McCartney dedicated songs to his late wife Linda and his former band mates, in what was, his first solo appearance at a U.S. festival.
The 66-year-old turned up in boots, black pants, a white shirt and suspenders that he tugged at wryly. All of that was complimented with a black jacket, which he took off a little while after getting the crowd swinging.
"It's going to be a good weekend, dear," McCartney assured the crowd gathered for the music festival, which burst into cheers with the first chords of Beatles tunes like “Eleanor Rigby”.
Sure it was going to be good one, because at Coachella, artists only do what they love doing whether they have a big audience or not. The fans are mostly pleased because music works the best when it comes straight from the heart.
Moreover, McCartney is from the era in which musicians took it as their prime duty to entertain their fans. And Friday night a multigenerational crowd gathered before the legendary Beatle and focused all their attention on the sentimental run for almost 2 hours, 30 minutes.
It comprised more than 30 songs, including Beatles’ hits and some solo compositions.
McCartney dedicated "Long and Winding Road" and "My Love Does It Good" to his late wife Linda, who died at the couple's ranch at Tucson, Ariz., 11 years ago. “She loved the desert, she loved music, she loved rock n’ roll,” McCartney said. “She loved it all”.
"It's an emotional day for me. That's good, that's OK," he said, pounding his chest. "Lot of heart, lot of emotion."
Later, as he prepared to perform the "Blackbird," McCartney noted that it had been written in response to the '60s civil rights movement. "Now you've got President Obama. Yeah, you know we've come a long way,” he said.
The first day of the three-day festival also featured Morrissey, the Hold Steady, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen and the Ting Tings.
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