LONDON (Reuters) - Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has returned to his hometown Liverpool to play at the Cavern Club, the crowded and smoky basement venue where the "Fab Four" cut their musical teeth.
McCartney performed at the club on Friday night during a private party to celebrate the end of his world tour ahead of the final concert in Liverpool on Sunday.
"It had a special meaning for him to be back in Liverpool," venue manager Alex McKechnie told Reuters on Saturday.
McCartney played three songs, including the Beatles classic "Let it Be", and also joined in with a rap solo to Sister Sledge's 1970s hit "We Are Family", McKechnie said.
McCartney's pregnant wife Heather attended the party, along with around 150 guests, including crew members and a few close friends and family.
McCartney, who was born in Liverpool on June 18, 1942, first played at the club in the 1950s with his band "The Quarrymen". He appeared over 200 times with the Beatles.
The original Cavern was bulldozed in 1973 but a replica was created just a few feet away in the 1980s.
The sold out Liverpool gig in front of 30,000 fans will mark the end of McCartney's "Back in the World" tour. Organisers have erected a 70-foot (20-metre) stage at a specially built outdoor arena in the northern English city's King's Dock.
The concert will be McCartney's first major solo concert in Liverpool since 1990.
In all, some two million people will have seen his latest tour, which started in California in April 2002.
It took McCartney through more than 15 countries, including Russia, where he played on Moscow's Red Square in front of President Vladimir Putin.

>> read Jean Catherell's report on Macca at Kings Dock, June 2015

>> read review of Paul's Cavern performance 1999

>> back to home page