Vancouver record store owner gets ‘private concert’ from Paul McCartney | Daily Hive

Inside Neptoon Records, the Vancouver shop owned by Rob Frith for more than 40 years. (neptoon.com)

Imagine being the only people in the room while Paul McCartney rehearses for his North American tour — just you, your family, and one of the most famous musicians in history playing a full set “like it’s a private show.”

That’s the moment Rob Frith, longtime owner of Vancouver’s Neptoon Records, still can’t quite believe happened.

“It was like we were sitting on this couch in the middle of this giant studio, watching a private concert,” Frith told Daily Hive.

“Even though it was a rehearsal, it was so professional it felt like a full show. But we were the only audience. It took me days to even process it.”

McCartney, now 83, co-founded The Beatles in 1960 and became one of the most influential songwriters and performers of all time.

He and drummer Ringo Starr are the band’s two surviving members; John Lennon was murdered in 1980, and George Harrison died of cancer in 2001.

For Frith, who grew up with the Fab Four, meeting him in Los Angeles last month was priceless.

“When I first met him, he gave me this big hug and said, ‘No one does what you’re doing… no one just gives things away like this,’” Frith said.

“He was genuinely emotional about it. That really struck me.”

The Vancouver family had travelled south to return the Beatles’ lost 1962 Decca audition reel, which Frith had decided to give back to McCartney rather than sell.

Frith first realized what the tape was on March 14, 2025. Six months later, on Sept. 18 and 19, he and his family met Paul McCartney in Los Angeles to hand it over.

Frith said the whole thing started quietly, after he spoke with the New York Times about the discovery of the reel.

Paul McCartney personalized a copy of A Hard Day’s Night for Rob Frith’s wife Vicki, signing it “love from Paul.” (Supplied)

“Paul was staying in New York at the time, and he and his lawyer both read it,” Frith told Daily Hive.

“Then I got a call from the lawyer and I was like, wow, this is amazing. He actually said, ‘Do you want to come to New York?’ But I’ve got a fear of flying and I just couldn’t make it that far on a plane.”

Instead, McCartney’s team suggested waiting until he was on the West Coast.

“We were just kind of waiting without telling anybody, because we weren’t sure what was going on,” Frith said. “And then in September they said, ‘Okay, come to LA and we’ll get together and do the handoff.’”

But what they got in return was more than they could have imagined.

During lunch, McCartney casually joined the family in the buffet line.

“He came up behind my wife, gave her a little hug, and said, ‘Hi Vicky, how are you today?’” Frith recalled.

“She almost fainted. She’s as much of a fan as I am, and that just put her over the top.”

Frith told Daily Hive that what stood out most was McCartney’s warmth.

“I’ve met a lot of famous people over the years,” he said. “Paul was different. He didn’t feel like a superstar. It was like running into an old friend at a reunion… someone you’ve known forever. He even told my wife at the end, ‘What a lovely family.’”

That night, the family went for dinner and stumbled into one more surreal moment.

Paul McCartney signed a copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for Rob Frith’s son Ben, writing “all the best.” (Supplied)

“Halfway through the meal, four people sat down in front of us, and one of them was Julian Lennon,” Frith said.

“It was like we were being pranked by a reality show. Paul McCartney in the afternoon, John Lennon’s son in the evening? Unreal.”

For Frith, the encounter was priceless.

“The moment I’ll never forget is Paul telling me again how he couldn’t believe we didn’t try to sell it,” Frith said.

“He got a little misty, like it was too hard for him to comprehend. And here’s me thinking, I’m just doing a nice thing. But for him it meant so much. That’s something I’ll cherish forever.”

The Friths are still waiting for official photos and video from McCartney’s team, but they returned home with autographed Beatles albums and rare photos of the band’s legendary 1964 PNE show.

“I got paid in that I got to meet Paul McCartney,” Frith told Daily Hive. “That was good enough for me.”

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