Just imagine a many-thousand crowd standing in the central square of Kiev in the pouring, for two and a half hours. With the drops penetrating through umbrellas and the puddles growing into Mariana Trenches, no one had any idea of going somewhere to get warmed. Was it love for rain or collective madness?  

Of course, it was the half-century-long madness called “Beatles-mania”. Although the group stopped forty years ago and John Lennon and George Harrison are no longer among the living, but still the love for Beatles is alive. No pour was capable of preventing a person, who had dreamt on seeing Sir Paul McCartney and hearing alive Yesterday, Let It Be, Hey Jude, All My Loving, Penny Lane and Get Back.   

People stood, got soaked and waited. They were warmed in vain by best stars of the Ukrainian pop music. The only enlivening was when they were addressed by Viktor Pinchuk, the man who had organized McCartney’s visit and arranged a free concert for people.  

And then Sir Paul appeared. McCartney began to sing Drive My Car and the entire crowd rushed into dancing right in the muddy paddles where floating were butts, bottles and even someone’s torn jacket.

During next two hours I happened to see more happy faces than ever in my life. The spectators sang, screamed and shouted, and still they could not express fully their delight. Beatles’ admirers had got together not only from all the former USSR, but also from Europe.

Vladimir Sergeevich, 60, came from the City of Novosibirsk and he could not believe he was standing just 15 meters from Mr. McCartney in person:   

“I first heard Beatles in 1967” he tells. “That was a terrible in quality recording. The disc grunted and gurgled, but even the noises could not spoil the fantastic music. Could I ever imagine that after 40 years I would be standing here and listening to it live? ” 

Kostya came to the concert from Minsk as he was tired of waiting when Sir Paul would visit Byelorussia:  

“Actually, I’m having an examination period, but I thought I’d have more exams in my life, and the McCartney’s concert is unlikely to happen to me again. So I just left everything and came here. Well, come what may”. 

Though, there were people who did not understand well where they were: 

“Actually, I thought it’s John Lennon. But still it’s cool!” said artlessly the indigenous Kiev’s dweller Petro. 

Even without telling Lennon from McCartney, Petro could feel the grandiosity of the moment. But what really mattered was that McCartney himself also felt it. The musician realized perfectly that people expected a fabulous performance. The Beatles always was a fairytale for the former Soviet Union. The legendary group never visited the country, although it composed a famous song Back In USSR, which became the hit of the Kiev’s concert. It appeared that Sir Paul was getting younger with every next minute, turning into a 20-year-old adolescent who founded the group together with Lennon. By the moment of the final I had got an impression that the entire four – Ringo, George, Paul and John – had been performing on the stage. And that was the most significant as people had come to Kiev not for solo concert of Paul McCartney, but for Beatles. McCartney played for everyone and added the drive with every next song. He did not disappoint his admirers and the concert turned to be a magic.          

Performing the famous Harrison’s song “Something” came to be the brightest moment. McCartney sang it in commemoration of his deceased friend George. For a while he played in silence and then the crowd took up the melody and brought it to the end with the musician.    

By the final of the concert, where McCartney allotted the main hits (Yesterday, Let It Be and Hey Jude) the peaceful spectators had turned into violent and ready to tear their idol to pieces. If the performance had lasted one more hour, the crowd might have swept away the VIP box with guards and President Yushchenko. When it was the turn of Yesterday, the face of McCartney shown on a giant screen, grew sad. The song was the brilliant finale of the brilliant concert.