ended up as some dreadful Cliff Richard-style cabaret rocker... Come to think of it, that's exactly how he appeared for most of this show.
Time-honoured singalongs Get Back and Hey Jude may have sent the crowd home on a high but the humbling of a musical hero was completed by his final entrance onstage - shamelessly brandishing an American flag.
The show that he'd just given didn't warrant it and with the country still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, flag-waving hardly seemed appropriate.
It seems there is no one who'll tell Sir Paul when to let it be. And, as George Harrison would say, isn't that a pity?
10 BEATLES SONGS HE MURDERED
FIXING A HOLE: Rare outing for Pepper classic, spoiled by weary delivery.
COUNT 'EM: Macca
GOOD DAY SUNSHINE: An effervescent soul classic from Revolver goes off without a bang.
GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE: Love song to dope goes to pot.
IN SPITE OF ALL THE DANGER: First recorded with Lennon in 1958 - this version fails to roll back the years.
YESTERDAY: Sadly, it's not half the song it used to be.
HEY JUDE: Nah Nah Nah... a rock proms classic is now a singalong at funeral march tempo.
'TIL THERE WAS YOU: Hotel foyer music with cloying "Can I show you to your table?" Spanish waiter guitar solo.
I GOT A FEELING: Overwrought vocals fail to live up to the song title.
FOR NO ONE: Gorgeous ballad but pale imitation of the 1966 original.
I'LL GET YOU: A wedding band-style approach fails to capture the original's glee and beauty.
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