Sir Paul McCartney declared “it’s good to be back” as he kicked off the UK tour. In his first appearance in his homeland since Glastonbury 2022, the former Beatle took fans at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena on a journey back through a remarkable career.
Featuring songs from as far back as The Quarrymen, through Beatlemania and to Wings and his solo material, Sir Paul included tributes to his late bandmates and even a festive surprise. He delighted the crowd when he greeted them with: “Okay, Manchester?”
He said, “We’ve been around the world, man. We’ve been around South America. Here we are up north again. It’s good to be back.”
The Got Back tour has taken in South America, Spain and France – and after a second night in Manchester will head to The O2 in London on Wednesday and Thursday. Fans queued outside in typically rainy Manchester weather to get into the arena, which opened earlier this year and has a capacity of 23,500.
The 82-year-old treated the crowd to a set that lasted more than two and a half hours, starting with Hard Day’s Night and ending the main set with Hey Jude, which a happy crowd enthusiastically joined. Sir Paul introduced In Spite Of All the Danger by the Quarrymen and promised to take the audience back in time.
He said: “We’re going to a little place in the north of England. It’s about half an hour down to East Lancs, actually. A little place called Liverpool. In that town there were four boys and they wanted to make a record, so they did that, and this song we’re going to do now is the first song the Beatles ever recorded.”
A request from Sir Paul to the audience to display a “Beatles scream” showed that he is still capable of inducing the hysteria of the 1960s. The show’s encore saw him reunite with John Lennon who appeared on screen for I’ve Got A Feeling.
Sir Paul, who turned to look at the screen behind him as Lennon appeared, told the arena: “It’s good for me because I get to sing with John again.” Earlier in the gig, he performed Here Today, written as a tribute to the singer, who was killed in 1980.
He said: “It was hard to say to your mate ‘hey, I love you man’. It didn’t go well. So after John died I just wrote this song and I was just like ‘what the hell’.”
He also paid tribute to George Harrison by using a ukelele given to him by his bandmate. He played it during Something, a Beatles song written by Harrison, as images of the guitarist were shown on the screen. When he finished he said, “Thanks George, that’s a very cool song.”
A festive addition to the set list came in the form of Wonderful Christmastime, with snow falling from the ceiling as Sir Paul was joined by the YSBD Theater School’s Children’s Choir and backing musicians dressed as elves, with a picture of a Christmas tree in the background. Introducing it, he said, “Well, now that the season is coming up, we have a little surprise for you.”
Blackbird, inspired by the US civil rights movement and covered by Beyonce on her Cowboy Carter album this year, saw Sir Paul raised on a platform, which displayed an image of a bird flying over the moon. The singer told the crowd that the band had refused to play to segregated crowds in the US.
He said: “It just sounded stupid to us, we said ‘we don’t play like that, you’re kidding’.” The star’s family, including wife Nancy Shevell, was in the audience for the gig.
Sir Paul said the solo song My Valentine was written for his wife, adding: “She’s here tonight. This one’s for you baby.” Laser lights illuminated the arena at points, while dramatic pyrotechnics saw flames shoot from the stage during the James Bond theme Live And Let Die.
Ending his set with the Beatles’ Golden Slumbers, Sir Paul said: “You’ve been a great crowd tonight. To tell you the truth, we thought we’d be spoiled by South American crowds because they’re crazy, but you’re crazier. And we love it.”
He was booed when he told the crowd: “We have to go home now.” He ended the performance before cannons of red, white and blue confetti exploded, saying: “There’s only one thing left to say – see you next time.”
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