Paul’s Pre-show Rituals: Steaming and Gargling

In his website’s monthly heading ‘You Gave Me The Answer’ Paul reveals some of his pre-show rituals before he goes on stage. One of the things he uses to do is steaming and gargling, in order to look after his voice.

Yeah, before I go on. Well, it’s in the hour before we go on. When I get told: “It’s time to go on!” I start that ritual and it involves those two things, which are specifically to do with the voice. (…) I don’t even know if they work! But I do like - over a bowl of hot water - a steam. I do like a steaming before I go on, which I was told was probably the best thing to clear your larynx. I was taught that by watching Little Richard do it when we were kids in Hamburg. He used to do it before he went on. He’d get a kettle full of hot water in the sink, put a towel over his head, and [inhales] breathe in, get the vapours. So, I do that. It’s become part of my ritual and then I have a salt-water gargle. Again, I’m not sure if that does anything!”

The ritual is not something he has done all his life:

No. But I remembered it since Hamburg and probably whilst I’ve been on tour with this band. So that’s like ten years. So yeah, the last ten years I’ve probably done it, and it’s become a routine."

MCartney has some more rituals before starting the show. One of them is an a cappella sing along with the band:

When I'm done, I go check out the band, go see the guys. And we have a little pre-show ritual we do there. We run through a couple of things. We check our harmonies. We sing together. And then right before we go on the show, we have a huddle and just get vibed up for the show. And then that's it: We're done. We're on, and that's it.

Video: Pre-show sing along

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McCartney 45 Years Live - Part 3: The 21st Century
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McCartney Live: Ten Favorite Beatles Tracks

André Homan

André Homan is a Dutch writer and journalist.

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