The Wings frontman performed Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End at the fiftieth-anniversary show, which also saw performances from Talking Heads member David Byrne, Miley Cyrus, and Nirvana with Post Malone. Sharing their thoughts on The Beatles member’s performance to the r/PaulMcCartney subreddit, some feared the end was in sight for McCartney’s touring days. Despite praise for the performance, many wondered if there was much time left to catch the Mull of Kintyre and Live and Let Die songwriter. One wrote: “Such a joy to see him still performing.
“Sounds just as good as he did when I saw him in December, not top of his game but still a great voice for someone at eighty-two.” Another user wrote: “You can see him getting a bit miffed about his voice letting him down at a few points. It was not his best performance, but that was his fourth this week, so it’s understandable. I saw him in Paris and London in December, and he sounded a lot better, and he was brilliant. Sang well and a great showman. London – best night of my life!
“Just to add. I know he’s 82, but can some on here stop acting like he’s about to keel over any day now. He’s the fittest and healthiest 82-year-old I have ever seen. He’s not Frankie Valli, for god sake.”
Some agreed with the strengths of the performance but suggested we were witnessing the “end of an era” and should “drink in” as much as we can. They wrote: “Made me emotional. We’re witnessing the end of an era here. Drink in all you can get.” Another agreed, adding: “Exactly what I felt. I realized that he’d probably not be making the 60th – and that really made me appreciate this performance all the more.”
A third added: “When CBS did that big 50th anniversary of The Beatles in America back in 2014, I watched and enjoyed that very much. Paul and Ringo both doing sets at the end of that was great. As usual, Paul outshined the whole group of stars who did covers all evening. But at the end, I found myself a bit melancholy, thinking that this would likely be the last time for a Beatle on such a major stage. Then here we are, 11 years later and Paul still closes shows. Incredible guy.”
Some viewers suggested McCartney drop a few songs from his setlist and retire those which were more challenging for his vocal changes. One wrote: “I’m going to be honest, I love Paul, I love that he’s still touring, and I wouldn’t mind that much that his voice has greatly declined if he had a limited set of songs…
But, he has created so many songs that I think he should just retire some of them… I am sure that he can find a set of 30 songs that his 82-year-old voice can still sing pretty well, that would be a good thing for him, and that would be a good thing for his fans who would be very happy to hear him play some songs he had never or rarely sung live.”
Another agreed, saying the massive catalogue of work should be given another look if another tour is planned. They wrote: “But, he’s been touring with basically the same songs a bit too long I think… I think he should just drop some of them. His catalogue is massive, and there are so many songs we never got the chance to hear live, or not for a very long time. He should use the decline of his voice as an opportunity to renew his set list.”