Complete L’Olympia Paris 2007 (Piccadilly Circus PCDVD-03)
Paris Olympia Theater, Paris, France – October 22, 2007
Introduction, Blackbird, Dance Tonight, Only Mama Knows, Flaming Pie, Got To Get You Into My Life, C Moon, The Long And Winding Road, I’ll Follow The Sun, That Was Me, Here Today, Calico Skies, Eleanor Rigby, Michelle, Band On The Run, Back In The U.S.S.R., House Of Wax, I’ve Got A Feeling, Live and Let Die, Hey Jude, Let It Be, Lady Madonna, I Saw Her Standing There, Get Back
Complete L’Olympia Paris 2007 is a ninety-seven minute video of Paul’s first appearance in Paris in more than three years and first show at the Olympia in more than forty. The pro-shot production is outstanding and the picture quality is very clear and vibrant. This would be the definitive version of the tape except that Piccadilly Circus got hold of a faulty master. Throughout the show the picture freezes and skips ahead. If this were only once or twice it wouldn’t be an issue, but it is scattered throughout the entire show and happens so frequently that it makes it very annoying and opens the door for a better silver release.
The film, titled “Paul McCartney: Live At The Olympia,” is directed by Don Kent, a director in French television whose credits include “Les Guignols de l’info,” “Une visite inopportune,” and “Les Pianos de la nuit.” The tape begins with shots of the venue outside and fans walking in before the start of the show. Surprisingly, Paul ignores all of the other openings employed thus far this year and begins alone playing acoustic guitar and singing “Blackbird.” He continues with “Dance Tonight” until the band joins him after the first verse. “We’re gonna have some fun tonight” he says before “Only Mama Knows” which has become tighter and more dramatic with each passing live show this year. After “Got To Get You Into My Life” Paul says, “Merci, merci. Okay merci.” And explains in French that since he knows only few words in French he will speak English, “I’m sure you all understand. It’s really great to be back in the Olympia. It holds lots of great memories for me.”
“C Moon” is again included in the set and Paul gives a long explaination about the meaning of the title afterwards. “In the fifties there was a song called ‘Wooly Bully’ which said, ‘don’t be L7’ which means square. ‘C Moon’ is the opposite. I know, deep philosophy.” The middle section of the show serves as a quasi-acoustic set. “Here Today” is introduced as a tribute to John rivals the touching version delivered at the Amoeba performance in July. “Calico Skies” played in musette style is a good tribute to France. “Eleanor Rigby” is played for the first time in 2007 with the string section being played on keyboards. Before “Michelle” Paul gets rather talkative and says, “A lot of people say to me they learned English from the Beatle records. How cool is that? I went to Russia and I was meeting the Defense Minister. And he goes ‘Yea, Love Me Do.’ Another guy comes up to me, a big guy, comes up to me and says, ‘Hello Goodbye.”
The audience sings along loudly and this arrangement again is given a musette touch with the accordion. The final third of the show returns to more predictable fare. Rusty Anderson misses his cue at the beginning of “Band On The Run” and they have to stop and start again. “It’s live. You thought this was on tape, didn’t you?” The longer version of “I’ve Got A Feeling” is played with the hard rock coda. Complete L’Olympia Paris 2007 has a basic menu at the beginning of the disc and contains no extras, so this is for those who are only searching for the Paris show. Piccadilly Circus have been on quiet a roll this year with their McCartney releases and have offered very comprehensive coverage of all his live and television appearances. This release, because of the faulty master they used, is the weakest of the lot. Since there is sure to be another edition of this show pressed eventually, it is safe to pass on this one.
