Sir Paul McCartney performed the third concert of his 2009 European tour at the Gelredome in Arnhem, Netherlands.
His voice appeared to suffer as the evening progressed, with a noticeable hoarseness towards the end.
An audience of 39,000 saw the show. He twice told them: “See you next time”, hinting at further future live dates in Europe.
Arnhem played a small role in The Beatles’ story. The group and their first manager, Allan Williams, stopped there briefly while en route to Hamburg for the first time. On 16 August 1960 Williams, his wife Beryl, concert promoter Lord Woodbine, Stuart Sutcliffe, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best were photographed at the Arnhem War Memorial, possibly by John Lennon.
I had confidence in the band, even though they weren’t rated in Liverpool. It was mainly their personalities because most of the groups were a bit on the thick side, whereas they all had good educations; they were a bit posher and more articulate. So I thought, “No, I will take a chance”, and that’s when I drove them over to Hamburg. I took a wrong turning and we finished up in Arnhem in Holland. We had time to kill so we went round the town centre and into a music shop, and when we came out they were all laughing their heads off. I said: “What’s the joke, lads?”, and John pulled out a mouth organ – he’d stolen a bloody mouth organ! I thought, “Christ, we’re never even going to get to Hamburg, we’ll all be in jail.” The first time abroad and he had the audacity to rob a shop!
The setlist for the McCartney show was the same as at his previous concerts on the European tour:
- ‘Magical Mystery Tour’
- ‘Drive My Car’
- ‘Jet’
- ‘Only Mama Knows’
- ‘Flaming Pie’
- ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’
- ‘Let Me Roll It’
- ‘Highway’
- ‘The Long And Winding Road’
- ‘(I Want To) Come Home’
- ‘My Love’
- ‘Blackbird’
- ‘Here Today’
- ‘Dance Tonight’
- ‘And I Love Her’
- ‘Mrs Vandebilt’
- ‘Eleanor Rigby’
- ‘Band On The Run’
- ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’
- ‘Sing The Changes’
- ‘Back In The USSR’
- ‘Something’
- ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’
- ‘Paperback Writer’
- ‘A Day In The Life’/‘Give Peace A Chance’
- ‘Let It Be’
- ‘Live And Let Die’
- ‘Hey Jude’
Also on this day...
- 1977: Album release: Scouse The Mouse featuring Ringo Starr
- 1974: US album release: Dark Horse by George Harrison
- 1966: Recording, mixing: Strawberry Fields Forever
- 1966: UK album release: A Collection Of Beatles Oldies
- 1965: Live: Odeon Cinema, Birmingham
- 1964: Paul McCartney visits Ringo Starr in hospital
- 1964: George Harrison and Pattie Boyd fly to the Bahamas
- 1963: Live: Odeon Cinema, Southend-on-Sea
- 1962: Live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening) – George Martin watches The Beatles perform
- 1961: Live: Palais Ballroom, Aldershot
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
