Good Evening Europe Begins

Wow, what a few days it has been! Paul sure knows how to make the most of his time!

On Wednesday Paul kicked off his 'Good Evening Europe' tour in serious style at the Color Line Arena, Hamburg. Paul played an electrifying set in front of an emotionally charged sell-out crowd. AFP reported; "The sold-out, nearly three-hour show, took in Fab Four favourites, hits from his later band Wings, solo efforts and a few new numbers and drew a warm, enthusiastic welcome from an audience spanning three generations. Showing off a renowned knack for thrilling a crowd and remarkable endurance -- he took no breaks during the marathon set, not even for a sip of water."

Those lucky enough to be at the show were also treated to some surprise world premiere exclusives, in the form of 'And I Love Her', 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da' and Paul's brand new track '(I Want To) Come Home', which is taken from the new Robert De Niro film 'Everybody's Fine'. News agency Bloomberg wrote, "McCartney whisked the audience from the quiet melancholy of 'Yesterday', played alone with an acoustic guitar, to the madness of 'Helter Skelter' -- complete with vibrating bass, thrashing percussion and vertigo-inducing roller-coaster rides beamed onto a screen behind him."

As if the excitement of Wednesday night was not enough, as the last note of 'The End' rang out, the crew were already dismantling everything and preparing to hit the road to Berlin. However, for Paul he had to make a rather important detour before meeting up with the rest of the crew in the German capital. Thursday morning saw Paul address the European Parliament in Brussels on his 'Meat Free Monday' initiative. Paul delivered a heartfelt speech at a European Parliament conference and called for a global effort to change eating habits and help save the planet from global warming. Paul also read out a statement in support of his campaign from US climate change activist Al Gore that said, "Meatless Mondays is a responsible and welcome component to a strategy for reducing global pollution." Paul's speech was greeted with applause and in places he even managed to make some of the more serious members of the audience smile.

Following Paul's address there was no time to stick around, or take up (the literally hundreds of) lunch offers! It was time to meet up with the crew and band and rock Berlin! Paul played his second sold out show in 48 hours at the O2 World Berlin last night. Another hit filled set went down an absolute storm and saw him appear on the front cover of Berlin's biggest daily paper the Berliner Morgenpost with a glowing review.

On his 48 hour whirlwind trip Paul also found the time to take some German refresher lessons, which meant he was able to address the audiences in their native tongue. This went down a treat and the crowd showed their appreciation right back at Paul. He also dedicated songs in German to John, George and Linda.

German national newspaper Die Welt reported: "Sometimes the touring artists get it wrong and twist the names of the cities. The venues look alike, the people and the cities too, but Paul McCartney makes no mistakes". Talking about the show itself they said, "We see a different Paul to his last tour. On one hand he is playing with more fun, and on the other he works with more dedication. This is so much more than an evening with a living legend music box. When Paul sings 'Here Today' alone with his guitar, it's not only him who has to hold back the tears."

The tour continues, next stop Arnhem Gelredome!