Journey
Porto Alegre / Punta del Este, 28 September 2024
We set off by car just before daybreak, heading towards Uruguay. The journey started in Porto Alegre and would last more or less as long as the sun stayed in the sky. I remember leaving home while it was still dark and, as we made our way out of the city and onto the road, daylight slowly began to appear. We made only a few stops because it was a good day to be on the road. The way was like one endless straight line cutting across the state of Rio Grande do Sul from east to west.
We crossed the border while it was still afternoon, and our first stop was Punta del Este, where we would spend the night before reaching Montevideo the following day. Our first unexpected bit of luck was arriving, without planning it at all, just in time for sunset at the picturesque Casapueblo, designed by Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró.
I took this pic of a bird drawing by Carlos Vilaró when we arrived at Casapueblo and, I don't know why, I just think it deserved to be here.
Punta del Este / Montevideo, 29 September 2024
After breakfast, and before getting back on the road, we visited the port area of Punta del Este. It really was a beautiful day. As soon as I got out of the car, I remember finding a 5-peso Uruguayan coin. I carried it with me as a lucky charm until the end of the trip. Looking ahead, the dazzling scenery made it inevitable that the Pentax would start getting some action. So I took a few photographs of the seagulls flying over the harbour amongst the boats. I love port cities (I was born in one!) and birds flying along the waterfront. It even reminded me of Liverpool.
We carried on to Montevideo.
Until then, we'd mostly been enjoying the scenery along the way before reaching our first destination. I remember trying to tune into Uruguayan radio stations until we found a special programme dedicated to Paul McCartney and his music. I think that was the first hint of why we were actually making this journey.
As we arrived in Montevideo, we followed the seafront towards the hotel, where posters like this one started appearing. And more and more people too.
Montevideo, 30 September 2024
The night before the show, we decided to wander around the stadium, where a huge dress rehearsal was taking place! It took us a while to find our way around the gates; it was dark. After walking all the way around, we came across a group of people camped out in front of one of them, spying on the rehearsal. And there we got a massive spoiler of a new song that would officially make its appearance the following day.
Because it was so dark, this was a difficult photograph to make. I was saved by an emergency light that flashed every now and then, giving me just enough light for the picture. The spying fans!
Montevideo, 1 October 2024
Show day. A beautiful sunny day, hardly a cloud in the sky, and things were getting busier. More and more fans were gathering around the hotel. I remember spotting someone dressed as Elvis and another person carrying a Höfner bass. As part of his usual ritual on the way to the show, Paul waved kindly to everyone waiting there for him. It was the first time I really noticed, through my camera, the excitement of people who had been waiting so long for that moment.
By evening, we were at Estadio Centenario. For me, it was a first to watch a Paul show from a seat. The good thing is that you get a great view, even if the excitement often makes you desperately want to stand up. It was the first of a series of memorable nights, but this one had something even more unprecedented: Now and Then, the last Beatles song to be released, was performed live for the very first time! And, to top it all off, photographs from Eyes of the Storm appeared on the screen during the song.
A mixture of emotion and nostalgia, in the best possible way.
End of Act One. Next stop: Argentina!
Montevideo / Buenos Aires, 2 October 2024
The first bout of post-show blues kicked in. We left Montevideo late in the morning and headed to the airport, although our flight to Buenos Aires wasn't until late afternoon. From now on, the journey would continue through the air. And while we were waiting around, we happened to cross paths with the show's production team. There couldn't have been a better sign that we were heading in the right direction.
Buenos Aires, 4 October 2024
Even the day before the first Buenos Aires show, there were already plenty of fans around. I spoke to a few of them, and the groups just kept growing. Friends, entire families, people from other countries — including one fan who'd already been to nearly 200 shows!
You get so used to keeping an eye on your surroundings that the references were even starting to appear in the hotel corridor.
Suddenly, there was a piano in the middle of the street, a guy carrying a huge painted portrait of Paul, people with signs, Beatles memorabilia. Quite a lot for such a brief appearance in the middle of the afternoon. But you could tell the wait had been worth it.
Buenos Aires, 5 October 2024
We took the train to the show, as it was pretty much a straight line from where we were staying to River Plate Stadium. Even so, it was a long walk before we found the queue — and then waited in it. Around the stadium, I even came across a mattress shop running a promotion because of the show. “Every Night – 10% off” — with a picture of Paul next to it. Very creative! The show itself was incredibly packed and cramped, with hardly any room to move around. With every song, the fans would start jumping together all over again. Every night, a new kind of excitement.
Buenos Aires, 6 October 2024
We didn't go to the second night's show. We tried to watch an online broadcast, but because we weren't Argentine residents, we couldn't get access. So we enjoyed the city as tourists for a few more days before leaving.
