Got Back is an ongoing concert tour by English musician Paul McCartney. The tour started on 28 April 2022 at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, United States, and is set to end on 19 December 2024 at the O2 Arena in London, England.[1] The tour is McCartney's first following the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in the cancellation of a planned European leg of his Freshen Up tour in 2020,[2] which included a planned performance at Glastonbury Festival.[3] McCartney performed at Glastonbury on 25 June 2022, as a conclusion to the first leg of the Got Back tour.[4]
Tour by Paul McCartney | |
Official poster for the first North American leg | |
Location |
|
---|---|
Start date | 28 April 2022 |
End date | 19 December 2024 |
Legs | 7 |
No. of shows | 59 |
Website | paulmccartneygotback |
Paul McCartney concert chronology |
The setlist for Got Back, as with McCartney's other concert tours as a solo artist, includes songs by his former bands the Beatles and Wings, as well as songs from his solo career. In addition to McCartney, the tour band includes Rusty Anderson on guitar, Brian Ray on guitar and bass, Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards, and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, along with the brass trio Hot City Horns. Originally planned for fourteen stops on the tour, a second date in both Oakland, California, and Boston were later added,[5][6] for a total of sixteen concerts across the United States. On July 31, 2023, McCartney announced he would resume the Got Back tour, beginning with seven shows in Australia, followed by a Latin American leg. A second Latin American leg, with shows in cities where the tour had not previously visited, was announced in June 2024,[7] followed by a second European leg.[8] On June 20, 2024, McCartney announced two more concerts in Mexico.[9]
Background
editNorth America and Europe
editThe Got Back tour is McCartney's first series of live shows since 2019.[10] The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the final European leg of his previous tour in 2020,[2] which included a planned performance at Glastonbury Festival as the final show.[3] During the pandemic in 2020, McCartney recorded and released his 18th solo album, McCartney III.[2] In 2021, the three-part documentary series The Beatles: Get Back, directed and produced by Peter Jackson, was released on Disney+. The series covers the making of the album Let It Be by McCartney's former band the Beatles, utilizing footage and audio captured for a 1970 documentary film of the same name.
The dates for the Got Back tour were announced on 18 February 2022.[10][11] The tour was originally planned to have fourteen stops. On 25 February 2022, it was announced that a second concert would be held at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, on 8 June, in addition to the already-announced concert on 7 June.[5] On 11 March, it was then announced that the concert planned for 6 May at Oakland Arena in Oakland, California, would be followed by a second concert in the same venue on 8 May (Mother's Day),[6] bringing the total number of planned stops on the tour to sixteen.
Following the conclusion of the North American leg of the tour, McCartney headlined at the Glastonbury Festival on 25 June, in a 160-minute set, with special guests Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen.[12][13]
Overview
editThe setlist for the Got Back tour consists of over 30 songs, including songs by the Beatles and Wings, as well as songs from McCartney's solo career. Each concert runs for around 2 hours and 40 minutes.[14][15][16] The pre-show featured a scrolling video slide show of images of McCartney and the Beatles,[17] culminating in an animated image of McCartney's Höfner bass.[18]
The sixth song on the setlist is Wings' "Let Me Roll It", which segues into a snippet of "Foxy Lady" as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix.[15][19] The ninth song on the setlist is "My Valentine", a song from McCartney's solo career, accompanied by a video of Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp gesturing in sign language.[15] The 16th song on the setlist, the Beatles' "Blackbird", features McCartney singing while playing acoustic guitar, elevated about six metres (20 feet) in the air, in front of a large LED display.[19][15] "Blackbird" is followed by another acoustic performance, "Here Today", a song which McCartney wrote about his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon after Lennon's murder in 1980.[20][21] The 22nd song on the setlist, the George Harrison-penned "Something", begins with McCartney playing a ukulele which Harrison gave to him.[19] The 28th song on the setlist, Wings' "Live and Let Die", involves the use of pyrotechnics, including flames and fireworks.[15]
The Spokesman-Review and The Dallas Morning News noted the absence of the Beatles song "Back in the U.S.S.R.", a usual staple of McCartney's live concerts, from the setlist,[22][23] in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[23] Immediately preceding the encore at each stop on the tour, McCartney and his fellow band members left the stage and each returned with a flag: the flag of the United Kingdom, the flag of the country they were performing in, an LGBT pride flag, and, in 2022, the flag of Ukraine,[23] as well as the state flag of whichever US state the concert took place in (for example, the flag of Texas at the show in Fort Worth, Texas,[23] and the flag of Florida at the show in Hollywood, Florida[24]).
