McCartney Sets Record

11/24/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

As 300 fans crammed into Liverpool, England's dingy Cavern Club Tuesday -- and another nearly three million people logged on to catch the historic, 45-minute concert over the Internet -- Paul McCartney returned to where Beatlemania was born. "Welcome to the Cavern," McCartney announced, kicking off his first appearance there since 1963. "It's great to be back." Singing only one Beatles' tune ("I Saw Her Standing There"), McCartney and his band, including Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour and Ian Paice from Deep Purple, drew from the songbooks of Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Little Richard and Chuck Berry in addition to material from McCartney's new album, "Run Devil Run." "Oh God," gasped Sir Paul afterward, clearly overwhelmed by the attention. "We are here to rock out the century. This is where it all began, and for me this is where the century is going to be played out with rock and roll. It was rock that held us together for so long, it was rock that made us so good."