Paul McCartney lifted the spirits of many last night with a Glastonbury set for the ages. At 80 years old, The Beatles trailblazer unleashed a gobsmacking 36 songs throughout a 2 hour 50 minute set that spanned his 6 decade career and I’m sure will come to define the festivals 50 year anniversary.
Following on from Billie Eilish’s blistering Friday night headline the night before, McCartney 60 years her senior, proved to be ageing like a fine wine with all the stage presence and personality of someone significantly younger than him emanating through the screen with ease. To be there in person must have been something else entirely. The man is about as iconic as it gets, and despite slowing down a little on his feet compared to Billie’s sprightly acrobatics, he owned it. You can catch some of the fans reaction below:
It didn’t come without some controversy, in a star studded list of invitees, McCartney brought on Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, and notably included a video of his close friend Johnny Depp during his performance of 2012 track “My Valentine“. There was some confusion and even disgust at the inclusion of the video expressed by viewers of the show, with people taking to social media to voice this. One Twitter user stated: “For anyone who says Johnny Depp is innocent remember that he wasn’t the one on trial. And I suggest searching for the texts he sent to Paul Bettany to get a taste of the man he is. Wish @glastonbury had stopped this. And @PaulMcCartney can do one.”
Conversely, some people expressed support at the inclusion of the video, with another Twitter user posting a clip of the performance with the caption: “Johnny Depp on the big screen Saturday night during Paul McCartney’s performance of ‘My Valentine’ at Glastonbury ❤️”
With records being broken on back to back nights as Eilish became the youngest person to headline Glastonbury at just 20, and Paul the oldest to headline at 80, the festival has so far enjoyed a historic comeback after 2 years of covid cancelations knocked around their plans to enjoy it’s 50th year in business.
McCartney even managed to pull off a Beatles reunion from beyond the grave by duetting with John Lennon on “I’ve Got A Feeling“. The late singer’s vocals were isolated from their rooftop performance in 1969 and played back over the Pyramid Stage’s speakers in 2022 to provide onlookers with an emotional and modern tribute to The Beatles icon. It summed up a passionate and uncompromising performance from one of the greatest songwriters of all time and a true British legend. Sir Paul, we salute you.