The encore of the show is composed of the Beatles songs "I've Got a Feeling", "Birthday", "Helter Skelter", and "Golden Slumbers" / "Carry That Weight" / "The End". "I've Got a Feeling" was originally written and sung by McCartney and John Lennon and included on the Let It Be album. The performances of this song during the tour included a "video duet" between McCartney and Lennon, using footage restored for the Get Back documentary of Lennon performing the song with the Beatles during their 1969 rooftop concert.[25] Jackson had isolated the vocals of Lennon after conceiving the idea of having Lennon "sing" along with McCartney and his live band; he told McCartney, "We can extract John's voice, and he can sing with you," to which McCartney replied, "Oh, yeah!"[2]
On the final stop of the North American leg of the tour, on 16 June at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, McCartney was joined on stage during the concert by New Jersey-born musicians Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi.[26][27] Springsteen, with McCartney and McCartney's band, performed the Springsteen song "Glory Days", as well as the Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man".[26][27] During the show's encore, Bon Jovi appeared on stage with balloons and sang "Happy Birthday" to McCartney, who turned 80 years old on 18 June.[26][27] Springsteen returned during the final song, "The End", playing guitar.[26][27]
Reception
editReviewing the 13 May concert held at Inglewood, California's SoFi Stadium, Chris Willman of Variety commended McCartney's singing voice and made note of the show's structure: "a rocking opening stretch highly reliant on '70s rockers [...] a partially acoustic, 'Storytellers'-like magical history tour of the Beatles' rise as the backbone of Act 2, [...] and then, letting the third hour be birthday songs, na-na-na-na-na-na-na-ing and Abbey Road medley-izing. That structure indisputably works, and so, as part of a winning formula, does a band that has now been together for many more years than the Beatles ever were".[18]
The Charlotte Observer's Théoden Janes, reviewing the 21 May concert at Truist Field at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, praised the show, calling the setlist "thoughtfully curated" and writing that "the entire night was one big nonstop highlight".[15] However, Janes suggested that the production "skip the music video that plays during 'My Valentine,'" stating, "We want to think about someone we love during that song. Not about Depp and Amber Heard"; they also criticized the heavy traffic around the stadium and the management of it by stadium officials and local police.[15]
Grant Albert of the Miami New Times, in a review of the 25 May concert held at Hollywood, Florida's Hard Rock Live, wrote that McCartney "can't hit the high notes like he used to. Still, his 60-plus year discography, showmanship, and influence didn't stop the nearly 7,000 attendees from enjoying the rock polymath perform"; he added, "McCartney injected loads of humor, visuals, lasers, and a genuine intention to put on a good show".[24]
Reviewing the 7 June concert at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, Marc Hirsch of the Boston Herald noted "some small noticeable vulnerabilities from age" in McCartney's singing voice, "But it otherwise maintained its essential McCartneyness".[16] Hirsh also wrote, "Eleven days shy of turning 80, he was spry and up for the endurance challenge of playing upward of 30 songs over the course of two hours and 40 minutes at the first of two sold-out shows."[16]
Personnel
editRusty Anderson (Backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar) |
Paul McCartney (Lead vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar, ukulele, mandolin) |
Brian Ray (Backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, electric sitar) | ||
Paul "Wix" Wickens (Backing vocals, keyboards, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bongos, percussion, harmonica, accordion) |
drums, percussion) |
Additional musicians
edit- Hot City Horns
Set lists
edit2022
edit- "Can't Buy Me Love"
- "Junior's Farm"
- "Letting Go"
- "Got to Get You into My Life"
- "Come On to Me"
- "Let Me Roll It" (with "Foxy Lady" coda)
