Copyright 1999 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
The Evening Standard (London)

April 12, 1999



Sending all their loving to Linda
By Max Bell

Linda McCartney Gala H Royal Albert Hall

SATURDAY night's gala concert for Linda McCartney was organised by Chrissie
Hynde and Carla Lane as a celebration of her life, the proceeds going to
Animaline and smaller charities of a furry disposition. Like most events of
its kind the evening was a hybrid, although the superstar guests proved
capable of withstanding the irreverent attentions of Eddie Izzard, cast in
the role of compere in high-heeled boots. Meat may be murder, but this
wasn't a wake.

Playing to a backdrop of the late Lady Linda's black and white photography
(stallions, street scenes, Paul McCartney's sheepdog Martha), the artists,
accompanied by The Pretenders, restricted themselves to a couple of songs
and a modest tribute apiece. Only Sinead O'Connor's sotto voce announcement
that she was a grief counsellor and a highly trained medium was more
information than we needed.

If one wanted mild controversy, Sinead's jokey but inappropriate comment
about Neil Finn's wife, before Don't Dream It's Over, was a momentary
talking point.

Rather like Robbie Fowler, O'Connor appears to act first and think later.

A red card to go with your red dress, madam.

Fortunately, the rest of the guests were on best behaviour. A frock-coated
Tom Jones bellowed superbly through She's A Woman, while a freshly barbered
George Michael interrupted his Greek Easter to tackle Eleanor Rigby and The
Long and Winding Road with considerable sensitivity.

Marianne Faithfull looked regal and scrumptious, like a galleon under full
sail, as she groaned out Vagabond Ways with fruity abandon.

Elvis Costello kept his I've-worked-with-Paul-who-was-in-The-Beatles-y'know stuff to a minimum and the night ended with top moptop Macca himself offering Ricky Nelson's
Lonesome Town, a fab All My Loving and a modest Let It Be. It was his dignity that proved the most fitting tribute of all.