Next stop: Brazil!!!
[...]
São Paulo, 12 October 2024
I arrived in São Paulo during what was quite literally a real-life "eye of the storm" moment. The night before, a brief but very intense storm had hit the city. “Many kinds of weather...” Several neighbourhoods lost power, including the one where I was staying — which meant walking down 11 flights of stairs, luggage and all, so I could get somewhere else. There was no internet or phone signal the following morning. But, coincidence or not, moving elsewhere meant I accidentally ran into the show's crew. The good signs returning were of a different kind. And the show was still three days away.
After all the turbulence of arriving, I took a little time to relax — waiting for show day. Ever tried a Maccarita?
São Paulo, 13 October 2024
I forgot to mention that, because Porto Alegre had suffered major flooding a few months earlier, I didn't go back there between shows as the airport was still closed. During that break, I was busy writing my final university paper, which happened to be about... Paul! I was certainly in good company.
São Paulo, 15 October 2024
Show day. I'd missed it already! This time I went with my best friend, whom I met back in 2010 at that very first Porto Alegre show! So off we went to Nubank Parque (then Allianz Parque) — one of Paul's favourite venues. It was there that I photographed the audience during the show for the first time. It was emotional for me to be back in my own country and to see in other people what I was feeling too. Did I miss a few performances because I was looking the other way? Yes. But it was for a good cause — and photographs.
São Paulo, 16 October 2024
Second show in the city. This time I didn't want to miss the second night. And lucky me, because by then I'd really started to enjoy photographing the audience.
One of my favourite photographs from the second night in São Paulo, taken on Polaroid film. In this picture, it's wrapped together with a friendship bracelet a friend gave me. This is the only record I have of the photograph — I don't have it with me anymore. Perhaps it went travelling...
São Paulo / Florianópolis, 18 October 2024
We caught a morning flight from São Paulo to Florianópolis. That gave us some time to explore the surrounding area and nearby towns, as Florianópolis sits on an island full of beaches. It was a cloudier day, but it made for a lovely day out with friends. And a chance to look back on the last few shows before moving on to the next one.
Florianópolis, 19 October 2024
Besides being the last show in Brazil, it was very special to see again the friends who had been with me at different points along the journey. The Resscada Stadium was in a more remote part of the city, with an almost countryside feel to it. So we spend the day around the area.
And, since we'd arrived far too early, I had the chance to photograph what fans call a limowatch. That's when Paul drives towards the stadium entrance and, with the window down, greets the fans waiting behind the barriers outside. There were still a good few hours to go before the show, and already a considerable number of people were there, with more arriving as the hours passed.
But I think even my Pentax would agree that this photograph was worth the wait!!!
End of the tour — in Brazil, at least.
That day I still thought — thought being the operative word — that these would be the last Got Back photographs I'd take that year.
[...]
Mexico City, 9 November 2024
At the last minute, I decided I wasn't quite ready to stop documenting the journey and ended up travelling to the final Got Back destination in Latin America: Mexico. Luckily, Porto Alegre airport had reopened by then, which made travelling much easier. At the same time, the date of my final university presentation was getting closer, but somehow I was managing both. There were three shows in the city, but I decided to go to just one. And this time, I went on my own.
A few days earlier, I'd had the photographs from the previous trips developed and put some of them into a small album, which I brought along with me. I also brought that coin I'd found in Uruguay when everything began. And despite a few bumps along the way to Mexico, it felt like a conclusion I needed to make. And so I arrived.
Mexico City, 12 November 2024
I didn't go to the first show in the city, but I saw footage of an incredible drone display forming the Wings “W”. I ended up hanging around outside with the fans waiting for Paul, which was quite a sight. There were people sitting on walls, dressed in 1960s-style clothes, but above all, everyone was watching and waiting. And suddenly, in the middle of the crowd, a guy appeared covered in instruments, playing Twist and Shout in the street. It felt like the ending of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. You can never have too many extra shows.
Mexico City, 14 November 2024
I knew getting to Foro Sol would take a long time and be a bit of an ordeal because of the traffic. This was meant to be my final stop, so I'd bought my ticket at the last minute, but everything worked out. What I hadn't expected was how long the walk to the stadium would be too. I've never seen so many souvenir stalls as I did in Mexico! There was an endless corridor leading towards the stadium selling just about everything imaginable. The show was seated, just like the first one. A lovely farewell to this journey which, for the time being, was coming to an end. And now, yes, this really was my last show.
For a last-minute show — for me, anyway — not a bad setlist for the night!
Mexico City, 19 November 2024
Last day of the Got Back tour in Latin America. And also, my day to go home. After nearly two months of roads, airports, cities and shows, it was time to put the camera away and pack my bags once again. But now with a few more rolls of film in my luggage.
See you next time!
