15.0°C Not observed 
HALIFAX, N.S. - A music lover since childhood, Peter Tingley has seen dozens of great acts in concert over the years, from the Stones to Pink Floyd and everyone in between.
But he expects all of them could be eclipsed on Saturday when he and his wife and two children travel to Halifax from his home in New Brunswick to see Paul McCartney for the first time.
"To be able to see a legend live and close to home is beyond belief," said Tingley, 53, of Moncton in a weekend interview.
"I would have loved to have seen Paul, George, John and Ringo play together some time, but obviously that can't happen, so this is the next best thing."
McCartney and his four-piece band will perform on a massive stage being erected this week on the Halifax Common, a large recreational space in the heart of the Nova Scotia capital.
It will be the former Beatle's lone concert in Canada this year. It's also a major coup for Halifax, which in recent years has been waging a tug-of-war with Moncton for large outdoor shows.
New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi drew 33,000 fans to the Magnetic Hill concert site outside Moncton last month and AC/DC is expected to draw an even larger crowd there on Aug. 6.
Organizers of the McCartney show are hoping to attract at least 60,000 fans despite a seemingly endless string of wet weather that could turn the Common into a quagmire if it doesn't end soon.
Last July, more than 300,000 people jammed the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City for a free show by McCartney to mark the city's 400th anniversary.
Greg Cox of Power Promotional Events, the group putting on the Halifax show, wouldn't say how many tickets have been sold so far but suggested the number is substantial.
"Is Paul McCartney going to draw a big crowd? Absolutely," he said.
"He's on a very short list of iconic performers that exist in the world today. ... It is such a unique opportunity to have somebody of his stature play in Halifax that to miss it because of the weather is a pretty thin excuse."
McCartney, 67, appeared on stage last week in London with Neil Young, the legendary Canadian who has performed twice in Halifax in the past six months.
In a satellite interview last week with a national news agency, McCartney said Young told him the Halifax audiences were great.
"He said they loved it so much that he came back, so I'm looking forward to getting out there and rocking," the former Beatle said.
The concert won't be McCartney's first time in the Maritimes.
In March 2006, he and his now former wife Heather Mills ventured onto the ice floes of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to protest Canada's annual seal hunt.
The visit prompted the ire of many Atlantic Canadians - a sentiment that was resurrected for some when the McCartney concert was announced.
"He's got balls for wanting to play here and no memory of what he did," one reader wrote on the Halifax Chronicle Herald's website.
"He and his cohorts have been lying about our seal hunt to the world and maligning Nova Scotians," another wrote last week. "Why would we want to reward him with millions of dollars in concert ticket sales? Boycott the concert!"
But McCartney also has his supporters.
"You can all stay home and complain," wrote a 27-year-old Herald reader. "We won't be thinking of you when we're singing and dancing to music that POSITIVELY changed the world!"
Cox said he's not concerned about a backlash against McCartney because of his stance against the hunt.
"Whether he's right or wrong. Whether he's decided that the seal hunt is a good thing or a bad thing, I still think you have to sit back and say, 'Just because he's Paul McCartney doesn't mean he's not entitled to his opinion,"' he said.
A pair of Halifax acts, singer-songwriter Joel Plaskett and rockers Wintersleep, have been tabbed to open for McCartney.
Work began last week on preparing the site for the 100 tonnes of equipment required for a large, modern rock show.
The site will be used again on July 18 for another concert by '70s glam rockers KISS.
Crews worked through thick fog and in sometimes driving rain to lay an access road to a ball diamond where a 30-metre-high stage flanked by 20-metre LED screens is being erected.
Tingley, too, has been preparing.
He recently watched McCartney's 2002 concert DVD "Back in the U.S." in anticipation of the Halifax show.
"It's amazing even just watching it how emotional you get," he admitted. "I can only imagine there will be many, many songs that bring tears to our eyes."
