Some News Of Macca

From The Daily Mail


Sir Paul McCartney performs at the O2... but just for a bit of practice


By Ben Todd


It is a far cry from the front room of 20 Forthlin Road in Liverpool.

That is the location where a teenage Sir Paul McCartney used to practice with John Lennon and his fellow Quarrymen more than 50 years ago.

But these days McCartney uses rather more grandiose venues to rehearse with his band.

In fact, the 67-year-old has been preparing for his forthcoming tour – by rehearsing at the 23,000 capacity O2 Arena in south east London, one of Europe's biggest indoor venues.

McCartney secretly used the concert hall in South East London last Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of the beginning of his ‘Up And Coming’ jaunt in Phoenix, Arizona this weekend.

The tour comes to Britain in the summer, starting at the Isle of Wight festival on June 13 before finishing in Hyde Park, London at the Hard Rock Calling concert two weeks later.
The mammoth operation will need 31 trucks to carry all its equipment and will employ a full time crew of more than 150 people. And the outdoor stadium shows will use an astonishing 130 speakers.

It is all very different to his humble upbringing in the Liverpool suburb of Allerton.

Then he, John Lennon and George Harrison used to rehearse in the front room of the former council house, which is now owned by the National Trust because of it’s historic value.