Paul McCartney Plays Historic Concert in Tel Aviv

Photo Gallery: Paul McCartney's Historic "Friendship First" Concert in Tel Aviv, Israel

Paul McCartney played his first ever concert in Tel Aviv today, playing to 40,000 fans more than 40 years after the Beatles were banned from playing Israel. Once on stage, Macca dusted off his knowledge of the Hebrew language to welcome the crowd and wish them a happy Rosh Hashanah next week. McCartney's "Friendship First" concert, named with the hope of easing tensions in the tumultuous area, featured 31 hits from through Paul's career, from the Beatles' singles to "Band on the Run" to Memory Almost Full's "Dance Tonight." During John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance," McCartney let the crowd take over to sing the song's final coda, while fireworks lit up the sky during Macca's own "Live And Let Die." And three months after playing it live for the first time, McCartney once again treated the crowd to the Sgt. Pepper classic "A Day in the Life." Follow the jump to check out the entire Tel Aviv set list.

Set list:
"Hello Goodbye"
"Jet"
"Drive My Car"
"Only Mama Knows"
"All My Loving"
"Flaming Pie"
"Let Me Roll It"
"My Love"
"Let Em In"
"The Long and Winding Road"
"Dance Tonight"
"Blackbird"
"Calico Skies"
"Follow The Sun"
"Mrs Vanderbilt"
"Here, There and Everywhere"
"Eleanor Rigby"
"Something"
"A Day In The Life"
"Give Peace A Chance"
"Band On The Run"
"Back In The USSR"
"I Got A Feeling"
"Live and Let Die"
"Let It Be"
"Hey Jude"
"Lady Madonna"
"Get Back"
"I Saw Her Standing There"
"Yesterday"
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"

Related Stories:
• Paul McCartney on Israel Show: "Music Can Help People Calm Down"
• Paul McCartney Promises Israel Show Will Go On Despite Outcry
• Joe Cocker to Headline New Israel Peace Festival

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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