SAN DIEGO — Hello! Goodbye?
Label it a less-than-simple turn of fortune or an unlikely classic-rock coincidence. Either way, what are the odds that Paul McCartney officially launched the U.S. portion of his 2025 “Got Back” tour on Monday night at Acrisure Arena, the same Palm Desert location where the Who is set to wrap up its final show on its farewell tour on Wednesday night?
At 83, McCartney is several years older than the two remaining members of the Who, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. However, while the Who seems to be ending its touring era after 61 years with the upcoming “The Song Is Over” tour, McCartney shows no signs of stepping back from performing.
He emphasized that idea at the conclusion of his lengthy, 2-hour-and-47-minute show, addressing the enthusiastic crowd with the words: “We’ll meet again next time!”
It didn’t appear to be a careless vow from the co-founder of the Beatles and a seasoned solo performer.
McCartney and his outstanding band are currently in the fourth year of their “Got Back” tour. His latest 20-date stadium and arena tour across North America will wrap up on November 23 in Chicago, and it featured an unexpected warm-up performance on Friday at the Santa Barbara Bowl.
Based on his 33-song performance on Monday in Palm Desert—where the outside temperature was 82 degrees, and McCartney took the stage at 8:17 p.m. in an air-conditioned venue—he is determined to keep building his reputation as a consistently lively rock icon.
Alternatively, as he shared with the enthusiastic crowd of 11,000 before “Drive My Car,” which was performed with great energy: “This is the second night of the tour, so we’re young, fresh, and bold.”
Youth is, naturally, a subjective concept. It would be unreasonable to anticipate any artist in their 80s — particularly one as famous and impactful as McCartney — to perform every note he once did during his younger years or even as he did at his 2019 performance at Petco Park.
But he didn’t take it easy on Monday night, and his heartfelt vocal expressions during “Hey Jude” and other songs were thrilling. Additionally, there was an extra emotional depth to his performance of “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Blackbird,” and other tracks he wrote and recorded many years ago.
McCartney is four years older than President Donald Trump and 14 years older than the new pope. Yet, this surprisingly fit and slim music legend can still draw a crowd to an arena for a night of musical celebration. The lively event led by McCartney on Monday captivated both the elderly people sitting next to me and the Gen Z individuals on my other side, with everyone cheering, dancing, singing, and smiling with joy throughout almost the entire show.
McCartney did a significant amount of self-congratulating.
After finishing his fourth song, a vibrant and brass-filled rendition of the Beatles’ “Got To Get You Into My Life,” he addressed the crowd: “This is amazing. I’m going to take a moment here to fully appreciate it for myself.”
McCartney also enjoyed the opportunity to exchange playful remarks with his fans. Many of them displayed handcrafted signs requesting specific songs. One sign indicated the total number of McCartney concerts that person had seen — 138.
It’s somewhat fixated,” the star of the evening remarked with a smile. “But I enjoy it!
At one moment, McCartney imitated the energetic, vowel-less exclamations of a highly caffeinated fan. He appeared delighted by a written request from a 64-year-old woman asking him to sign her arm so she could use it for her first tattoo. (He refused.)
Despite these displays of friendliness, the music remained the central focus, and McCartney appeared energetic and fully involved. This was evident from his initial set featuring “Help!”, “Coming Up,” and “Got To Get You Into My Life,” all the way to the closing encores of “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.”
The song ‘Help!’ is the only track McCartney performed on Monday that was also part of the Beatles’ only concert in San Diego, which occurred in August 1965 at Balboa Stadium. His most recent performance here was in 2019 at the fully booked Petco Park.
His performance in Palm Desert was just the second time — the first being Friday in Santa Barbara — that he has performed the song in its entirety since a 1965 Beatles concert in Wales. This is the first time he can recall opening a show with a Beatles classic that originally featured John Lennon on lead vocals.
The highly energetic concert showcased a variety of hits from the Fab Four, including “Getting Better,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Love Me Do,” “Lady Madonna,” “Get Back,” “Hey Jude,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Something,” an electrifying “Helter Skelter,” and a solo acoustic rendition of the civil rights movement-inspired “Blackbird,” which was particularly powerful during a period of increasing racial tension.
Numerous tracks from McCartney’s solo work and his initial band after the Beatles were also included, with the group’s 1971-1981 period highlighted in the new box set titled “Wings.”
The Monday performance featured eight hits from Wings, including “Let Me Roll It” and “Jet,” as well as the high-energy “Live and Let Die,” which had so many special effects that even former members of Kiss would be jealous.
Kiss wrapped up its final tour in 2023. Paul McCartney continues to thrive on the long and twisting path he has played a major role in shaping.
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