Recommendations of the Editorial team
The Große Freiheit in Hamburg near the Reeperbahn is inextricably linked to the history of the Beatles. In the early 1960s, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best played here in clubs such as the Star Club and the Kaiserkeller, often for hours a night. Hamburg became the crucial school for the young band. This is where the Beatles developed their stage presence. The Great Freedom therefore still stands today as a symbol of the beginning of its world fame.
The people of Hamburg will also remember this this Friday (May 28, 2026) when Paul McCartney’s new solo album “The Boys from Dungeon Lane” is released. To celebrate the day, the Great Freedom is quickly renamed.
The street sign “Große Freiheit” is pasted over with the street name “Dungeon Lane” – in the style of a real street sign, not like the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” lettering on the album cover. Completely legal action, of course.
In addition, another street sign is attached, this time exactly in the design of the cover. This sign should be placed at Beatles Platz, just around the corner.
It should not go unmentioned at this point how good the McCartney album turned out. ROLLING STONE editor Maik Brüggemeyer writes in his review: “The aged voice, which has become almost disembodied, is both a means and an effect. It is a game with time that ends in transcendence. And when the 83-year-old then sings in “Lost Horizon” how the whistle of an old locomotive or the laugh of a child reminds him of his dwindling future, the blues is used, but good old Paul (as always) makes the best of it: “Time makes every moment count/ You gotta live for now.”
And further:
“In Andrew Watt, McCartney has found a producer who knows how to skillfully stage his voice, which is brittle due to his age, and sometimes hide it using duplication and filters. He also helps him “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane” to also make it a musical journey through his life – from the aforementioned skiffle and beat pieces to the wonderful psychedelia of “Never Know”, the simple directness of his solo debut (“We Two”), wings rock (“Come Inside”) to the contemporary radio pop “Ripples In A Pond”.
Of course, the great ballads are not missing either – in the magnificent “Life Can Be Hard” and in the opulent finale “Momma Gets By” love triumphs over hard life. If the good news still holds true that you get back what you give, then eternal love belongs to Paul McCartney.”
