Paul McCartney dazzles Quebec City as huge spectacle goes off without a hitch
QUEBEC — With fans screaming for more and morning-after newspaper headlines trumpeting a conquest, Paul McCartney's concert left a mark on the Plains of Abraham.
Quebec City was still spinning with excitement Monday, hours after the former Beatle dazzled the provincial capital for its 400th birthday bash. The legendary rock star lured an estimated 200,000 people to the party Sunday evening.
"Merci beaucoup toute le gang," McCartney told the enthused masses in Quebecois French shortly before kicking off the final songs of the show.
"Merci toute le gang, man."
A youthful, energized McCartney performed 36 solo, Wings and Beatles tunes for two-and-a-half hours for the adoring crowd.
His only breather came before the five-song encore.
Quebec City singer Pascale Picard and Montreal band The Stills opened the show.
After the concert, the father of The Stills' frontman Tim Fletcher, said it was amazing to see his son up there.
"It was a mind-blower for them - for us, we're just thunderstruck," David Fletcher said.
"Playing for McCartney, a legend . . . is just extraordinary. We're so thrilled for him."
Fletcher had VIP tickets and found a spot right in front of the stage.
"I guess I can die happy now, I've seen McCartney live in front of a crowd like that," he said.
"The reception that he got, it was great to be part of that whole feeling.
"He's 66 years old and he was out there performing like a 20-year-old."
The colossal birthday party attracted fans of all ages, many of whom travelled to the city from abroad.
"He was an idol from my youth, like so many people," Renald Letourneau said of Sir Paul.
"He's an extraordinary man. We had to see him once in our life. We weren't going to wait for him to come back, we weren't going to take a chance."
Quebec City native Deborah Lambert said she's been listening to McCartney since 1963, when he was one of the Fab Four.
"I remember the sisters at the convent telling me, 'You know, if you knew your homework like you knew the songs of the Beatles, you'd be doing very well'," Lambert said.
"I was learning Beatles songs before homework."
Organizers and security officials anticipated the huge numbers for the free outdoor concert.
But fears of unrest in the crowds never materialized, local police said.
Police reported only six arrests, each for minor infractions.
"Everything went smoothly, people were disciplined, people were cool, people were very 'peace and love'," said Daniel Gelinas, lead organizer for Quebec City's year-long anniversary festivities.
"McCartney's team was taken with the event and thrilled with how everything went."
Gelinas said people will probably remember the concert for years to come.
"We wanted to make sure people have memories that would be engraved in their minds forever," he said.
Last week, several Quebec nationalists were questioning the British knight's participation in the celebrations.
They claimed his presence evokes painful memories of Britain's conquest of New France in 1760.
The Plains of Abraham was the site of the key 1759 battle between British Gen. James Wolfe and France's Marquis Louis-Joseph de Montcalm.
But McCartney brushed off his critics by telling them to "smoke the pipes of peace."
On Sunday, he displayed his affection for La Belle Province by waving a fleur-de-lis flag and sporting a souvenir Quebec sweatshirt on stage.
"C'est ma premiere visite a Quebec," he shouted to the crowd during the show.
"And it's a great place."
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