McCartney, Kremlin, rock and roll: 20 years ago The Beatles hits were played on Red Square
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Anyone who came to Paul McCartney’s concert on Red Square on May 24, 2003 could develop a strong sense of belonging to a historical event. The opportunity to see the same guy from The Beatles live and hear the songs that drove millions of people crazy seemed to unite us with a large musical world where all music lovers are brothers and sisters. Twenty years later, both the world and the industry have changed in the most shocking way. However, the memory of that concert will warm those who got to it for a long time to come. On the day of the 20th anniversary of an incredible musical revelation for the whole country and its musically indifferent citizens, ZD indulges in a pleasant nostalgic tone.
By 2003, Russia had already entered the tour routes of many world stars, and at least the metropolitan music fans could already consider themselves people who had seen something and someone, and this also hides nostalgia – however, now sad. There was also a celebration on the street of the Beatles: in 1998, Ringo Starr, during the tour after the release of the Vertical Man album, performed in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But, with all due respect to the drummer of The Beatles, the quintessence of the aura of the group was still associated with their wizards-authors – John Lennon, but he was killed long before the very possibility of the tour of the stars of “pernicious Western music” in Russia, and, of course, Sir Paul McCartney who lived well then, and, fortunately, continue to this day.
Far from everyone who wants to organize their concert gets to performers of this magnitude, but in the case of Moscow there was a trump card called Red Square. “In 2003, Paul was on a tour that featured shows at various historic sites. For example, in Rome, he performed right on the city square, says Nadezhda Solovyova, the organizer of McCartney’s concert in Moscow, in an interview with ZD. – Of course, both the artist himself and his managers showed interest in Russia, they knew that The Beatles were very popular here. And Red Square fit perfectly into the concept of the tour. But logistically, everything was quite difficult, and we were looking for a solution for a long time how to organize it.”
In addition to the difficult problem of including a Moscow concert in McCartney’s tour (the capital of Russia is still located slightly on the outskirts of the main European tour cities, and the increased movement of a team of several hundred people, as well as tons of equipment, makes the “best city on Earth” not the most convenient and profitable place ) had to be adapted for the big show Red Square. Music, including rock, sounded here before, but the scale of the problems this time was somewhat reminiscent of the ruble against the pound.
“There are always difficulties when you do a concert on a venue that is not suitable for this,” recalls Nadezhda Solovieva. – At that time, St. Basil’s Cathedral was under reconstruction, all in scaffolding. And the BBC filmed this show, they made a whole movie. And the cathedral was just the back of the stage, so the forests, of course, spoiled the picture. I had to arrange for the scaffolding to be removed and then reinstalled. But nothing unresolved arose. Everyone had a single impulse. Many people dreamed about this concert for a long time and wanted everything to go well.”
Behind the scenes of the show, rumors of impressive scale and absurdity were rapidly piling up. Of course, Sir Paul had to pass for a superstar man, with very exotic requests. There was a whole urban legend among the people that the insides of the limousine in which McCartney was transported must be one hundred percent ecological, reflecting the musician’s vegetarian doctrine. And speculation, surprisingly, turned out to be true.
“We almost went crazy thinking about how to replace the usual leather seat covers with something else, but it turned out that no one needed it at all. Paul left on the bus with his group, – Nadezhda Solovyova recalls with a laugh. “Ryder is not made up of the artists themselves, so there are always some things that the management writes to show their importance.”
During the time spent in Moscow, Sir Paul seems to have managed to charm absolutely everyone: photographers, journalists, the president during the Kremlin audience (“We understand each other, because both come from the working class,” the rock star shared then impressions of the meeting) and a huge crowd gathered at the walls of the Kremlin. However, for an artist with such experience, the ability to fall in love with himself once or twice is quite natural. And it’s just as obvious that behind the scenes, superstars can be very different.
“In general, they seemed to me simple people, at least no one gave out any stardom,” Nadezhda recalls. – They have a very well-coordinated team that has not changed for many years, so everyone understands each other perfectly. A clear division of labor, everyone knows what to do, no one just hangs around. In countries where the industry is well developed, the technical team is mega important for artists, so it is impossible to imagine a star looking down on technicians. I remember that during the tour of Diana Ross, an accident happened to her technician: he received a head injury and ended up at the Sklifosovsky Institute. So Diana, instead of a super-important reception, went to visit him. McCartney has the same attitude towards people. Everyone knows their business, so there were simply no fried stories behind the scenes. We were a little scared only when he and Heather (at that time Paul was married to Heather Mills, a British model and social activist. – MK) took bicycles and went for a ride around Moscow alone.
The concert itself was a triumph for true rock and roll democracy. Of course, VIP clientele and simpler ticket holders felt differently. For important guests in GUM, right before the show, they arranged the Kremlin Strawberry Fields with strawberries and champagne. The dance floor and the gallery were content with more modest drinks and at their own expense, but the music equalized everyone.
Between the first Hello Goodbye and the final spike from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The End – more than three dozen tracks, three hours of absolute happiness and nostalgic tears. Someone considered classic hits (they were in stock), someone caught rarities like Getting Better or She’s Leaving Home, someone watched in surprise as Mikhail Boyarsky and Dmitry Dibrov climbed from the stalls for the elite to the fun fan zone …
A year later, McCartney will play in St. Petersburg, and then return to Moscow again, but Red Square, drowned in popular jubilation and Beatle hits, will remain an incredible memory. It was as if optimistic bliss was poured around the Kremlin and the confidence that the good would definitely win over the bad. That peace and love are much stronger than hatred and war.
Newspaper headline:
Back in USSR
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