Wings Over Europe Tour

In the summer of 1972, Paul McCartney's newly formed band, Wings, set out on a concert tour of Europe. Coming on the heels of a tour of English universities, the Wings Over Europe Tour was intended to promote recent singles "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb", as well as provide live recordings to be included on a future album. The second objective never came to fruition, however, and Red Rose Speedway was released in Spring of the next year without any of the concert material. Only the August 21 performance of "The Mess" at The Hague was officially released, as a b-side to Number One single "My Love".

The band, with the McCartney children and their road crew, loaded up in a brightly coloured double decker bus for the tour of the continent. The tour proceeded largely without incident, but on August 10 in Gothenburg, Sweden, Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested for possession of marijuana and fined US$1,200. Paul joked the arrest would “make good publicity” for the tour, but this arrest would cause him much trouble trying to gain visas for future tours.

Wings' lineup for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Henry McCullough, and Denny Seiwell.

Tour dates

Tour set list

1. "Bip Bop"
2. "Smile Away"
3. "Mumbo"
4. "Give Ireland Back to the Irish"
5. "1882"
6. "I Would Only Smile"
7. "Blue Moon of Kentucky"
8. "The Mess"
9. "Best Friend"
10. "Soily"
11. "I Am Your Singer"
12. "Henry's Blues"
13. "Say You Don't Mind"
14. "Seaside Woman"
15. "Wild Life"
16. "My Love"
17. "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
18. "Maybe I'm Amazed"
19. "Hi, Hi, Hi"
20. "Long Tall Sally"

• "Cotton Fields" - only performed in Antwerp
• "C Moon" - performed in Groningen (Martinihal)

References