By night London’s O2 Arena is the place to be. It has quickly established itself as the premier music venue in Europe. It’s attracted the biggest names in the world of entertainment and visitors flock there from each corner of the globe.
Visitors to The O2 complex on Wednesday 17th March got an unexpected surprise when they visited the London landmark. The sounds of a band rocking out could be heard filtering through the building. How could this be on a Wednesday afternoon? There were no major shows booked at the venue. On closer inspection the loud band appeared to be playing Paul McCartney songs and the singer was doing a great impression of music’s most treasured icon.
Visitors could hear some of the world’s most seminal anthems being belted out, but the closeness to the originals was just too uncanny. Crowds of people were gathering by the stage doors just to hear what was happening. What was going on inside?
Three months after bringing his ‘Good Evening Europe’ tour to a close with London’s biggest Christmas show at the O2, Paul McCartney was back. This time though he was using the arena as his rehearsal room. Along with his band Paul had started work on putting the finishing touches to his new live show.
Paul McCartney’s brand new ‘Up and Coming Tour’ starts in just a matter of weeks in the US. The show, which features a huge production and elaborate staging, needed a place big enough to use for rehearsals. The O2 Arena is the perfect place. Paul’s crew have built inside the venue an exact mock up of how Paul’s stage will look, including massive video screens, state of the art sound equipment, pyro and elaborate lighting.
The tour needs 31 trucks to carry all its equipment and employs a full time crew of over 150 people to make it all work. The total weight of all the tour’s equipment is a whopping 125,000 pounds! The indoor concerts on the tour use 90 speakers and the outdoor stadium shows use 130. Backstage at each show there are 14 touring offices and dressing rooms. The tour serves approximately 480 vegetarian meals a day to keep the crew going.
Paul’s final show of 2009 at the O2 Arena was his first ever public appearance there. However back in 2004, before the venue was up and running, Paul used the Millennium Dome (as it was then known) to rehearse for his massive 2004 stadium tour. The tour ended with a headline performance at the Glastonbury Festival, which has gone down in rock folklore as the greatest festival moment ever. Rehearsals at the Dome were meant to be top secret but Paul was soon found out after a local resident complained about the noise upsetting his cat!
Up and Coming Tour Dates 2010
Confirmed dates so far
Sunday 28th March Jobing.com Arena, Phoenix
Tuesday 30th March Hollywood Bowl, California
Wednesday 31st March Hollywood Bowl, California
Saturday 3rd April Sun Life Stadium, Miami
Monday 5th April Coliseo De Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
Saturday 12th June RDS, Dublin
Sunday 13th June Isle Of Wight Festival
Sunday 20th June Hampden Park, Glasgow
Saturday 26th June Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Sunday 27th June Hard Rock Calling, London