Wings University Tour was an impromptu UK

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

in 1972, shortly after the band's formation and initial album release, '' Wild Life''. Wings' lineup for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney,

Denny Laine Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Hines, 29 October 1944) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, known as a founder of two major rock bands: the Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964 to 1966, and Wings, with whom he played from 1 ...

Henry McCullough Henry Campbell Liken McCullough (21 July 1943 – 14 June 2016) was a Northern Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was best known for his work as a member of Spooky Tooth, The Grease Band and Paul McCartney and Wings. He also perf ...

, and

Denny Seiwell Denny Seiwell (born July 10, 1943) is an American drummer and a founding member of Wings. He also drummed for Billy Joel and Liza Minnelli and played in the scores for the films ''Waterworld'', '' Grease II'', and ''Vertical Limit''. His d ...

Background

McCartney had formed Wings for the purpose of having a band to go on the road with again, and he wasted no time in doing just that. During the waning years of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

, notably during the

Get Back sessions ''Let It Be'' is the twelfth and final studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 8 May 1970, almost a month after the group's public break-up, in tandem with the documentary of the same name. Concerned about ...

, he had suggested they return to live performances by showing up unannounced at

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s and playing for the patrons, but the idea was never seriously considered by the other Beatles. From 2 to 7 February 1972, Wings held rehearsals for the tour at London's

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

(ICA). The rehearsals were filmed by Tyncho Films, and titled by McCartney as ''The ICA Rehearsal'', and features footage of: "The Mess", "Wild Life", "Bip Bop", "

Blue Moon of Kentucky "Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1945 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, the Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley and Paul McCartney. "Blue Moon of Kentu ...

", "

Maybellene "Maybellene" is a rock and roll song. It was written and recorded in 1955 by Chuck Berry, adapted in part from the Western swing fiddle tune " Ida Red". Berry's song told the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance, the lyrics describing ...

", "

Seaside Woman "Seaside Woman" is a 1977 single by Wings released under the pseudonym Suzy and the Red Stripes. It charted at #59 in the US and in the UK at #90 in 1986. History "Seaside Woman" was the first song Linda McCartney wrote by herself, in response to ...

", " My Love", "

Give Ireland Back to the Irish "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" is the debut single by the British–American rock band Wings that was released in February 1972. It was written by Paul McCartney and his wife Linda in response to the events of Bloody Sunday, on 30 January that ...

" and " Lucille". A short excerpt of the footage was included in the TV documentary ''

Wings Over the World ''Wings Over the World'' is a 1979 television documentary film featuring the rock band Wings. It consists of concert performances from their acclaimed 1975–76 world tour,Rodriguez, p. 336. together with behind-the-scenes footage.Madinger & E ...

''.

Locations, fee

McCartney took the band on an impromptu tour of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. Beginning on 9 February Wings would arrive—often unannounced—at destinations McCartney would later refer to in the 2001 documentary ''

Wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

'' as venues which simply "sounded nteresting to the band, and would subsequently perform live for whoever happened to be on campus on the date of their arrival. He would later reflect on the mechanisms and motives of this tour as being a phase in the construction of the band he had formed, stating: "For me, it was like building the whole thing from square one."''McCartney: Songwriter'' p. 98 The band's intended first stop on the tour,

Ashby de la Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...

, had no suitable venue, so the band moved on to the more receptive

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, with Paul performing his first paying concert since 1966. Admission to the first show which was held at 12 noon in the Portland Building Ballroom was

GBP Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

0.40, proceeds being split up equally among the band members. At Hull, the word circulated fast, and a full hall of about 800 welcomed Wings at 50p per head. At Leeds (50p) the gig had a generator on standby as a precaution against the powercuts due to the miners strike.

Tour dates

Set list

References

{{authority control Wings (band) concert tours 1972 concert tours 1972 in the United Kingdom Concert tours of the United Kingdom Universities in the United Kingdom