Paul McCartney played to a small audience in Camden

For all the column inches dedicated to deriding "wacky thumbs aloft Macca" and the Frog Chorus, no-one comes close to Macca for sheer, undiluted, melodic flair.

The man is incapable of writing a boring tune.

So when details of a one-off private gig were spread on the Beatles online community, I quick-footed it to the Electric Ballroom in Camden to do what any self-respecting lover of rock and roll does - queue.

Camden is an odd quarter at the best of times, but no stranger than when vested security guards found themselves shepherding McCartney fans.

Students and sailors

To the front of the line were the usual mix of middle-aged Beatles nostalgics and Wings devotees.

To the rear were passing Londoners used to joining a queue they knew nothing about, on the off-chance of a freebie.

Somewhere in-between were bums and bartenders, students and sailors, romantics and housebodies all hoping that they would make the first 500 and find themselves afforded the pink wristband that meant entry to the gig.

Grown men convulsed to the heart with excitement

Shuffling ever closer to the box office, we swapped thoughts on Macca's new album and put together our ideal set list for the gig.

The assembled camera crews did nothing to allay the growing tension, but once we filed through the box office and emerged triumphantly brandishing our wristbands they got all the footage they could ever want of grown men convulsed to the heart with excitement.

Frenzy

The process was repeated again that evening as we trooped back to the Electric Ballroom and took our places as close to the stage as we could.

A remix reel whipped us in to a frenzy, so when Macca and his backing band emerged on stage it was all we could do not to expire at the sight of the fabled Hofner Bass guitar.

The old favourites had the thronged fans stamping and singing

Macca launched into a performance of Drive My Car, a composition of pure summer pop that roused the audience to "beep beep" along with him without a second thought.

It was the pattern for a set list that showcased Macca's unerring gift for marrying melody to a heaven-sent bassline.

Back in the USSR

The old favourites had the thronged fans stamping and singing along like it was Candlestick Park all over again. But if Blackbird and Back in the USSR brought back memories, even the new songs impressed the crowd.

As Macca strummed the mandolin for new single Dance Tonight, the crowd sang along with the refrain as if they couldn't imagine a time when they didn't know the song.

So it was broad grins from the boys on stage as they took us in, singing and dancing, trading jokes with Macca, all and sundry clapping their approval.

Pure, unadulterated rock and roll

It was as far removed from Pop Idol or the manufactured stars of music today as you can get.

No peroxided boys and girls with reedy voices, no one anxious to impress with their street credentials; simply pure, unadulterated rock and roll.

We sang and danced, and as a canny old rocker once said in song, "everybody's going to feel all right tonight".