Despite my brain and my cough telling me I was nuts, I went!

I left my house at 9:45pm and made my way to the station. I got to Virgin Records, Piccadilly Circus at about 11:00 and could see about 30 people all lying motionless in their sleeping bags lined up outside the shop - some were wrapped in those silver sheets normally handed out to marathon runners at the end of a race - it was bloody cold!

There were more people in the queue than I thought there would be and I followed the line to the end which disappeared around the corner... and as I turned the corner there stretched out in front of me all along the entire length of the road was sleeping bag after sleeping bag. "This isn't good" I thought!!

I followed the queue around to the next corner and was met with the same image! I continued on and eventually found the end of the queue around the next bend! A security guard was giving out numbered tickets so you wouldn't lose you place if you had to "go somewhere" - I was 199. Not as high as I'd expected, judging by the length of the queue, but still high enough!

I pitched camp outside a Scottish Gentlemen's Outfitters - selling sporrans, various tartan fabric and kashmir sweaters- next to a bus stop with the Cafe Royal directly opposite on the other side of the road. I quietly unpacked my stuff which consisted of a chair, blanket, umbrella and a flask of coffee - no sleeping bag! My intention was to keep warm under the blanket and fall asleep in the chair - I was wrong on both counts!

I was on my own having been dumped by 4 prospective queue buddies - including 1 member of the British Beatles Fan Club, 1 member of the Paul McCartney forum and 2 of my best mates - and I couldn't blame them!

Fortunately I wasn't alone for long as 4 other people soon joined me at the back of the queue - 2 young guys named Ed and Joe who were a brilliant laugh and spent the night finding various ways to get stoned including the consumption of several cans of very dodgy imitation Diamond White cider called "White Lightning", a really nice guy from Sweden (who's name I can't remember, sorry!) and a left-handed guitar player called James who'd brought an acoustic with him. "Wow, someone with a guitar - how brilliant is that?" is what our initial impression was but we were soon were put off by his frank discussion of porn within 5 minutes of meeting him and he turned out to be a bit of a cock!

Then at about 12:00 we were joined by a vodka-swilling tramp who sat down on the floor next to us and hurled abuse at the passers-by. This was funny at first but after an hour and a half it was a tad annoying especially as he insisted on reciting expletive-littered Pogues lyrics to us! Then, as quickly as he arrived, he was almost gone - it took him a long while to get to his feet and then stagger away up the street.

Of course everyone wanted to know why we were lined up in the street (including myself!) - and being situated next to the bus stop didn't help! At first I happily told them that Paul McCartney was appearing in Virgin records but after a few hours of this, my answers became a bit more inventive, including waiting for the Scottish Gentlemen's Outfitters sale, saving the dolphin, waiting for Christmas and protesting about Greenpeace's interference in world whaling. Well, it kept us amused for a while!

The lowest point of the night was at about 4:00am - after 5 hours on the street I was absolutely frozen, everyone was asleep but I hadn't slept a wink and as I checked the time I realised I still had another 5 hours to go before the Virgin doors opened!!

I bravely got up for a walk at about 7:00 - just as it was getting light - roughly, another 300 people had joined the queue overnight and more and more people were joining all the time!

On my way back, I stopped off in Burger King to get 4 teas for the guys - how nice am I! I was about to cross the road with the teas when I spotted that the entire queue had disappeared! "mess" I thought and said aloud imagining that the doors must have opened and I'd lost my chance to get in!

Then as I got closer, running with the 4 steaming hot teas burning my hands, I saw the 4 guys still asleep on the floor!! The whole of the queue had moved on past without even waking them up! I kicked their chairs and shouted to wake them up as quickly as possible and we then set off to find out where the queue had gone!

It seems everyone had woken up at about the same time and, with their sleeping bags and chairs folded away, they had gradually moved into the vacant space in front of them! So, armed with our queue numbers (mine was 199, remember) we eventually found our way back into our rightful place in the queue! The doors hadn't opened - phew!

