Quebec City

From maccabord, September 5, 2018:

The Freshen Up Tour world premiere will be in Quebec City, Canada on September 17.  Local news reports have said that McCartney’s crew will start arriving in Quebec on Sept 5th and that the boss himself should be there a few days later.  Officials at the Videotron Centre, the arena where the concert will take place, confirmed that the arena has been booked from Sept 5 to Sept 17 but declined to give further details.

(Paul arrived in Quebec on September 12)

From For Whom The Bell Tells, January 11, 2019:

Sunday, September 16

[…] “I love it. It’s beautiful”, says Paul as he reflects on his present location. He’s talking to Radio CHOI in Quebec City about his impressions of Quebec just as the curtain is about to rise on his Freshen Up tour.  Paul’s first trip here was 10 years ago to celebrate the city’s 400th anniversary, drawing an audience of hundreds of thousands and creating a spectacle which is still a discussion point in the city today. “Such a great audience, it was a great occasion in the park; a really lovely day.  I just love the history here. Such a beautiful city with a great feel,”  Paul recalls as he chats on the phone, passing through the historic capital of Canada’s second most populated province en route to the final day of rehearsals before the tour begins.

Paul arrives at Centre Vidéotron, which is home to the Quebec Ramparts ice hockey team, just after 1.30pm.  Looking relaxed in a blue blazer, blue jeans and a crisp, white shirt, Paul says hi to the crew and heads to his office – the stage! – before a quick jam with the band which is the launchpad for a blistering high-tempo version of Got To Get You Into My Life which sounds huge thanks to the embellishment of a new brass section, the Hot City Horns trio (or as Paul would have it, “the horny boys”). Next there is Letting Go followed by the fierce recent single Come On To Me, which sounds perfectly at home alongside long-established Macca gems.  

And then we are into another treat. A perk of my job, and probably one for the nerds, is to see Paul take out his 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S bass guitar – the same one which, although not quite as famous as his familiar Hofner, graced so many of The Beatles recordings, as well as tracks by Wings and those from his early solo years. And with that, the band rock into a heavy version of Jet. It’s a thrill! At the end, Paul is mucking around with the guitar settings and sounds before suggesting: “Let’s just hold the A chord in Jet for a minute.” A moment later he jokes: “Let’s just actually do the entire show in the chord of A.” Then true to his word, the band follow him performing off-the-cuff versions of A Hard Day’s Night and My Valentine – all using A Major!

Paul then heads to the lighting and sound desk at the back of the arena so he can check out some of the new visuals that are going to be used throughout the show – a show, of course, that Paul will never get to see as he is tied up with other things. One of the images features a Ford model which Paul had actually owned during the 1960s, and he recalls: “The police use to stop me in it. They didn’t think I could own a car like that!”

After reviewing the pre-show visuals which will fill the massive screens throughout the tour, Paul returns to the stage to end his activities by jamming once again with the band. Sometimes it is mind-boggling to think about how many thousands of hours Paul has spent simply making free-form music with the rest of his band. Those priceless, never-to-be-repeated moments, possible germs of ideas which have come and gone in seconds.  

At the end of rehearsal, we (the crew), assemble suspiciously on stage and Paul can clearly sense something is up.  Mark Spring (Paul’s production manager) hands him a special commemorative display the crew have made for the boss to congratulate him on the epic news about topping the chart with Egypt Station. As a team we could not be more proud of Paul and everyone is beaming. What a great way to start a new tour. […]

Videotron Centre

This was the 1st concert played at Videotron Centre.

A total of 2 concerts have been played there • 2018 • Sep 16• Sep 17

Setlist for the soundcheck

The setlist for this soundcheck is incomplete, or we have not be able to confirm in an accurate way that this was the setlist. If you have any clue, pls let us know and leave a comment.

1. Jam

2. Got To Get You Into My Life

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

3. Letting Go

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney

4. Come On To Me

   Written by Paul McCartney

5. Jet

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney

6. A Hard Day's Night

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

7. My Valentine

   Written by Paul McCartney

8. Jam

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