The build up to the big day had been equally as exciting with Paul and the guys visiting the stadium twice for rehearsals. I can only describe the stadium and village as totally mega - it was literally buzzing. From the moment you could see the outline of the Olympic village in the distance, it was like being in a film. Already you could get the sense of just what a massive spectacle it was all going to be. Looking around the venue you could see all kinds of props suspended from the roof. Paul’s stage area was actually situated underneath (here comes the fact of the day) the fourth largest bell in the world, which you will have noticed on TV.
On the day of Paul’s first rehearsal in the sweltering heat, he treated stadium staff to a private gig. Venue workers couldn’t believe it as they formed an impromptu mosh-pit in front of Paul for the stadium’s first ever rock concert. It was quite a sight to behold as line managers and security staff did their best to get workers back to their posts while Paul rocked through classics including ‘1985’, ‘Let Me Roll It’, ‘Drive My Car’ and ‘My Valentine’. Eventually the line managers gave up and joined in too. I was watching while chatting to some producers from the US network NBC. They told me they felt like they could go home happy now after watching this and that they were getting goose bumps just from the jam session. I also spent a lot of time clearing excited unofficial photographers from rehearsals who had somehow managed to get in. I suppose given that there were more than 500 officially accredited photographers for the opening spectacular, the odd few were bound to slip through the net.
In the week leading up to the event, Paul appeared on the cover of the UK’s prestigious Shortlist magazine for their Olympic special issue. Given all the Olympic icons out there, the editorial team was adamant that Paul should be their cover star. The magazine was set to get their biggest ever circulation as the world arrived in the UK ahead of the games.
As the day of the opening ceremony arrived, Paul’s team arrived on site in the afternoon to get themselves ready for their own epic evening ahead of them. Paul’s green room area was situated a good 30 minute walk from the stadium itself so we spent a lot of the day on our feet, getting a lot of exercise moving between meetings within the stadium and back to our green room base. An hour or so before the ceremony officially started and before our main man arrived, a busload of Paul’s friends and family arrived at the green room area, all onsite to show their support for a very special and unique moment in a career that has seen an impossible number of impressive accolades and events. Just moments later, Paul and Nancy arrived.
At 8:45pm, Paul – full of jokes and friendliness - jumped on the bus with everyone to be taken to their seats for the opening ceremony. It felt like a school trip with a mischievous McCartney who was showing no sign of nerves even though he was about to perform to billions around the globe!
When the bus pulled up to the stadium, Paul got off with his friends and joined the masses as they all made their way to their seats. As Paul made his way through the crowds, people were double taking, not quite sure if they believed what they had just seen. ‘I think that was Macca,’ I overheard a young woman say to the man she was with. ‘Don’t be silly,’ came the reply, ‘he’s hardly going to be taking a seat in the stadium, let alone walking through the crowds to get there.’ But she was right, it was Macca. Paul and the guys kept moving just fast enough to avoid any chance of him being totally mobbed but there was still time for a lot of people to be left open-mouthed and very confused.
At 9PM, the ceremony got under way and just after 10PM, Paul and the band left their seats in the stadium to return to the green room to get ready. They had a makeshift rehearsal room set up, similar to the Mexico City Hotel pre-gig jam. Just before midnight, Paul made his way back to the stadium once again but this time as a performer and not a spectator. Paul was in high spirits, posing for some pictures for Twitter and drinking in the incredible atmosphere along with the rest of the crew. Then before we knew it, it was time for Paul to take to his piano stool and start up with ‘The End’ before leading the stadium (and viewers everywhere) in a massive sing-a-long. It was incredible. Being stood by the side of stage, it was incredible hearing all those voices coming from the audience. What a rush!
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