At about 8:30, the queue started lurching forward and we got to the front of Virgin Records in about 20 minutes. I purchased my copies of "Ecce" and the DVD and was rewarded with the precious wristband. About 20 people followed me into the shop and they didn't let anyone else in after that.

Then, in queue order, we were lead upstairs to the World Music section, where we would wait another 3 and a half hours for the arrival of Mr McCartney with "Love" blasting from the in-store sound system.

Then just after 12:30pm on Wednesday 22 November 2006 (33 years after the release of With The Beatles), Paul was suddenly there and walked within 10 feet of me, smiling, waving and giving his trademark thumbs up - he looked great! After a media frenzy of flashbulbs and Heather comments the queue very slowly began to move towards Paul's signing desk. It was getting on for 2:00 and we were convinced we wouldn't get there before he left.

But I finally met Paul McCartney...

It was a very brief but incredibly special moment because, after spending a sleepless night on the freezing cold streets of London - the coldest I have EVER been in my entire life - and having queued for a total of 16 hours, when my turn finally came, I heard the opening piano chords of Let It Be start playing as I walked up to meet him - talk about a lump in the throat!!!!!

Prior to that, in the queue, we were warned about asking him to sign anything other than the 2 'official' items - his new DVD and new classical album - no cameras, no video equipment, no mobile phones, no hand grenades... the list of "don'ts" was endless too!!

When I got to the signing desk where Paul McCartney was sat, we both said hello and shook hands, I then handed over my 2 items for signing, and before I could blink they were signed and handed back. I had all sorts of things in my head to say to him including the "aaaahs" question but instead I asked if he could possibly make the signatures out to "Alan" ("no personal messages" was on the "don'ts" list!) he said he "wasn't supposed to, but..." and he took one of the items back to write "To Alan" on it! I said thank you very much, shook his hand again and winked for some strange reason, he said "you're welcome" and smiled back at me!!! I was then ushered downstairs and out of the store by a very burly security woman and into the pouring rain!!

And that was it!!

I slept all the way home on the train, went to bed at about 4pm-ish and woke up at 7-ish this morning!

It was worth it!

thanks for sharing that....

I make that thirty hours without a poo! You must have crapped for England when you got home.
Great story. Though it's was a bummer for you it good to see he can still inspire that kind of devotion.
Well done.

kind of sad to trade that much time for a few minutes tho....

Depends how sad you are.

true that.....i was ok till i read about larrys' unfortunate experience....but i read yours and it seemed that paul only wanted to sign what was being sold at the time...doesn't he realize his fan base is mostly already on board??he seems to delegate little time to what was as opposed to whats going on in the now...it just seems a little selfish is all...after all we built that pedestal he is on..he owes us....

Great story, no. 199!

Maccas version of events:
"Up at 11.00am. Quails eggs for breakfast in bed. Helicopter to Tower Records. All went well until this teary-eyed constipated looking bloke with tea stains all down his front asked me to sign "to All." Was going to lump him one but the Security Guard was too close."

Quoted from Kevin

Maccas version of events:
"Up at 11.00am. Quails eggs for breakfast in bed. Helicopter to Tower Records. All went well until this teary-eyed constipated looking bloke with tea stains all down his front asked me to sign "to All." Was going to lump him one but the Security Guard was too close."

LOL!!!

Nice Kevin!  Especially the quails eggs.

So, Al, did Paul have a firm handshake?  Or was it kinda limp?  

Paul was definitely a firm kinda guy - even after 198 previous shakes!!!

Congrats to you Alan. A fine memory to you.

That's awesome!!! I got all excited just reading it. I can't even imagine experiencing it. It's SO worth the time you put in! Christ, to meet Paul McCartney I'd gladly camp out on a cold sidewalk with a bunch of lunatics. Makes for a good story too. I'M JEALOUS!!

Some questions:
Did he look younger than his age?
How'd his hair look? Long, short, graying?
What was he wearing?
Did he seem nice or all business?
So, did you wash your hand yet?  

Yes, they are stupid questions, but it's the whole cute one infatuation thing he inspires in females that makes me wonder about such inane things.

