CHICAGO — When Paul McCartney headlines Lollapalooza this summer in Chicago, he'll arrive to a city he knows a little something about.
Since first coming here with the Beatles in September 1964 for a concert at the old International Amphitheatre at 42nd and Halsted streets (they opened with "Twist and Shout" and finished their 12-song set with "Long Tall Sally"), McCartney has played here several times, including at Soldier Field and Wrigley Field.
Here are 10 things you might not know about Sir Paul and our town.
• In their first news conference here in 1964, the band was asked what they would do when "the bubble breaks" on their popularity.
Responded Paul: "We've never made plans for anything, so there's no real reason to make plans now."
• Of all the weird things thrown at the Beatles over the years by over-zealous fans, a Chicago may have topped them all. During the September 1964 show at the Amphitheatre, someone threw a raw steak at McCartney, just missing his head. The Tribune would later headline a story about the incident, “Meat the Beatles.”
• In 1965, the Beatles, in town to play at Comiskey Park, visited Margie's Candies on Western Avenue. They came in with five young women and ordered several six-scoop "Atomic Sundaes." Margie herself had her favorite flab: John. "He's the only one who talked to me," she said.
• The Comiskey Park stop earned the Beatles $160,000, or about $1.2 million in 2015 dollars. They played two shows in one day, a matinee and an evening performance. Sort of a day-night doubleheader.
• Paul was with John Lennon and the other Beatles at a August 1966 news conference at the Astor Tower Hotel on the Gold Coast when Lennon apologized for earlier remarks that the band was "more popular than Jesus now." Said Lennon: "I'm sorry for the mess I made. I never meant it as an anti-religious thing. I never said we were greater or better."
A reporter asked if "Eleanor Rigby" was a religious song. Replied McCartney: "It was written because there are lonely people."
• A 1990 CBS special edition of "48 Hours" focused on McCartney's tour stop in Chicago. A segment focuses on ticket scalpers. When McCartney is told that tickets are going for more than $1,000 each he replies, "That's terrible! I won't pay it!"
• McCartney used an Eddie Cochran song, "Twenty Flight Rock" to audition for Lennon for what would later become the Beatles. The song gives a shout out to Chi Town: "Well I sent to Chicago for repairs, Till it's fixed I'm using the stairs. "
• In 1976, McCartney and his band, Wings, waged a global tour but, since many of the members had children, they would designate cities to headquarter in and then fly to nearby performances. In the United States, McCartney rented a home here and used it as a base for the Midwestern dates.
• In 1990, McCartney ended a nine-month global tour performing at Soldier Field. It was his first world tour in 13 years, and some critics before the tour had described his career as in decline. In Chicago, some 53,000 fans were soaked by a pre-show rain. Still, wrote Trib critic Greg Kot, "The mere presence of McCartney on stage was enough to elicit delirium to which not even popes or presidents are accustomed."
• In 2011, McCartney played Wrigley Field, and he not only did Beatles tunes, Wings tunes and solo tunes he also showed off his guitar chops by playing Jim Hendrix's "Foxy Lady."
• Sign seen at McCartney's United Center stop last summer: "Sign Me Before My Wrinkles Take Over."
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