- "Getting Better"
- "Let 'Em In" or "Women and Wives"
- "My Valentine"
- "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"
- "Maybe I'm Amazed"
- "I've Just Seen a Face" or "We Can Work It Out"
- "In Spite of All the Danger"
- "Love Me Do"
- "Dance Tonight"
- "Blackbird"
- "Here Today"
- "New" or "Queenie Eye"
- "Lady Madonna"
- "Fuh You"
- "Jet" (added from 8 June)
- "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
- "Something"
- "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
- "You Never Give Me Your Money"
- "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window"
- "Get Back"
- "Band on the Run"
- "Let It Be"
- "Live and Let Die"
- "Hey Jude"
- Encore
- "I've Got a Feeling" (virtual duet with John Lennon)
- "Birthday"
- "Helter Skelter"
- "Golden Slumbers"
- "Carry That Weight"
- "The End"
2023
edit- "Can't Buy Me Love" or "A Hard Day's Night"
- "Junior's Farm"
- "Letting Go"
- "She's A Woman" or "Drive My Car"
- "Got to Get You into My Life"
- "Come On to Me" or "Coming Up"
- "Let Me Roll It" (with "Foxy Lady" coda)
- "Getting Better"
- "Let 'Em In"
- "My Valentine"
- "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"
- "Maybe I'm Amazed"
- "I've Just Seen a Face"
- "In Spite of All the Danger"
- "Love Me Do"
- "Dance Tonight"
- "Blackbird"
- "Here Today"
- "New" or "Queenie Eye"
- "Lady Madonna"
- "Fuh You" (Removed from 4 December)
- "You Never Give Me Your Money" (Removed from 4 December)
- "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" (Removed from 4 December)
- "Jet"
- "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
- "Something"
- "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
- "Band on the Run"
- "Get Back"
- "Let It Be"
- "Live and Let Die"
- "Hey Jude"
- Encore
- "I've Got a Feeling" (virtual duet with John Lennon)
- "Birthday" or "I Saw Her Standing There" or "Day Tripper"
- "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"
- "Helter Skelter"
- "Golden Slumbers"
- "Carry That Weight"
- "The End"
Tour dates
editDate | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Revenue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
28 April 2022 | Spokane | United States | Spokane Arena | 10,760 / 10,760 | $3,438,893 |
2 May 2022 | Seattle | Climate Pledge Arena | 30,324 / 30,324 | $7,983,322 | |
3 May 2022 | |||||
6 May 2022 | Oakland | Oakland Arena | 28,599 / 28,599 | $7,580,903 | |
8 May 2022 | |||||
13 May 2022 | Inglewood[a] | SoFi Stadium | 43,658 / 43,658 | $12,046,695 | |
17 May 2022 | Fort Worth | Dickies Arena | 12,093 / 12,093 | $3,985,850 | |
21 May 2022 | Winston-Salem | Truist Field at Wake Forest | 33,222 / 33,222 | $7,256,101 | |
25 May 2022 | Hollywood | Hard Rock Live | 6,720 / 6,720 | $3,347,447 | |
28 May 2022 | Orlando | Camping World Stadium | 42,662 / 42,662 | $8,848,665 | |
31 May 2022 | Knoxville | Thompson–Boling Arena | 16,037 / 16,037 | $4,651,316 | |
4 June 2022 | Syracuse | JMA Wireless Dome | 35,599 / 35,599 | $7,815,181 | |
7 June 2022 | Boston | Fenway Park | 71,380 / 71,380 | $15,305,355 | |
8 June 2022 | |||||
12 June 2022 | Baltimore | Oriole Park at Camden Yards | 40,733 / 40,733 | $9,806,025 | |
16 June 2022 | East Rutherford | MetLife Stadium | 51,872 / 51,872 | $13,012,034 | |
24 June 2022[b] | Frome | England | Cheese & Grain | — | — |
25 June 2022[c] | Pilton | Worthy Farm | — | — |
Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Revenue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
18 October 2023 | Adelaide | Australia | Adelaide Entertainment Centre | 8,490 / 8,490 | $1,801,112 |
21 October 2023 | Melbourne | Marvel Stadium | 52,152 / 52,152 | $8,945,988 | |
24 October 2023 | Newcastle | McDonald Jones Stadium | 25,631 / 25,631 | $4,287,589 | |
27 October 2023 | Sydney | Allianz Stadium | 69,402 / 69,402 | $11,770,049 | |
28 October 2023 | |||||
1 November 2023 | Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 38,688 / 38,688 | $6,215,622 | |
4 November 2023 | Gold Coast | Heritage Bank Stadium | 26,108 / 26,108 | $4,039,435 | |
14 November 2023 | Mexico City | Mexico | Foro Sol | 118,088 / 118,088 | $16,429,326 |
16 November 2023 | |||||
28 November 2023[d] | Brasília | Brazil | Clube do Choro | — | — |