Quoted from pc31

true that.....i was ok till i read about larrys' unfortunate experience....but i read yours and it seemed that paul only wanted to sign what was being sold at the time...doesn't he realize his fan base is mostly already on board??he seems to delegate little time to what was as opposed to whats going on in the now...it just seems a little selfish is all...after all we built that pedestal he is on..he owes us....

Paul doesn't even have to do this at all! He's just supporting his own work which he's probably proud of and would like people to try. He's got every right to do that and owes us nothing. You don't think he's given enough? Anyway, he's not at some convention where he just sits there and signs memorabilia and talks about the old days. These kinds of signings have a purpose. The store wants to sell certain merchandise and probably doesn't even allow people to bring in all their old Beatles stuff for McCartney to sign so they can up the value of it and sell it off on ebay. And McCartney always seems to be living in the now. He's not the sentimental type that needs to relive the past. Maybe that's why he "delegates little time to what was as opposed to whats going on in the now." You should be glad he's still being creative and is out there always trying something new instead of rehashing the past. You have the Who and the Stones for that if you like. So there!  

I would wait that long for Paul. Glad you got your personal autograph! Too bad you didn't get to ask him about the Ahh ahh ahh's though, Oh well, he probably would've just been like "WTF is this guy talking about"?

Quoted from Sandra

That's awesome!!! I got all excited just reading it. I can't even imagine experiencing it. It's SO worth the time you put in! Christ, to meet Paul McCartney I'd gladly camp out on a cold sidewalk with a bunch of lunatics. Makes for a good story too. I'M JEALOUS!!

Some questions:
Did he look younger than his age?
How'd his hair look? Long, short, graying?
What was he wearing?
Did he seem nice or all business?
So, did you wash your hand yet?  

Yes, they are stupid questions, but it's the whole cute one infatuation thing he inspires in females that makes me wonder about such inane things.

Hi Sandra - yeah, it was worth it! And the DVDs are up for sale for 600 dollars on eBay - but I'm not selling!!!

And to answer your questions...

Did he look younger than his age? Yes - I think so. He Looks about 10 years younger than his actual age I reckon.

How'd his hair look? Long, short, graying? It was fairly shortish with no discernable grey!

What was he wearing? He arrived in a nice dark blue suit but took his jacket off to do the signing and had a white shirt and dark coloured tie underneath.

Did he seem nice or all business? He seemed very friendly and made a nice comment about my queue buddy's T-shirt! He did seem a bit lonely sat there on his own doing the signings though - of course he was surrounded by security and minders but he was sat on his own at the small desk - with all that's going on that's just how he seemed to me.

So, did you wash your hand yet? Unfortunately, yes!

Well done, thanks for posting that, really nice reading!! I hate those drunken guys who shout things at people though!! Had one sleeping rough near trafalguar square when we went on a climate change march a few weeks ago!
well feel proud that you met 1/4 of the greatest ever band!

I figured Paul was a firm handshake guy.  Even after 198 handshakes.  Great story.  

Quoted from Sandra

. He's not the sentimental type that needs to relive the past.

Ummm...other than Let It Be Naked, concerts dominated by Beatle songs, the songcredit debate. I'd say Paul lives comfortably in both the then and now. But I agree with you Sandra, buying a man's product doesn't buy a piece of his soul. It's all a big game and we all know the rules of play.

Great story Al and thank you. Angelique thought that I was mad concerning Beatles, but I managed to build some credits after she read your story.

Quoted from Bobber

Great story Al and thank you. Angelique thought that I was mad concerning Beatles, but I managed to build some credits after she read your story.

Cheers mate! That is the one and only time I have gone to that extreme though and I don't know if I ever will again!

Quoted from The End

Cheers mate! That is the one and only time I have gone to that extreme though and I don't know if I ever will again!

Oh, I know that and you know that. But she doesn't. And that's fine with me.  

Quoted from The End

He arrived in a nice dark blue suit...

For some reason I do associate Macca with the colour blue.

