Paul McCartney began his long-awaited return to the concert stage on April 28, 2022 in Spokane, Wash., with the first performance of his “Got Back” tour. The 36-song set featured Beatles, Wings and solo hits, and one very memorable feature that was added for this tour. (See the setlist and watch many of the performances below.) The legend would turn 80 that June 18.
The show was McCartney’s first concert in nearly three years, when he completed the final date of his “Freshen Up” tour on a memorable evening on July 13, 2019, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The set at Spokane Arena on opening night mirrored the one used during his last tour, “Freshen Up,” with some notable substitutions.
Opening night began with an early Beatles favorite.
Noticeably missing was the opening number, The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night,” which McCartney had refreshingly added to the setlist some years ago. Added were such favorites as “Getting Better,” and two songs from Abbey Road‘s side two: “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.” (“Eleanor Rigby” was also dropped from the list.)
Watch McCartney perform “Getting Better”
Watch a pair of Abbey Road favorites
Naturally, “Get Back” was re-added. For this tour, McCartney is showing footage from the acclaimed 2021 Peter Jackson docu-series of the same name. On “Get Back,” McCartney showed his Beatles bandmates performing the song on the large screen behind the stage, as he sang along with John Lennon from the film.
When he made the tour announcement, McCartney wrote, “I said at the end of the last tour that I’d see you next time. I said I was going to get back to you. Well, I got back!”
The U.S. itinerary, announced on Feb. 18 began in the west and ended in the east, a little over a week before the Glastonbury Festival. He had previously played the festival in 2004.
Watch him perform “Band on the Run” on opening night
He kept active during the Covid-19 pandemic with a best-selling book, The Lyrics, as well as another children’s book. He also released a new solo album, McCartney III, in December 2020. His “1969 self” had been highly visible with the Nov. 2021 release of The Beatles: Get Back, Peter Jackson’s docu-series of the filming of the band’s recording sessions and legendary performance on the rooftop of their Apple Corps Ltd. building in London.
McCartney’s longtime touring band features guitarist Rusty Anderson, drummer Abe Laboriel Jr, keyboardist Paul “Wix” Wickens and guitarist Brian Ray.
When McCartney returned to the stage following a short break after the main set, he did so waving a Ukrainian flag, as the crowd roared. “You want some more?” he asked rhetorically.
He kicked off the encores with “I’ve Got a Feeling,” with a special duet with Lennon that McCartney integrated for the entire tour.
Watch a portion of the opening night encore, “I’ve Got a Feeling”
Here’s the complete clip of the “I’ve Got a Feeling” performance. The footage with Lennon from the Get Back docu-series begins at around the 3:48 mark.
Paul McCartney, Spokane Arena, Spokane, Wash., April 28, 2022 Setlist
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
Getting Better
Women and Wives
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
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna
Fuh You
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
Birthday
Helter Skelter
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End
Watch the closing numbers
When McCartney tours again, tickets will be available here and here. McCartney & Wings’ One Hand Clapping, one of the most bootlegged live albums in musical history will finally receive a proper release in 2024. Pre-order is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
Related: Links for 100s of classic rock tours
