McCartney proves a winner in Red Square May 26 2003
Daily Post
HE KEPT the Russians waiting. Until the demise of the Soviet Union. Then more than another decade. And finally an extra 20 minutes on the night.
But when Sir Paul McCartney kicked off his Red Square concert, near Lenin's mausoleum and Stalin's grave, thousands of his Russian fans weren't holding it against him.
"I've waited my whole life for this," said Vladimir Snopov, 52, of Samara, about 550 miles south of Moscow, who recalled when the only way to hear McCartney sing was by listening to banned and often-fuzzy broadcasts over Voice of America and the BBC.
The former Beatle told journalists that he tried to get to Russia in the 1980s, but was told a concert here was out of the question.
On Saturday, though, he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who confessed that in Soviet times the Beatles were considered "propaganda of an alien ideology". Putin, an ex-KGB agent, had no such hang-ups, giving McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills, a guided tour of the Kremlin.
In return, McCartney serenaded Putin with Let it Be.
McCartney also pulled off the remarkable coup of commandeering the main portion of Red Square - rock bands are relegated to lesser space. "Good evening, Moskvichi," McCartney yelled to an estimated 20,000 fans - a mixed crowd including those who arrived in chauffeur-driven Mercedes and sailed hassle-free through the heavy security at the gates, to families and couples wearing old Beatles concert T-shirts.
"I bought the cheapest ticket there was," said Irina Trifonova of St. Petersburg.
But the music was still audible far outside Red Square, and thousands of Russians took advantage of the warm weather to gather behind police barricades and listen.
McCartney told journalists before the concert that he was thrilled to be in Russia - and performing on the doorstep of the Kremlin.
"When I was a little kid growing up, we didn't know much about Russia. We heard about Siberia and saw the marches pass through this square. We thought it was very military," he said.
The first-time visitor was clearly in awe of his surroundings. "It's a long way from Liverpool, isn't it," McCartney said during a sound-check ahead of the concert.
And when asked where he could perform that would top Red Square, McCartney didn't hesitate: "Next stop the moon," he said.
