BEIJING, July21 (Xinhuanet)-- Music icon Paul McCartney gave a free performance laden with Beatles song at an outdoor concert in Quebec on Sunday, in celebration of the city's 400th birthday bash.
McCartney opened the show with the Wings song "Jet" after which he greeted the crowd in French. The audience erupted and the band then started into the Beatles' 1965 classic "Drive My Car."
Organizers expected some 200,000 people at the outdoor show on the city's Plains of Abraham.
Tens of thousands of music fans streamed onto the Plains of Abraham early Sunday in hopes of securing a good vantage point to catch a glimpse of the British knight.
The much-anticipated show is McCartney's only scheduled performance in North America this year.
Some peoplehave been questioning McCartney's participation in Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations because of his British roots.
They claim his presence evokes painful memories of Britain's conquest of New France in 1760.
The Plains of Abraham was the site of the pivotal 1759 battle between British Gen. James Wolfe and France's Marquis Louis-Joseph de Montcalm.
In an interview with Radio-Canada on Thursday, the 66-year-old rock 'n roll icon brushed off the nationalists' claims.
"I think it's time to smoke the pipes of peace and to just, you know, put away your hatchet because I think it's a show of friendship," McCartney said.
(Agencies)
