.: WHAT´S THAT YOU´RE DOING? (No.6/Vol.10)

Saturday, 2 July 2022

WHAT´S THAT YOU´RE DOING? (No.6/Vol.10)

Welcome to the latest edition of

‘What’s That You’re Doing?’

Wow… How can we even begin to sum up the last month?! As we write this newsletter, team PaulMcCartney.com are still reeling from Paul’s historic headline set at Glastonbury Festival, where over 100,000 people (and millions more watching at home) danced and sang along to nearly three hours of hits. What a night!

There was laughter, there were tears, there were sing-along moments to ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Let It Be’ (and pretty much every song!), and there were two very special guests: Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen. The full set is available to listen back to on BBC Sounds. We’ve also made the staggering 36-song setlist available as a Spotify playlist, which you can listen to here.

And let’s talk about that setlist for a moment. We heard the fan favourites (‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’, ‘Band on the Run’, ‘Live and Let Die’) but also some deeper cuts (‘Fuh You’, ‘Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five', ‘New’). Ahead of Paul’s set, we invited fans to create their dream Paul McCartney setlist – which you can still do here! We’ve also plucked those deeper cut tracks from the setlist and placed them in this month’s ‘Sticking Out Of My Back Pocket’ playlist for you to discover all over again. Tune in here.

On the night of the show fans were treated to an insider's look at the backstage comings-and-goings, as Mary McCartney took over Paul’s Instagram Stories with exclusive photos and videos - including a photo of the band’s huddle before their 500th show together! - captured at the festival. Take a look at the highlights here. Also reporting from the festival site were Linda McCartney Foods, who served a ‘Glastonburger’ and other vegetarian treats from their food stand next to the Pyramid Stage (which got a cool shout out from Paul), and Meat Free Monday who spread the word about the benefits of going veggie from their stall near the Green Fields.

One highlight of the weekend came before the headline set, when Paul announced an intimate warm-up show at the Cheese & Grain in Frome, Somerset. Those who were lucky enough to get tickets from the venue box office crammed into the 600-capacity space and watched Paul and the band storm through a stripped-down version of their Glastonbury set.

These two shows marked the culmination of the GOT BACK tour, which finished its US leg in East Rutherford on the 16th June. With this New Jersey performance taking place just two days before Paul’s birthday, it was a night to remember, with surprise guests Bruce Springsteen (sneakily warming up for Glastonbury…) and Jon Bon Jovi, who led the crowd in a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ to Paul. Read the latest ‘Penned On The Run’ tour blog to get the lowdown.

Paul’s big birthday was celebrated across the world: the Capitol Records tower in LA displayed a ‘Happy birthday’ flag, billboards lined the roads to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, TikTok featured the Beatles’ track ‘Birthday’, and a new ‘Which Paul McCartney era suits you?’ Instagram filter launched. As fans and friends shared tributes to Paul online, Paul shared a photo on his social media pages thanking everyone for their well wishes.

What more could Paul possibly fit in this jam-packed month? Oh, just a couple of new releases… the McCartney I II III boxset was announced on the 17th June, with copies scheduled to arrive on 5th August. The boxset will bring together Paul’s iconic self-titled solo albums together for the first time. There was also an exclusive ‘Women and Wives’ 12” single released as Record Store Day’s inaugural Song Of The Year! And in the publishing world, Paul’s Hey Grandude! sequel Grandude’s Green Submarine was released in paperback.