Watch Paul McCartney join Steven Van Zandt onstage in London

Steven Van Zandt and Paul McCartney onstage
Steven Van Zandt and Paul McCartney onstage (Image credit: Ryan Celli)

Steven Van Zandt gave fans attending his show in London an unexpected treat on Saturday night, when he invited Paul McCartney onstage during his set at the city’s Roundhouse.

It was the first night of the The E Street Band guitarist’s UK tour under the Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul banner – the first time in 25 years that Van Zandt has toured the country with his band.

Introducing McCartney, Van Zandt tells the crowd that the pair have “some unfinished business” referring to their performance together in 2012 at Hard Rock Calling, when their song was cut short when power was unexpectedly shut off due to the council’s curfew.

Van Zandt is on the road in support of his new album Soulfire which was released in May this year and sees the guitarist revisit songs spanning his career and focusing on “soul horns-meet-rock‘n’roll guitars.”

Van Zandt adds: “I’ve always been very thematic with my work, very conceptual. I need a big picture, I can’t just do a collection of songs – that doesn’t work for me.

“In this case, the concept became me. Who am I? I’m kind of my own genre at this point. So I tried to pick material that when you added it all up, really represented me.

“So there are a couple of covers, a couple of new songs, and some of what I feel are the best songs I’ve written and co-written over the years. This record is me doing me.”

The Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul tour continues tonight (November 6) at Bristol’s O2 Academy.

Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul 2017 UK tour dates

Nov 06: Bristol O2 Academy
Nov 08: Leeds O2 Academy
Nov 10: Birmingham O2 Academy
Nov 12: Glasgow O2 Academy
Nov 14: Liverpool O2 Academy
Nov 16: Newcastle O2 Academy

Steven Van Zandt: "Rock'n'roll is my religion"

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.