“Let It Be, Liverpool” – Paul’s Homecoming Concert
After spending nine months on the road, McCartney was keen to bring his acclaimed concert to the people of Liverpool. He was determined that the Liverpool gig would be every bit as good as every other concert on the tour:
“We were going to do a little show in Liverpool. We’d taken this big show everywhere, Japan, Rio,
and we were going to go to Liverpool and do a little, piddling, `Sorry, you only deserve half the
show…”
Location
He held out until his team had found the perfect venue – the abandoned King’s Dock on Liverpool’s waterfront. Just weeks earlier, Yoko Ono had hosted a tribute concert to her late-husband a short distance north at Liverpool’s Pier Head.
McCartney’s team spent £1m constructing a temporary venue at King’s Dock for McCartney’s historic homecoming concert on Thursday the 28th of June 1990.
The Day of the Concert
On the day of the concert, McCartney flew in by private jet to Liverpool Airport at 1:30 pm. This was followed by a soundcheck at 2:30, and then a press conference at 5:30.
The press conference can be viewed here:
After the press conference, a party was held for 150 relatives and other close associates. His
brother, Mike McCartney, attended, as did the former Beatles aides Alistair Taylor and Tony
Bramwell.
Although the gates had opened at 5 pm, there was no set time for the start of the concert. The
organisers had to wait until it was sufficiently dark to screen the pre-concert film. McCartney
finally took to the stage at 9 pm in front of 50,000 expectant fans. 20,000 helium-filled balloons
were released into the sky – after permission had been obtained from flight traffic controllers at
Liverpool Airport.
A Fan’s Review
Beatles Fan and former Fanzine Editor Kevin Wareing offers an account of the gig for my book. Here an extract from his review:
This was a truly momentous evening that
will live long in the thoughts of all those
who attended.
McCartney die-hards, casual music fans,
and those merely with a passing interest
in Paul’s career, will all have this evening
firmly emblazoned into their memory
banks.
A fantastic concert, it was the culmination
of several factors which combined to produce a perfect storm – a band in superb form, a
confident happy Macca back on home soil, a good-humoured expectant crowd and, not least, a
fine evening of blue sky, a cool breeze drifting in from the Mersey and a setting sun which
provided a beautiful backdrop.
Of course, by this time, McCartney and his band had been touring (on and off, admittedly) for
around nine months and they had honed themselves into a top-notch touring group of crack
musicians, and this showed in their performance.
There were many highlights – the Lennon medley of Strawberry Fields Forever/Help!/Give Peace
a Chance (which ended only after an extended impromptu audience coda) is an obvious standout, though my memories of the order in which the songs were performed is somewhat hazy.
I recall fans being handed a bag of goodies upon entering the arena, which included a TDK
cassette tape in a promotional box.
Sponsorship and Charities
The TDK items were presented to fans in carrier bag, which fan Si Rogers has kept until now:
The “charities” that the gig raised money for were The Kids in Need and Distress, The Netherley Trust, Merseyside Play Action Group, The Children of Liverpool, and The Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA) – which eventually opened in 1996.
According to his publicist, Geoff Baker, McCartney was “overwhelmed by the generosity of the crowd”.
Give Peace a Chance
Perhaps the most touching moment of the entire gig was when, during the John Lennon tribute section, the crowd continued to chant “Give Peace a Chance” after the band had stopped – prompting the band to resume the song for a collective sing-along. As McCartney recalled:
“The moment when they wouldn’t stop singing `Give Peace A Chance’ was very special. You don’t
get that often. That was a great buzz.”
One the following clip, you can see the band as the take to the stage, the balloons being released, and the Give Peace a Chance moment referred to above:
The Book!
For more about this concert, and 101 other gigs during McCartney’s historic 1989-90 world tour, please buy the book Paul McCartney The World Tour 1989-90, available below:
Link to Shop:
Paul McCartney The World Tour 1989-90 – Paul McCartney After The Beatles: A Musical Appreciation
