Sir Paul stages 'secret' NY gig

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Sir Paul McCartney has staged an intimate concert in New York to celebrate the release of his solo album, Memory Almost Full.

Seven hundred fans were treated to Beatles classics like Get Back as well as tracks from the new album.

The gig, at the Highline Ballroom, was announced on his website on Tuesday, and tickets were given away free.

Memory Almost Full made its US chart debut at number three - Sir Paul's highest placing in a decade.

Wednesday's show - which followed last week's free gig in London - opened with Beatles standard Drive My Car.

"Well, here we are in a little club," said Sir Paul. "We should do this more often."

Intimate

Sir Paul dedicated a song to his first wife, Linda McCartneyThe 20-song setlist included Hey Jude, Lady Madonna and The Long and Winding Road as well as Dance Tonight and Only Mama Knows from his new album.

Sir Paul was relaxed and off-the-cuff throughout the night, even stopping to accept bouquets of flowers from the audience.

"I remember writing this next song in a little house we used to live in Liverpool," he said before performing early Beatles track I'll Follow The Sun.

"I was standing in the front parlour looking out through the little lace curtains and thinking, 'I'm going to be a star,' like you do, but it never happened," he joked.

"We could just stand here chatting all night," he added later.

As with the London gig, Sir Paul dedicated solo track Here Today to John Lennon and George Harrison as well as his late wife, Linda McCartney.

"But as for me, I still remember how it was before, and I am holding back the tears no more," he sang to a hushed crowd.

Sir Paul's latest album, Memory Almost Full, has been released on a label run by coffee house chain Starbucks.

Fans have spotted that title is an anagram of For My Soulmate LLM - the initials of his late wife, Linda Louise McCartney.

The singer, who is in the process of divorcing his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney, has not commented on the title.