Wings live: Théâtre de la Mer, Juan-les-Pins – 12 July 1972

Wednesday 12 July 1972 | Théâtre de la Mer, Juan-les-Pins, France

Wings performed at the Théâtre de la Mer in Juan-les-Pins, France, on 12 July 1972. It was the second date of the Wings Over Europe Tour, which had opened in Ollioules, France, on 9 July. The concerts marked Paul McCartney's first European performances since 1966 — the year The Beatles played their final concert tour.

Denny Laine Meets Jo Jo Patrie

The Juan-les-Pins show is notable for an offstage encounter that would have lasting consequences for the Wings camp. Backstage after the concert, guitarist Denny Laine met Jo Jo Patrie — a Boston-born model working the European catwalks — who had manoeuvred her way into the Wings dressing room. Laine would marry her in 1978.

In Juan-les-Pins, three dates into the tour, a strikingly pretty, almond-eyed brunette by the name of Joanne Patrie, a Boston-born model working the European catwalks, had managed to maneuver her way into the Wings dressing room. Jo Jo, as she preferred to be known, already had a rock-star-devouring past, having lost her virginity to Jimi Hendrix backstage at Woodstock, spent a "wild night" with the booze-soaked, in-decline Jim Morrison, and enjoyed a two-year off-and-on relationship with Rod Stewart.

Linda was instantly suspicious of Jo Jo, and, as it transpired, with good reason. As a seventeen-year-old Beatles fan, Patrie had written devotional fan letters to Paul, before turning up in Britain three years later with the express intention of meeting and marrying him. Following the Juan-les-Pins show, she had ended up seducing one of the Wings roadies, securing herself a place on the crew's tour bus, which drove in convoy with the band's more colourful transporter. In the days that followed she made a play for Denny Laine, engaging in flirty eye contact with the guitarist whenever the group's open-topped bus pulled level with the roadies' vehicle. Later, Laine walked in on Jo Jo taking a bath in her roadie beau's room. Within days the two were an item and inseparable.

The McCartneys were less than happy about this development. A week into their relationship, Denny sat Jo Jo down and told her that Paul and Linda were "very uptight about you being around." Linda, especially, was convinced that Jo Jo was simply using the guitarist to get close to Paul. Patrie began crying, having effectively suffered the rejection of her former pin-up. While the guitarist and the groupie's affair was to prove far more enduring than these flaky beginnings promised, the future Jo Jo Laine's relationship with the McCartneys was to remain painfully strained.

Tom Doyle
Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s

The Band

• Paul McCartney — vocals, guitar, bass guitar
• Linda McCartney — vocals, keyboards
• Denny Laine — vocals, guitar, bass guitar
• Henry McCullough — guitar, vocals
• Denny Seiwell — drums

Concert Setlist

1. 'Bip Bop'
2. 'Smile Away'
3. 'Mumbo'
4. 'Give Ireland Back to the Irish'
5. '1882'
6. 'I Would Only Smile'
7. 'Blue Moon Of Kentucky'
8. 'The Mess'
9. 'Best Friend'
10. 'Soily'
11. 'I Am Your Singer'
12. 'Henry's Blues'
13. 'Say You Don't Mind'
14. 'Seaside Woman'
15. 'Wild Life'
16. 'My Love'
17. 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'
18. 'Maybe I'm Amazed'
19. 'Hi, Hi, Hi'

Wings Over Europe Tour Dates

• 9 July 1972: Châteauvallon, Ollioules, France
• 12 July 1972: Théâtre de la Mer, Juan-les-Pins, France (this show)
• 13 July 1972: Théâtre Antique, Arles, France
• 16 July 1972: Olympia Theatre, Paris, France
• 18 July 1972: Circus-Krone-Bau, Munich, Germany
• 19 July 1972: Stadthalle, Offenbach am Main, Germany
• 21 July 1972: Tonhalle, Zürich, Switzerland
• 22 July 1972: Pavillon, Montreux, Switzerland
• 1 August 1972: KB Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 4 August 1972: Messuhalli, Helsinki, Finland
• 5 August 1972: Kupittaan Urheiluhalli, Turku, Finland
• 7 August 1972: Gröna Lund, Stockholm, Sweden
• 8 August 1972: Idrottshuset, Örebro, Sweden
• 9 August 1972: Njårdhallen, Oslo, Norway
• 10 August 1972: Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden
• 11 August 1972: Olympen, Lund, Sweden
• 12 August 1972: Fyns Forum, Odense, Denmark
• 14 August 1972: Vejlby-Risskov Hallen, Aarhus, Denmark
• 16 August 1972: Rheinhalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
• 17 August 1972: De Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 19 August 1972: Martinihal, Groningen, Netherlands
• 20 August 1972: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 21 August 1972: Congresgebouw, The Hague, Netherlands
• 22 August 1972: Kinema Roma, Antwerp, Belgium
• 24 August 1972: Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany

Key Facts: 12 July 1972

Juan-les-Pins, on the French Riviera — where Wings performed on the second night of the Wings Over Europe Tour on 12 July 1972.

Paul McCartney & Wings: On Tour

The Wings Over Europe Tour of 1972 was the beginning of McCartney's return to the road. Officially licensed Wings merch.

Paul McCartney Wings Over America T-Shirt →

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