Paul McCartney has come a long way since he first played with The Quarrymen, an early incarnation of the band that would later become the world-renowned Beatles. Back in the early days, McCartney was a guitarist and the band was a five-piece act that cut its teeth in the Hamburg club scene. Their first gig was a 48-night residency, first at Bruno Koschmider’s Indra Club and later at the infamous Kaiserkeller.
In 1960, the only clubs in Hamburg were strip clubs. The Beatles were the house band and they played in the seedy re-light district all day and night. Band members used stimulants to boost their stamina during the epic residency. At the time, McCartney, probably under the influence, was arrested and deported after setting a condom on fire in his hotel room.
McCartney returned to Hamburg to play for another two years in Hamburg and replaced bassist Stu Sutcliffe when Sutcliffe returned to university. During this time the Beatles began playing at the Cavern Club in Liverpool where they met their future manager Brian Epstein who famously told them that if they wanted to make it big, they’d have to “stop eating on stage.” They also met producer George Martin, the fifth Beatle, who signed them to EMI.
Martin wanted to record The Beatles at the Cavern Club but said it had “the acoustic ambience of an oil tank.” Instead he took them to Abbey Road Studios and recorded the 10-song Please Please Me which leads off with McCartney’s Saw Her Standing There and the rest, as they say, is history.
From strip club to oil tank and now, at the magical age of 69, Paul McCartney is bringing his show on the road once again, this time to the Minnesota Twins’ state-of-the-art Target Field. Completed in 2009, Target Field has been ranked the number one stadium experience in North America by ESPN and boasts nearly 40,000 seats, a double-decker bullpen and a “bonfire” roof deck.
McCartney is also Sir Paul McCartney now of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, has been named the greatest composer of the millennium by the BBC and awarded the Gershwin Prize at a private White House event by President Barack Obama. No longer required to perform 48-night residencies, Sir Paul is still playing two and a half hour shows at Paul McCartney concerts. Tickets for the Paul McCartney tour are on sale now.