Great story Al, although I'm jealous, I'm happy for you. I think I couldn't have brought my mind to move my lips to say anything.

So when will you meet Ringo?

A part from The Times about the event. Alan's not mentioned. Kevin is!

He was at the Virgin Megastore in Piccadilly, Central London, for a signing session after the release of his soberly entitled classical album Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart).

More than 500 fans, many of whom had been camping outside the store since Monday, queued to meet their idol as he made his first public appearance in Britain since the divorce battle turned bitter.

When he appeared at the side door, a couple of girls had the chance to reassure him with calls of “Paul, we love you” before he was swiftly escorted upstairs and out of sight. Reporters were banned from the top floor by an army of bouncers and publicists.

Kevin Phillips, a social worker from Barnet, North London, was among the crowds waiting to meet Sir Paul. “His ex has been all over the TV all morning, but this seems fairly low key,” he said. “Mind you, all his lawyer has to do is stand up in court and say, ‘He used to be a Beatle, my lord’. Game over.”

Fans were told that they could ask the star to sign only two items — a copy of Ecce Cor Meum, his classical meditation on love and peace, featuring two Oxbridge boys’ choirs, priced £10.99, or a copy of his new live concert DVD, Paul McCartney: The Space Within Us, priced £17.99.

“It is a bit cynical,” said Mike Knowles, 35, a film producer from Derbyshire and former employee of the Vegetarian Society. “Where has the innocence gone? People are feeling sympathy for someone they don’t know. Just because he goes around smiling and holding his thumbs aloft doesn’t mean he is a good bloke.

“Then again, here I am, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, just because I listened to Pipes of Peace when I was 10, in the daft belief he has some connection to my life.

“He is so practised at PR — he basically made the model. It’s the battle of the publicity machines, and at the moment his seems to be winning.”

The album underwhelmed the music critics — comments ranged from “maudlin sentimentality” and “vacuous tosh” to “a feeble cod-classical meditation whose flailing vapidity of the music is matched only by the toe-curling triteness of the words”. But there was no doubt among fans as to which partner, so far, was making the most dignified journey to the divorce courts.

Sir Paul seemed relaxed, joking with fans, and treating some to a cappella renditions from the back catalogue.

“It was amazing,” said Allison Trautman, 20, from Los Angeles, who could not make a signing in New York two weeks ago. “I spent 20 hours waiting to see him for 20 seconds but it was more than worth it.”

Asked whether his appearance belied the strain of his marital problems, she said: “His hair was slightly grey around the sides. It was definitely ‘Freedom from Heather’ hair.”

Chris Redmond, 24, an actor, said that Sir Paul was in high spirits: “He seemed quite chipper to be honest, even though he was surrounded by the usual moody guys in black.”

Lucy Atkins, 28, from New Zealand, said: “I told him he looked gorgeous. He had such a nice smile. I was surprised how happy he looked considering what that woman’s said about him.”

Ha. I live in Barnet as well. But a social worker - never!!

Great stuff Al. A proud moment for life mate.

Jealous!! i mean come on man you met the man in real fecking life

Thought you might like to see this!!

Hey man! Dont rub it in! lol...no i love it really...whats your verdict on the dvd anyway?

Quoted from 197

whats your verdict on the dvd anyway?

Erm... I haven't watched it yet!!

Oh well, nothing to be ashamed about.. does look rather nice though

Nice story Al. Glad you and your weary body managed to make it after all! Not sure that I could queue for that long to see anyone though. At my age you need your own bed!!

I'm not suprised that he'd only sign copies of the CD and DVD either. That is what the signing was all about. It's all PR after all, and anyone who thinks otherwise is being naive. Anyway, try signing a thousand autographs in a couple of hours and see how your hand feels afterwards. If they hadn't have limited it people would have been bringing all sorts of stuff with them. I remember seeing John Mayall a couple of years ago - one guy brought 18 albums for him to sign.

And for the record, I don't think he owes anyone anything anymore. Toured regularly, recorded regularly. Everyone's had their pound of flesh.

Glad I didn't have to wait that long when I met him.