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Saturday, December 8, 1979

London

Concert • By Wings • Part of the Wings 1979 UK Tour

Last updated on February 9, 2020


Details

Location

  • Location: Wembley Arena

Timeline

Band members

Line-up Discover Wings 1979 UK Tour line-up

From Club Sandwich, N°17, 1980:

Back to the Wembley Conference Centre auditorium. Denny, Laurence and Steve are on stage, checking levels and jamming and loosening up. And Paul is halfway down the hall behind the mixing desk, the mainman mucking in to get the best sound possible.

“I wasn’t entirely happy with the sound we got here yesterday,” he explains in an aside, as he picks up the desk mike and suggests that Laurence alters his volume a wee bit. It’s called caring.

During the concert, Paul announces “Here’s a number by Eddie Cochran” and gives one of Rock’s most important figures a fine verbal promo. And yet the Wembley audience — and remember folks a Wings concert embraces the young and the younger to the old and the older – didn’t appear to ‘know’ who this Cochran cat was. Weird. Was he not probably the first social-political commentator in r ‘n’ r with lines like “I’d like to help you son but you’re too young to vote” — ie: “I don’t give a damn because you’re just a kid, you’re in no position to put me into power so get lost”, lyrics written even long before Dylan failed his audition to join Bobby Vee’s band. And didn’t dear Marc Bolan record a fine interpretation of that very same Cochran song, ‘Summertime Blues’? And didn’t Sid Vicious, unconsciously or not, translate Cochran’s ‘Somethin’ Else’ superbly with Steve ‘n’ Paul Pistol? Ah well.

Rock ‘n’ Roll elitists may scorn McCartney and Wings’ more gentle recordings, but, when the band pulled the trigger on ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ with Paul vocalising Ooodh, ‘I got a girl with a record machine…’ those so-called critics have either got cement in their ears or are bigotted beyond redemption. On a number like this Wings steam more than all the sauna baths in Japan.

B.P. Fallon, Wings On Tour approximately or: Thoughts to myself

Wembley Arena

This was the 2nd concert played at Wembley Arena.

A total of 17 concerts have been played there • 1979Dec 7Dec 8Dec 9Dec 101985Jul 131986Jun 201990Jan 11Jan 13Jan 14Jan 16Jan 17Jan 19Jan 20Jan 21Jan 23Jan 24Jan 26

Setlist for the concert

  1. Let it be

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

  2. Yesterday

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

See song statistics for “Wings 1979 UK Tour”


Going further

Wings Live - On tour in the 70s

This is the first detailed study of Paul McCartney's Wings on tour in the 1970s. It covers every single concert from the University Tour of 1972, ending with the abandoned tour of Japan in January 1980. A wide variety of primary sources have been consulted, including all available audio and video recordings; press reviews; fan recollections; newspaper reports and tour programmes.

Buy on Amazon

Paul McCartney writing

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