In the articles I have posted on the Wings Over America tour, the critics have been very positive. Well -- let's look at one that isn't just for a change.
McCartney and Wings Lay Egg
Associated Press
June 23, 1976
It was going to be a genuine big event. It just had to be. Paul McCartney was coming to the rock music capital to perform for the first time in a decade. The Wings tour had been drawing critical praise across the country. Paul's picture was on the cover of Time, People, Rolling Stone. Wings at the Speed of Sound was number one on the album sales charts, and "Silly Love Songs" was number one among singles, but the big event turned out to be a big dud.
The ex-Beatles' new band simply failed to deliver Monday night as it opened a three-night stand at the Inglewood Forum that will conclude its 21-city tour of the United States. The audience was clearly primed and ready to enjoy the show. Just the appearance of Ringo Starr in the stands shortly before the band hit the stage brought the crowd to its feet, cheering. Surprisingly, little else did.
Wing's performance of "Live and Let Die", a hit single of a few years back, unleashed a wild response, but only because it featured three separate blinding explosions of smoke bombs and some trippy laser light effects. Much of the rest of their performance was boring, often painfully so, because of a blaring, poorly mixed sound system. Some songs came across merely as an excruciating din.
The main problem, however, was that Wings had little to offer. Although the musicianship on the 30 songs performed during the two-hour and 15-minute concert was technically sound, it lacked the individual distinction or inspiration to make it exciting, and McCartney, an appealing singer and generally good songwriter, lacked the dynamic stage personality to overcome the band's musical shortcomings. He was bouncy and silly and talkative, but he didn't have the riveting quality of, say, David Bowie or Mick Jagger.
Still, McCartney did manage to infuse a few moments of magic into an otherwise disappointing evening. Significantly, he did it alone. McCartney sat on stage by himself and sang two Beatles tunes, "Blackbird" and "Yesterday", accompanied by his acoustic guitar. His voice was sweet and clear, and both songs were beautiful. He got a standing ovation after the second one.
Much to the audience's delight, there were three other Beatles songs in the show: "Lady Madonna", "I've Just Seen a Face", and "Baby, I'm Amazed" [sic]. Happily, the lackluster concert ended on an exciting note, though again on a non-musical note. As the band finished its second encore, Ringo appeared on stage with a bundle of flowers. He handed it to one of the guitarists, waved to the crowd, and then he and McCartney embraced. The two of them walked off stage together, Ringo carrying his former partner's guitar
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