Hope of Deliverance

Last year, the Russian Beatles community tried again to vote for a new song to be included on Paul McCartney’s set list for Russia. The first time they did this was before the 2008 Kiev, Ukraine concert, and the song then was “Mrs Vandebilt”. To the fans delight, Paul included the song in his set…and it has become a mainstay ever since. In 2011, the song that won the most votes was, after some new rules, “Monkberry Moon Delight”, with “Hope of Deliverance” as runner-up.

Unfortunately, the news of the new vote never seemed to reach Mr McCartney, and the song was not included. Surprisingly though, at last nights rehearsal before the South American spring stint of Macca’s tour, the distinct strumming from the start of “Hope of Deliverance” was previewed by his band. Too bad it was too late for the russians, he played there in December 2011, but good news for the South Americans!

After a long string of hits, “Hope of Deliverance” seemed to be Paul’s final biggie when it was released in 1993. Although it didn’t do much in the UK (peaking at #18) and USA (peaking at #83), it charted well in several European countries (#3 in Germany, #4 here in Norway) and South America, and was big on the radio for a while. As this clip from the rehearsal shows, McCartney makes use of his new “My Valentine” videos. Instead of showing the third version with both Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp, he shows the ones with only one of them, but side by side on the big screen behind the band.

In the end, “Hope of Deliverance” was not performed at the concert in Montevideo, but it may appear further on down the road, when properly rehearsed.