Paul McCartney mocked Donald Trump during a rare, intimate performance at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
In a room of 1,200 people, the Beatles legend poked fun at the President's dance moves, which earned boos from the crowd, reflecting the heightened political tension of the weekend, per CNN.
The concert took place as the third wave of 'No Kings' protests swept through American cities. While McCartney kept most of the setlist focused on his hits, this pointed jab reminded you of his long-standing criticism of the administration.
Big-name celebrities joined those who gathered to see McCartney play the second of two shows scheduled for the event. Ringo Starr, Stevie Nicks, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Margot Robbie were in the audience. The presence of these celebrities added to the event's gravity. Attendees like Derek Heath described the gathering as an 'antidote' to troubled times.
Paul McCartney Inspires Amid No Kings Rallies
The event was described as cosy and intimate, with everyone surrendering their mobile phones upon entering the theatre. The concert coincided with the third wave of 'No Kings' nationwide protests, which urged Americans to reject what it calls autocratic tendencies in the presidency.
The response to McCartney's Trump joke underscored the crowd's overwhelming resentment toward Trump, whose administration policies have drawn mounting backlash. McCartney diffused the tension with a setlist of Beatles and Wings classics.
Attendees said the show was a brief respite from the sense of uncertainty prevailing in the national zeitgeist. 'I just feel like art and community and any sort of gathering around something that's going to uplift us or bring us closer to each other in our city, that's the antidote to troubled times,' Derek Heath, a graphic designer, said.
Annika Ahmed, who works under the Los Angeles School District, said she skipped that day's No Kings rallies just to attend the show. Referring to McCartney, she said she felt good supporting 'someone who we hope has good values and good ideas about how things should be.'
Concert with Beatles Classic
On top of The Beatles' hit 'Help!', 'Something,' and 'I've Just Seen a Face,' McCartney also reportedly performed 'Blackbird,' a solemn ballad that resonated with the 1960s civil rights movement.
Outside of last Saturday's Trump jibe, McCartney has been more vocal in speaking out against the president. His 2018 song 'Despite Repeated Warnings' was a response to Trump's apathy towards climate change, per The Irish Star.
McCartney: Donald Trump 'Mad Captain'
In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, McCartney referred to the President as a 'mad captain'. He argued that a 'braggart' was in charge of an unstable political situation.
'We're faced with the political situation, particularly in the US, where a braggart has been in charge and seems quite unstable, to say the least,' he wrote in this book, referring to Trump. 'He's shouting the loudest, but he's not necessarily the smartest.'
He elaborated on that sentiment in a 2018 BBC interview, explaining the song's prevailing theme. 'I just wanted to make a song that would talk about that and basically say, "Occasionally, we've got a mad captain sailing this boat we're all on and he is just going to take us to the iceberg [despite] being warned it's not a cool idea,"' he explained.
When asked about his inspiration for the song, McCartney was explicit. 'Well, I mean, obviously it's Trump,' he said. 'But I don't get too involved because there's plenty of them about. He's not the only one.'
While he usually avoids deep political involvement, the Fonda Theatre show proved that he still finds room for a sharp critique.
