PAUL McCARTNEY GETS ALOT OF POINTS FOR PERFORMING AT THE APOLLO!

Two of the longest-running music icons from the last century had their first date last night.
Paul McCartney made his late-in-life debut at the Apollo Theater, an improbable encounter that came about largely through the quirks of corporate synergy and PR.

Sir Paul paid the visit to Harlem's most storied hall as a promotional payback to SiriusXM Satellite Radio, which has devoted an entire "popup" channel to the former Beatle's music for the month of December.

The network has been emphasizing McCartney's hands-down best solo album, 1973's "Band on the Run" - and Monday night's show featured a sweet chunk of it. The two-hour event featured touchstones like the glam-rock "Jet," the jaunty "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" and the multipart title track, which snakes through two tricky segments before reaching its hugely friendly finale.

However familiar such songs may be, their performance here gained special allure through the coziness of the venue. Last time McCartney played our area, he christened the new Citi Field in front of 50,000 fans. Here, he graced an audience roughly a fiftieth the size.

As usual, McCartney's crack four-man backing band perfectly re-created the color and punch of the classics. It helped that, even at age 68, the star has a voice that retains the boyish charm and flexibility of his much younger self.

To acknowledge the setting, McCartney offered just one stab at soul - a cover of Marvin Gaye's Day-Glo 1962 hit "Hitch Hike." He did so accompanied by six miniskirted go-go dancers. A technical glitch that messed up the song the first time through only gave the ever-affable star the chance to prove his continued unflappability.

Otherwise, the event could not have run more smoothly. Mirroring the compressed venue, McCartney's band played the usual Beatles and Wings hits with special crunch and verve. It emphasized power pop classics from "Drive My Car" to "Back in the U.S.S.R."

Just one song came from this century, "Dance Tonight." But it's not just nostalgia that drives people back to these pieces. The fresh and youthful performance McCartney gave Monday night helped these songs display what put them in their exalted position in the first place.

Set list:

1) Magical Mystery Tour

2) Jet

3) Drive My Car

4) All My Lovin'

5) One After 909

6) Let Me Roll It with Foxy Lady

7) The Long And Winding Road

8) Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five

9) Maybe I'm Amazed

10) Blackbird

11) I'm Looking Through You

12) And I Love Her

13) Dance Tonight

14) Eleanor Rigby

15) HitchHike

16) Band On The Run

17) Back In the USSR

18) A Day In The Life

19) Give Peace A Chance

20) Let It Be

21) Hey Jude

22) Having A Wonderful Christmas Time

23) I Saw Her Standing There

24) Get Back

25) Yesterday

26) Sgt. Pepper

27) The End

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