30 November 2023 | Arena BRB Mané Garrincha | 53,578 / 53,578 | $4,225,330 | ||
3 December 2023 | Belo Horizonte | Arena MRV | 81,001 / 81,001 | $5,955,622 | |
4 December 2023 | |||||
7 December 2023 | São Paulo | Allianz Parque | 149,226 / 149,226 | $16,233,151 | |
9 December 2023 | |||||
10 December 2023 | |||||
13 December 2023 | Curitiba | Estádio Couto Pereira | 43,633 / 43,633 | $4,301,288 | |
16 December 2023 | Rio de Janeiro | Maracanã Stadium | 62,305 / 62,305 | $5,360,278 |
Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Revenue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 October 2024 | Montevideo | Uruguay | Estadio Centenario | — | — |
5 October 2024 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | River Plate Stadium | — | — |
6 October 2024 | — | — | |||
11 October 2024 | Santiago | Chile | Estadio Monumental | — | — |
15 October 2024 | São Paulo | Brazil | Allianz Parque | — | — |
16 October 2024 | |||||
19 October 2024 | Florianópolis | Estádio da Ressacada | — | — | |
23 October 2024 | Córdoba | Argentina | Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes | — | — |
27 October 2024 | Lima | Peru | Estadio Nacional | — | — |
1 November 2024 | Bogotá | Colombia | Estadio El Campín | — | — |
5 November 2024 | San José | Costa Rica | Estadio Nacional | — | — |
8 November 2024 | Guadalupe[e] | Mexico | Estadio BBVA | — | — |
12 November 2024 | Mexico City | Estadio GNP Seguros | — | — | |
14 November 2024 | |||||
17 November 2024[f] | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez | — | — | ||
4 December 2024 | Paris | France | La Défense Arena | — | — |
5 December 2024 | |||||
9 December 2024 | Madrid | Spain | WiZink Center | — | — |
10 December 2024 | |||||
14 December 2024 | Manchester | England | Co-op Live | — | — |
15 December 2024 | |||||
18 December 2024 | London | The O2 Arena | — | — | |
19 December 2024 | |||||
Total | 1,151,961 / 1,151,961 | $194,642,577 |
- ^ Labeled as Los Angeles in promotional material.
- ^ The concert on 24 June 2022 in Frome, part of the Frome Festival, was a secret warm-up show for the performance at the Glastonbury Festival.[31]
- ^ The concert on 25 June 2022 in Pilton was part of the Glastonbury Festival.[4]
- ^ The concert on 28 November 2023 in Brasília was a secret warm-up show for the performance at the Arena BRB Mané Garrincha. The show, limited to 300 assistants, was announced the same morning.[32]
- ^ Labeled as Monterrey in promotional material.
- ^ The concert on 17 November 2024 in Mexico City is part of the Corona Capital music festival.[33]
Image gallery
edit-
McCartney, Laboriel Jr., Anderson, and Ray performing at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida
-
McCartney playing bass at Camping World Stadium
-
McCartney performing "Live and Let Die" at Camping World Stadium
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Blistein, Jon (18 February 2022). "Paul McCartney Will Get Back to the Road on 'Got Back' Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d Garcia, Thania; Aswad, Jem (29 April 2022). "Paul McCartney 'Duets' With John Lennon on Opening Night of 'Got Back' Tour". Variety. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ a b Zemler, Emily (18 March 2020). "Glastonbury Festival 2020 Canceled Due to Coronavirus". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ a b Minelle, Bethany (4 March 2022). "Glastonbury Festival 2022: Sir Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar to headline alongside Billie Eilish". Sky News. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Paul McCartney adds second concert at Boston's Fenway Park in June". WCVB. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ a b Harrington, Jim (11 March 2022). "Paul McCartney adds Mother's Day show at Oakland Arena". Mercury News. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ Vergara, Claudio (10 June 2024). "Paul McCartney vuelve a Chile: se presentará en octubre en el Estadio Monumental" [Paul McCartney returns to Chile: he will perform at the Estadio Monumental in October]. La Tercera. Copesa. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^ O'Connor, Roisin (17 June 2024). "Got Back! Paul McCartney says 'let's party' as he announces UK tour dates". INDEPENDEMT.
