Wings UK Tour 1979

On 23 November 1979, Paul McCartney's band Wings began a 19-date concert tour of the United Kingdom to promote their recent album, Back to the Egg.

Wings UK Tour 1979

Tour by Wings
Associated album	Back to the Egg
Start date	23 November 1979
End date	29 December 1979
Legs	1
No. of shows	20
Wings concert chronology
Wings Over the World tour (1975–76) Wings UK Tour 1979 (1979)

History

Wings' lineup for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Laurence Juber and Steve Holley, together with a brass section from the previous tour led by Howie Casey.

Following the main part of the tour, Wings teamed up with an all-star cast of musicians and took the name Rockestra to perform a series of Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

 

Paul McCartney after deporting from Japan, January 1980

It was originally to have been the first leg of a planned world tour, with further stops scheduled in Japan, Europe and America. However, it became Wings' final concert tour, after McCartney's marijuana arrest in Tokyo the following January.^[1][2]

Releases

A recording of "Coming Up" from Glasgow on 17 December 1979 of the tour was released on the single in April 1980 taking the A-side in the United States and becoming a number one hit. The Glasgow show itself was widely bootlegged under the title 'Last Flight'.^[3]

Six songs of the Hammersmith Odeon performance, three by Wings and three by Rockestra, were released on a Concerts for the People of Kampuchea live album.

With the beginning of Paul McCartney Archive Collection album reissues in 2010 more songs from a Glasgow show have been released. Band on the Run reissue received "No Words" and "Band on the Run" as pre-order bonus tracks, McCartney included "Every Night", "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Hot as Sun" and McCartney II included "Coming Up" as bonus tracks.

Tour dates

After a live rehearsal at the Liverpool Royal Court attended by pupils of Liverpool Institute, McCartney's alma mater and of John Lennon's former school, Quarry Bank.

Date	City	Country	Venue
23 November 1979	Liverpool	England	Royal Court Theatre
24 November 1979
25 November 1979
26 November 1979
28 November 1979	Manchester		Manchester Apollo
29 November 1979
1 December 1979	Southampton		Gaumont Theatre
2 December 1979	Brighton		Brighton Centre
3 December 1979	London		Lewisham Odeon
5 December 1979			The Rainbow Theatre
7 December 1979			Wembley Arena
8 December 1979
9 December 1979
10 December 1979
12 December 1979	Birmingham		Birmingham Odeon
14 December 1979	Newcastle upon Tyne		Newcastle City Hall
15 December 1979	Edinburgh	Scotland	Edinburgh Odeon
16 December 1979	Glasgow		The Apollo
17 December 1979
29 December 1979^[A]	London	England	Hammersmith Odeon

Festivals and other miscellaneous performances

^A This concert was a part of "Concerts for the People of Kampuchea"

Tour set list

Average tour setlist^[4]

1. "Got to Get You into My Life"
2. "Getting Closer"
3. "Every Night"
4. "Again and Again and Again"
5. "I've Had Enough"
6. "No Words"
7. "Cook of the House"
8. "Old Siam, Sir"
9. "Maybe I'm Amazed"
10. "The Fool on the Hill"
11. "Let It Be"
12. "Hot as Sun"
13. "Spin It On"
14. "Twenty Flight Rock"
15. "Go Now"
16. "Arrow Through Me"
17. "Wonderful Christmastime" (not performed for Dec. 29th's Hammersmith Odeon show)
18. "Coming Up"
19. "Goodnight Tonight"
20. "Yesterday"
21. "Mull of Kintyre"
22. "Band on the Run"

External links

References

1. "Tokyo Officials Hold Paul for Drugs". The Michigan Daily. January 17, 1980. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
2. Wasserman, Harry. "Paul's Pot-Bust Shocker Makes Him A Jailhouse Rocker". High Times, July 1980. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
3. "Paul McCartney & Wings – Last Flight Definitive Edition (Misterclaudel MCCD-05/06) – Collectors Music Reviews".
4. Wings Average Setlists of year: Wings UK Tour 1979, http://www.setlist.fm/stats/average-setlist/wings-23d68837.html?tour=Wings+UK+Tour+1979