A fired up Paul McCartney took the stage in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans on the historic Plains of Abraham for Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations Sunday night.
"Bon soir les Quebecois, bon soir toute le gang," the ex-Beatle shouted as he opened the show with the Wings number "Jet."
With the crowd already wild the band turned it up a notch by turning to Beatles' classics like "Drive my Car" and "All my Loving."
"I only speak a little bit of French," he said in French before switching languages. "So, I will be speaking in English."
About 200,000 people were expected for the free outdoor concert. It was McCartney's first show in Canada since 2005.
"C'est ma premiere visite a Quebec, and it's a great place," the English songwriter said to cheers, again showing his limited knowledge of French.
When the gates were opened to the concert grounds, hundreds sprinted for the chance to get front row standing room.
Montreal indie band The Stills and Quebec City singer Pascale Picard opened the show.
Tim Fletcher of The Stills told CTV that he credited McCartney as an inspiration for a generation of musicians.
There was no sign of any of the controversy that had erupted about a British singer headlining Quebec's celebrations.
The show is being held on the historic Plains of Abraham where the British defeated the French in 1759.
A few sovereigntists publicly bashed the plan to have a world famous English singer highlight the city's birthday party.
Quebec painter Luc Archambault sent around a petition decrying the "dangerous" presence of music with English lyrics, but he later backed away from those statements.
Before the show, hordes of fans just kept entering the former battleground in wave after wave.
"People have just kept arriving," CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin in Quebec City told CTV Newsnet Sunday before the show. "This is something Quebec City doesn't see every day.
"This is an international superstar, so it's attracting lots of people."
Although the concert grounds were closed Saturday, many fans -- some from Quebec, some from far away countries -- were already were lining up for a chance to see McCartney up close, even braving pouring rain.
"(The fans) stayed there, they weathered it all, saying it was worth it," Beauchemin said. "They are very devoted here."
Beauchemin said that there was no sign of controversy and that everyone was having a good time.
"(The controversy) has really fizzled," she said. "Some of the artists who signed (the petition) have said, 'Now that I think about, let's just enjoy it."
Luci Tremblay, spokesperson for the Society for Quebec 400th, said that McCartney's staff had been reassured there won't be any problems from the public.
"We explained to them that it was just a very small bunch of people," she said.
On Saturday, rumours that McCartney would show up at the historic Chateau Frontenac, had hundreds of onlookers waiting on the street for a glimpse of the legend.
McCartney did arrive in Quebec City Saturday evening, and news that the "Yesterdays" songwriter was having dinner at a restaurant brought quite the crowd there.
Tremblay said that the inclusion of an artist of McCartney's stature to the festivities has brought "the eye of the world" on the small city of Quebec City.
Earlier this week, McCartney said he would try to make use of his limited ability to speak French but was vague about what he had planned for the show.
With files from The Canadian Press
