Sssh, Paul! Don't wake the Pope

Paul McCartney may be forced to turn down the volume when his European tour reaches Rome – in case he wakes the Pope.

The former Beatle is due to perform a free three-hour show outside the Coliseum in May and crowds of more than 300,000 are expected.

But the gig – the biggest of McCartney's career – could also be the quietest.

Organisers are considering dropping some of his loudest rock numbers, including Back In The USSR and Live And Let Die, for fear of disturbing the Pope.

They are worried that the frail 82-year-old pontiff will be kept awake by the noise drifting over to the Vatican.

“We have been advised by Italian contacts that the show could keep His Holiness the Pope up all night,” said tour promoter Barrie Marshall.

“Obviously we do not want to cause any offence or sleeplessness to His Holiness and, because of the closeness of The Vatican to the show at the Coliseum, we are now considering our position on performing loud rock songs.”

McCartney's first European tour for a decade includes at least 15 Beatles rockers such as Lady Madonna, All My Loving and I Saw Her Standing There.

If organisers do decide to tone things down, the star may have to add them to his acoustic set or stick to playing ballads.

A spokesman for McCartney said: “We don’t want to tone down the rock and roll element in the set – we reckon the Pope may actually enjoy a boogie. But we don’t want problems with the neighbours.”

His European tour kicked off in Paris last week and reaches the UK this weekend.