McCartney Tour Update

Paul McCartney’s “Out There” tour, now nearing completion of it’s North American leg, has been a success, just like most of his tours. But even if we’re used to stories about shows selling out all the tickets within minutes, this isn’t always the case. Traditionally, Paul and Ringo stage most of their concerts in South and North America, since selling tickets in Europe is harder. In North America, speculants are buying up tickets, reselling them at inflated prices through various internet sites and near the venue on concert day.

Not so with today’s McCartney concert in Winnipeg, Canada, according to this news item. Potential black marketeers have realised that tickets for the concert still are available from the official outlet, Ticketmaster, so they have dumped the prices. From the reseller’s internet site stubhub, tickets are priced from $17 for the cheap ones to $40 for the expensive, while Ticketmaster wants $35 – $250 for similar seats.

The day after tomorrow, August 14. will see the final concert for a while, until the tour continues with dates in Japan in November. In September and Oktober, workaholic McCartney is likely to oversee the completion and launch of his new solo album.

In conjunction with the Japan concerts, rumours abound about an Australian concert. After all, McCartney owes the Australians after cancelling a planned 2002 Melbourne concert, siting the Bali bombings as the reason.

Poster for the cancelled 2002 Melbourne concert

There are also rumours about December concerts in Europe (perhaps London and Liverpool again?), so we hope that he remembers that he cancelled Horsens, Denmark last year.

Yesterday, a few highlights from McCartney’s concert at the San Francisco Outside Lands festival were streamed from the festival’s internet site, but many experienced internet hickups. Meanwhile, I’ve composed a play list of good quality footage from YouTube for your enjoyment. “San Francisco Bay Blues” received a rare non-soundcheck outing, and McCartney was accompanied by real strings during “Yesterday”.