Former Beatle, Paul
McCartney, speaks during a media conference prior to his concert at
the Olympia music hall in Paris, Monday, Oct. 22, 2007.
(AP)
Sr. Paul McCartney on Monday played Paris's
legendary L'Olympia concert hall, 43 years after a series of
legendary concerts at the same venue by the Beatles.
"It's really good to come back here," the ex-Beatle told
reporters ahead of his one-off Paris gig. "Every time I'm in Paris
as a tourist I come here to see the Olympia."
But "40 years ago it was very new and exciting," he said of the
band's memorable concerts in 1964. "Now it's still exciting but not
very new."
McCartney made his first appearance at the Olympia in 1964 with
the Beatles, a performance that caused havoc in the streets. He
returned to the theater nearly a decade later with Wings, the group
that gave him a new life on the stage in the post-Beatles era.
At the concert, McCartney's performed several songs from his
latest album Memory Almost Full, including Dance
Tonight and Only Mama Knows.
"The business was changing, everything was changing," said
McCartney, who left EMI Music for Starbucks' Hear Music. "I started
to think that the record companies didn't know how to deal with it
and they were getting boring and jaded."
The people at Starbucks had been passionate about his music
whereas the record companies just weren't selling any more, he
added.
(Agencies via Xinhua October 23, 2007)
