Paul McCartney’s historic ensemble in Glastonbury was hailed as one of the main performances of this generation, as a crowd of more than 100,000 people gathered on the famous stage of the festival pyramid to see him play.
He was joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, and even sang a duet with his old bandmate John Lennon, using special effects initiated by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.
Eyebrows had been raised when it was announced that McCartney, who turned 80 last week, would head the bill, becoming the oldest headliner in Glastonbury’s 52-year history.
Paul McCartney headlines Saturday night at Glastonbury 2022. Photo: Jon Rowley / EPA
But doubts were shattered when McCartney finished a nearly three-hour set with a dramatic pyrotechnics display and a massive singing with Let It Be, Hey Jude and Live and Let Die.
“It exceeded all expectations,” said Richard Martin, 75, who is part of the largest crowd the Pyramid stage has ever seen.
He said, “Even though I’m almost his age, I’ve never seen the Beatles – my wife did, she was one of those teenagers who yelled – but he nailed it.
“He was brilliant. Of course, he’s a professional: he’s been working there for half a century. The people behind us were 20 years old and they knew the songs backwards, that’s a fantastic testament to the durability of the songs.”
Paul McCartney joined Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen. Photography: Harry Durrant / Getty Images
Nearly 4 million people tuned in to watch them from home and garnered rave reviews. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian said McCartney’s big hits were “about as exciting as pop music,” while The Independent described him as “by far the best this writer has seen on the Pyramid stage in 30 years of Glastonburies “.
The Sunday Telegraph praised it as “one of the most exciting, stimulating, bang and star-studded ensembles this 50-year-old festival has ever seen.”
Some festival-goers had camped all day to get closer to the Pyramid stage and it turned out to be a sensible decision. The crowd easily reached 100,000 people, standing next to one of the largest Pyramid stage attendances next to the Rolling Stones in 2013.
At 9 p.m., half an hour before McCartney took the stage, it was impossible to get close to the front, as large masses of people crowded from every corner of the 900-acre site.
“It was amazing. Musically it was up there with one of the most important moments of my life, ”said James Jack, 35, after shouting with the success of Bond Live and Let Die, a moment he said he was fulfilling a dream of childhood: “When you watch movies with your father when you’re about six. It was a childish moment for me, it really encouraged me. It’s the kind of thing you say to your grandchildren. “
Grohl, who had to retire from a headline show in 2015 after breaking his leg, became Macca’s surprise companion for I Saw Her Standing There, immediately followed by Band on the Run. Even before Bruce “the head” Springsteen arrived, the crowd was levitating with delight.
Grohl and Springsteen, rock icons who had flown from the United States especially for the set, seemed very happy to join McCartney on stage.
“An Appropriate Legend”: Paul McCartney. Photography: Dylan Martínez / Reuters
“It was phenomenal,” said Sorcha Ingram, 25. “I spent the moment of my life. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I was obsessed with the Beatles when I was little, that’s where my musical taste comes from. This was the first time I saw it, and my first time in “Glastonbury is a historic moment, a unique opportunity in life.”
“It’s a legend per se,” said Keith Burnet, 59. “He actually did a really good gig that covered his whole career at his own time and pace.”
But he faced some criticism for showing a “highly discouraged” clip of Johnny Depp during his set of Glastonbury headlines.
A clip of Depp appeared on a big screen during My Valentine, a love song written for McCartney’s wife, Nancy Shevell.
A Twitter user wrote, “I’m very sad that a man like Paul McCartney has chosen to offer a platform to Johnny Depp. Once again, domestic abuse survivors are completely mocked.”
McCartney and Depp are close friends, and the American actor appeared in video footage during the recent Get Back tour of the 80’s in the United States.
However, one could not escape the fact that most attendees would not have a chance to see McCartney perform again, and this made the night more special.
The NME said it had released “absolutely everything it has, which is to say something for a real Beatle, at Glastonbury 2022, sounding like a man who, frankly, knows he may not do this again.”