It took 43 years after The Beatles played their first concert at the Cavern Club for one of them to play live in Russia. On this day in 2003, Paul McCartney stepped into Red Square in front of 20,000 people, including Russian president Vladimir Putin, to play a couple hours worth of rock n roll.
While it might not seem like a big deal to many, this concert meant a great deal to the Russian people due to the fact that The Beatles’ music was banned during the Soviet Union’s reign. Young Russians who wanted to hear the fab four risked being arrested for bootlegging copies of band’s music back in the 1960s.
Paul’s set had a wide range of songs, from the 1963 rocker ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ to the Wings’ classic ‘Band on the Run’. Paul even played Back in the USSR twice because President Putin showed up halfway through the concert and missed the first time McCartney played the song. It’s been often said that whenever Putin has to break the ice with photographers, he asks them if they are Beatles fans to help create a connection. Putin has stated that ‘Yesterday’ is his favorite Beatles’ song.
-Mark Goodwin, Music Correspondent
