MEXICO CITY — More than 100,000 people massed in the giant Zocalo plaza late Thursday for a free concert by Paul McCartney, who sent the crowd into a frenzy by performing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" along with Mexican mariachis.
McCartney, who at one point waved a Mexican flag, tickled the crowd by introducing some of his songs in Spanish sprinkled with Mexican slang.
The crowd went crazy when McCartney, at the end of "Eleanor Rigby," blurted out the crude but popular phrase, "Viva Mexico, cabrones!" (Long Live Mexico, you bastards!)
The open-air concert in the iconic plaza was sponsored by the Mexico City's mayor's office for Mother's Day, which is celebrated locally on May 10.
McCartney congratulated all the Mexican mothers as well as his wife Nancy Shevell.
"This tune is precisely for all you mamacitas," he said in Spanish, again using slang to the public's great delight.
Fireworks lit the sky when McCartney let loose with "Live and Let Die."
The crowd sang along with many of the 40 songs the rock icon performed during the three-hour long concert, especially with the Beatles classic "Hey Jude."
McCartney performed in the Zocalo two days after he gave a concert in the Azteca football stadium for a crowd of some 70,000 people.
Many of the fans camped out in the Zocalo since the night before to get a good spot for the concert.
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