(Credits: Far Out / Kurt Schollenberger / ETH Library)
Sun 26 October 2025 21:30, UK
It’s kind of remarkable that someone as popular as Paul McCartney went an entire decade without performing in the US, but after the Beatles played their final concert in the States in 1966, their bassist wouldn’t return until ten years later.
Despite the fact that his solo career and early recordings with Wings were hugely successful, it took a long time for the band to embark on their first tour outside of Europe, but after the smash success of both Band On the Run and their theme song for Roger Moore’s debut film as James Bond, Live and Let Die, it became inevitable that McCartney would find himself travelling across the pond once more and reuniting with his American fanbase.
The Wings Over the World tour took the band to several far-off destinations, which was a far more extensive schedule than they had done on any of their previous tours, and saw the band performing primarily in arenas and stadiums compared to the theatres and concert halls they’d played in on other outings. It was far more lavish than anything they’d done before, and after starting in the UK and Australia in 1975, they would then move on to the rest of Europe and North America the following year.
It was just prior to this gargantuan stretch on the road that the band had released their fourth studio album, Venus and Mars, and as it turns out, the second track on the album, ‘Rock Show’, was written specifically for the purpose of being performed on this enormous tour. Given how its lyrics are meant to paint a picture of an extravagant rock concert, it was meant to serve as a bombastic and theatrical opening song that would instantly get audiences going.
Within the song, there are plenty of lines that reference iconic venues across America, such as Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl, as well as London’s Rainbow Theatre and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, while also making nods to other rock icons such as Jimmy Page. It’s written as a tribute to performing in these iconic settings and putting on a history-making show, and does an impeccable job of creating this environment.
However, there was one lyric in the middle section of the song that proved to be somewhat controversial to some listeners, especially because of how it painted the often squeaky-clean impression that people had of McCartney in a different light. The line, “tension mounts, sometimes you score an ounce,” was supposedly included by McCartney in order to make the scene he was trying to paint more authentic to reality and “less respectable”, acknowledging that drugs were often rife at gigs during this time.
While McCartney had often tried to be secretive about his own drug use, this acknowledgement of how it was common for punters and bands to be partaking in such activities, and while McCartney’s mission of making it all seem a little seedier may not have been successful, he certainly made a song that was fitting of being blasted in stadiums, and truly captured the energy of what it’s like to be in such an environment.
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