- ^ González, Jesús (20 June 2024). "Get Back! Paul McCartney anuncia conciertos en CDMX y Monterrey: Fechas, venues, boletos y más" [Get Back! Paul McCartney announces concerts in CDMX and Monterrey: Dates, venues, tickets and more]. Sopitas.com.
- ^ a b Kaufman, Gil (18 February 2022). "Paul McCartney Announces Dates For 2022 'Got Back' Tour". Billboard. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ Blistein, Jon (18 February 2022). "Paul McCartney Will Get Back to the Road on 'Got Back' Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ "BBC Music - Glastonbury, 2022, Paul McCartney". BBC.
- ^ "Watch Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen join Paul McCartney on stage at Glastonbury 2022". NME. 26 June 2022.
- ^ Condran, Ed (8 May 2022). "Face-off: Comparing Paul McCartney's concerts in Spokane and Seattle". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g Janes, Théoden (23 May 2022). "Review: Getting to Paul McCartney's concert was a nightmare. The show itself? A dream". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Hirsh, Marc (8 June 2022). "Paul McCartney turns back time at Fenway Park". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ a b Wood, Mikael (14 May 2022). "On the cusp of 80, Paul McCartney is still our most charming rock god". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ a b Willman, Chris (14 May 2022). "Paul McCartney's 'Got Back' Tour Scores a Touchdown With Marathon SoFi Stadium Show: Concert Review". Variety. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Rietmulder, Michael (2 May 2022). "Review: Paul McCartney treats Seattle fans to 60 years of rock history during Climate Pledge Arena concert". Seattle Times. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Connolly, Patrick (29 May 2022). "Paul McCartney showed rock 'n' roll isn't dead in 3-hour set at Camping World Stadium". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Gavin, Christopher (8 June 2022). "Review & setlist: Just shy of 80, Paul McCartney goes back — all the way back". Boston.com. Boston Globe Media Partners. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ Condran, Ed (2 May 2022). "'Thank you, Spokane': Paul McCartney rocks a packed Arena with Beatles classics, solo tunes and a hilarious fan interaction". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d Christensen, Tom (18 May 2022). "Paul McCartney's first Fort Worth show in four decades was joyful and wistful all at once". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Albert, Grant (26 May 2022). "Paul McCartney Was Unstoppable at Hard Rock Live". Miami New Times. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Skinner, Tom (29 April 2022). "Watch Paul McCartney 'duet' with John Lennon as he kicks off 'Got Back' North American tour". NME. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d Cohen, Jonathan (16 June 2022). "Paul McCartney Joined by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi at Tour Finale". Variety. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d Brandle, Lars (17 June 2022). "Paul McCartney Joined on Stage by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi as U.S. Tour Wraps". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ a b c Simon, Richard B. (29 April 2022). "Paul McCartney Duets With John Lennon, Honors George Harrison at Joyous Tour Kickoff". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- ^ Wilusz, Ryan (1 June 2022). "We review Paul McCartney in Knoxville using (almost) only Beatles and Wings lyrics". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Cabison, Rosalie. "CURRENT BOXSCORE". Billboard. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ "Special announcement Paul McCartney – Live in Frome". cheeseandgrain.com. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ Caram, Bernardo (29 November 2023). "Paul McCartney performs surprise concert for 300 fans in Brazil". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "¡Llegó el cartel del Corona Capital 2024! Paul McCartney y Green Day encabezan lineup oficial" [The Corona Capital 2024 line-up has arrived! Paul McCartney and Green Day headline official line-up]. El Financiero (in Spanish). 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
External links
edit- Official website (archived 30 May 2022)