Macca Returns To Hamburg

Paul McCartney’s decision to return to Hamburg to launch his first European tour in five years affords the city’s marketing organisation another chance to trumpet its live music heritage.

Macca will find some places have changed very little since The Beatles first played Hamburg in the early ’60s.

His last drinks tab – which he did pay – is still on the wall of a bar on Grosse Freiheit.

Nearly 50 years after his first historic visit, Macca will find further evidence of how seriously the city now takes its musical heritage at the five-story Beatles exhibition that Hamburg-based live music promoter Folkert Koopmans has put together at the east end of the Reeperbahn.

The junction that links the two streets now has a steel structure monument depicting the Fab Four. It cost an estimated euro 340,000 ($500,000) and was unveiled a little over a year ago.

“Hamburg is proud to have Paul back where everything began – it’s going to be a perfect start for next year’s 50th anniversary of The Beatles career starting in Hamburg,” says Hamburg Marketing media relations director Guido Neumann.

Sir Paul’s “Good Evening Europe” tour – which currently stands at seven dates – kicks off with a show co-promoted by Peter Rieger and Karsten Jahnke at the city’s Color Line Arena Dec. 2.

The other cities on the itinerary are Berlin, Arnhem, Paris, Cologne, Dublin and London.