Macca Live: The Soundcheck

June 1989, Studio Irene, Bussum, The Netherlands. Paul McCartney can come up any moment to perform at the CountDown TV show. With my 22 years old I'm among the elderly, but a small group is very different from the rest: Men with bellies, wearing Beatles or Wings T-shirts and already passed their 40's. We stand in front of the small stage, only a couple of yards from the microphone, where he will stand behind in a few minutes. When I look aside, I see one forty plus saying to another one, "We'll never see him again that close!" 
"Old men, as happy as little children," I commiserating think as a 22 year old.

June 2015, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam. McCartney can come up any moment for the soundcheck prior to the performance of that night. Normally a soundcheck is intended as the final test for the instruments and all equipment. But since about ten years McCartney’s soundchecks have become a kind of mini-concert. An event that you should have experienced as a hardcore fan once in your life. And it’s on top of my bucket list as well. Now that he is in my beloved place of birth for the first time in more than thirty years, I think it's the ideal moment to fulfill my wish.




It is Monday afternoon and it is not very busy. Certainly not compared to the day before, when more than fifty attend the soundcheck. We are with fifteen fans from all over the world: There are Belgians, Germans, British, Norwegians, Japanese, Russians, Americans and a Norwegian couple who proposed each other on stage the night before. Except for the Norwegians, our ages ranging from mid-thirties to sixties. And there is me: With a belly, McCartney T-shirt and far over forty.

When our group gets into the empty arena, the sound engineers are still busy. Keyboard player Paul 'Wix' Wickens is in consultation with Pablo, the sound technician. Wix sees us coming in and takes some time for a chat or a signature. I made my first ever selfie. In the following quarter, the remaining band members will be arriving, first guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, followed by drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. When Wix also has taken his place on stage, the band starts a spontaneous jam. The band is already playing for a while, when eventually McCartney joins them.

The atmosphere is informal. Everyone on stage walks in casual clothing and there’s some chitchat. After a few minutes Paul takes his famous Hofner bass and the party begins. In about forty-five minutes thirteen songs are passing by; Beatles classics like Penny Lane and a slow version of Lady Madonna, old fifties rockers like Honey Don't, Blue Suede Shoes and San Francisco Bay Blues and solo tracks like Bluebird. Songs from his last album New are being played as well. It's a selection of songs which most of them will never catch the real setlist. That, and the relaxed atmosphere, makes it into a unique mini-concert.

We, the hardcore fans, experienced it all at a distance of about twenty yards from stage. We all go out of our minds. We’re dancing, singing along and getting excited when Alligator, from the last album, is been played. When it's all over and I turn around, I see behind us a group of music students from the University of Amsterdam, who also attended the soundcheck. They are all about twenty years old and I see some of them looking at us. I recognize the look on their faces…

Video: Soundcheck Birmingham 2015

Related Posts:

Macca Live: The Setlist

André Homan

André Homan is a Dutch writer and journalist.

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