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Updated June 28. On Saturday evening, Sir Paul performed for two-and-a-half hours on the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury festival on Saturday night. He and Heather arrived by helicopter at the Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerse (the site of the festival) just in time to enjoy the set performed by his current favorite band, The Black Eyed Peas. The hip-hoppers were rescheduled so that they could appear as Sir Paul's personally selected warm-up act.
Was Sir Paul concerned by the torrential rains that have plagued the festival this year? Sir Paul's spokesman, Geoff Baker, told reporters yesterday:
"Paul's not worried about the weather for Glastonbury. When he played in Rio there was a hurricane. Paul just kept telling everyone: 'The rain will stop.' He went on to play and three minutes later it did."
Earlier, in an interview with Radio 1, Sir Paul said:
"Last year I had a few mates that said they were walking past all the tents and people were singing old Beatles songs, so I thought I'd better get down there and do a bit myself. We've got some numbers we haven't done live in England so we'll slam a couple of those in and have a bit of fun. We've got a set that will be sunny if it's raining and sunny if it's not!"
In spite of the gray skies and the rain, 100,000 fans stood in ankle-deep mud to hear Sir Paul perform his Beatles, Wings, and solo tune. It was a moving evening for both the performer and his audience. Wearing his "No More Landmines" T-shirt, Sir Paul told the audience that he was struggling to "drink in" the vast assembly he saw before him saying:
"Hey, it's great to be at Glastonbury ... standing at the confluence of the ley-lines tonight - and tonight we have come here to rock you!"
Sir Paul's performance won over Festival founder, Michael Eavis, told the BBC he was disappointed with Oasis' performance the previous evening:
"They were in a bit of a mood. The two of them looked grumpy and they didn't chat to the audience at all and I was a little disappointed. I'm more of an Oasis fan than a Beatles fan, but Paul McCartney came over so much stronger. He was so good and so into it. He loved it, didn't he? He won the day. He gave me a big hug and kissed me at the end. I should have been kissing him. It was one of the best acts I've ever seen."
Far from the mud-soaked masses of fans, Sir Paul had a specially built, heavily guarded camp set up for his entourage which included a private loo, a banqueting tent, offices, dressing rooms and kitchens. According to a festive insider:
"It wasn't just a festival performance for Macca it was the final gig of his European tour. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect for him and Heather."
(kindly submitted by PLUGGED correspondent Joan M. Hopkins)
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