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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Lucinda Garbutt-Young

'Ready to go': little Macca hoping to dance with his namesake

Picture by Jonathan Carroll

Most of us leave concerts with a feeling of warm buzz, ringing ears and pictures for social media, but in 2017, Katie Sanderson left with an ambitious idea.

"Right. Our next kid is going to be called McCartney," Ms Sanderson said to her husband after seeing her lifelong favourite Sir Paul live. "I was just balling at the end [of the show]."

The idea stuck and in 2019, little Macca was born.

Four-and-a-half years later, he has a replica of Sir Paul's guitar, a signature vest and lyrical knowledge to live up to his namesake.

"People who know me weren't surprised," Ms Sanderson said. "I just thought it was really cool."

Her husband "has the same respect for Paul as an artist" but is not a super fan like his wife.

"When I first said I was going to call the next baby McCartney, he was [unsure], but he's completely on board with it now."

Katie and McCartney Sanderson are stoked to have VIP tickets on Tuesday night. Picture by Jonathan Carroll

A second round of convincing came in the form of a "near fight" with Births Deaths and Marriage Victoria, who Ms Sanderson said were hesitant to make the second 'C' uppercase in McCartney's name.

"It had to be uppercase - the same [as Paul]," Ms Sanderson said. "It's all legitimate. I was a bit worried we'd go to the concert and people [wouldn't believe] his name is McCartney."

The mother-of-three has her son's Medicare card on hand just in case concert-goers think the name is a bid to get in with one of the world's biggest stars.

She hasn't met another McCartney in person but has an online friend from America who gave her daughter the same name.

"She was like me - a bit crazy," Ms Sanderson said.

Little McCartney lives in Bathurst with his parents and two brothers, Fletcher and Howard. The family has made a 650 kilometre round-trip for a concert they never expected to see.

"I can't believe Macca is getting [to go to this]," Ms Sanderson said. "We've had the set list since Paul played in Adelaide. We've ticked off all the songs to make sure they are ones we know.

"[McCartney] knows all the songs and exactly what will be played," she said. "We are just so excited. We're ready to go. We are super pumped.

"We've got a sign, of course," she said of a large banner requesting a dance between McCartney and his namesake. "I really hope he'll see it."

And while Macca and his mum get the full VIP experience - including an intimate viewing of sound check - the rest of the family will be relegated to the nosebleeds.

Ms Sanderson is still confident her other sons will have a great night.

"They're really excited for 'Live and Let Die' because of all the explosions and fireworks," she said.

Unlike some super fans, Ms Sanderson and her son are only going to one concert out of the six shows in McCartney's Got Back tour.

"We thought we'd just do one and do it [well]," she said.

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