McCartney Still Dazzles in Wings ( Houston 1976)

 McCartney Still Dazzles in Wings

By Dale Adamson

The Houston Chronicle

May 5, 1976

    It's been over 10 years since Paul McCartney set foot on a stage in Houston. He was a Beatle then. Now he's the leader of Wings, which performed its second US concert Tuesday night at the Summit, but there was still a lot of old Beatle-crazed excitement surrounding the show.

     From the throngs pressed against the glass, waiting for the doors to open as long as three hours before the show, to the ear-splitting communal scream that went up when the lights finally went out around 8:30pm to start the show and rouse the packed-in crowd like a stick stirs up an ant bed.

     But after a tentative mic testing "Hello" and the visual thrill of special effects such as smoke, bubbles, and colored spotlights on a mirrored crystal ball, the concert was underway, and McCartney proved quickly that he hardly needed the rest of The Fab Four to dazzle the audience his own way. 

    The keynote of the show was its variety. A full two and a quarter hours of invigorating and refreshing music, well-paced and so impeccably carried out that only technical flaws stood out. McCartney has immersed himself in Wings so thoroughly that in performance, at least, the band no longer comes off as McCartney's backup group.

     After hard-hitting versions of "Rock Show," "Jet," and "Let Me Roll It" with lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch wrenching out licks powerful enough to justify the band's earlier postponement of the tour when he broke a finger, the band slowly diversified. While McCarthy sang most of the songs with plenty of his familiar echo and the boyish exuberance that has been his trademark since his musical coming of age in Liverpool, he stepped back for guitarist Denny Laine on "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" and McCulloch on "Medicine Jar."

     After a moving "Maybe I'm Amazed" with McCartney on piano and McCulloch duplicating McCartney's early post Beatle lead guitar line perfectly. The band rocked through "Lady Madonna", then pulled back abruptly for the hymn-like " Long and Winding Road", turning the two Beatles songs into their own.

     "Live and Let Die", which was as comically explosive as the James Bond film it was written for and wreaked enough musical havoc to set the stage for a finely tuned, homey acoustic guitar sing along. Sitting on simple cane chairs, McCartney, wife Linda, Laine, and McCulloch harmonized movingly through "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me), then turned about for an impromptu rendition of Paul Simon's chilling "Richard Corey" led with fierce determination by Laine.

     The harmonies soared again on "Bluebird" and Laine handled the quick 12-string lead on the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" without flinching before leaving McCartney to fly solo on a beautifully finger plucked "Blackbird."  Wings' horn section, (Thaddeus Richard, Howie Casey, Steve Howard and Tony Dorsey) buoyed up McCartney's gentle phrasing on the classic "Yesterday", as the rest of the band returned to the stage.

     Laine helped lead the well deserved thunderous ovation for that one. The show had reached an emotional peak that left songs like "Magneto and Titanium Man" and "My Love" in a lull before drummer Joe English, one of the band's most vital assets, caught fire under "Listen to What the Man Said", "Let 'Em In", and Lane's powerful vocal and harmonica work on "Time to Hide."

     Linda McCartney, whose role in the band is primarily extramusical, was cheated out of one of her few truly vital musical contributions when her microphone went out on the first harmonizing round of "Silly Love Songs", but the band was rolling through the tense  " Beware My Love", the taunt "I Feel Like Letting Go", and the climatic "Band on the Run", during which the giant screen hanging over the stage finally proved its usefulness with a delightful cover photo come to life, film that diverted the crowd's attention through most of the song. 

    There was a full five-minute standing, stomping, cigarette lighter, burning ticket stub, flashlight, ovation before Wings returned for an encore. McCartney donned a cowboy hat, tossed on stage, and kicked off a frantic "Hi Hi Hi."  This led to another ovation and the final turning of rock and roll "Soily" in front of an eerie laser beam spray that cut through the drifting smoke from behind the band. The last thing McCartney said was, "See you next time!" before walking off hand in hand with Linda. Hopefully, it won't be another 10 or 11 years before that next time.