13 May, 2022; It’s a Friday evening in Los Angeles and all roads for Paul McCartney fans in the city lead to the new football mega-stadium, the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, host of the most recent Super Bowl. Of course, those roads are plugged with traffic, and the closer one gets to the venue, the slower one moves. Paul McCartney is back in Los Angeles for the first time in three years, playing the first date of his 2022 ‘Got Back’ tour, with over 50,000 seats sold, fully sold out. There is an air of anticipation around the venue. Throngs of people make their way to their seats, many of them deep in conversation about Mr. McCartney and a certain band he used to be in.
The show is pushed back an hour to accommodate latecomers, giving everyone a good chance of not missing anything. Finally, at 8:30 pm, McCartney emerges on stage, looking triumphant and dressed sharply, waving and saluting the crowd; he looks like a ’90s version of himself. He turns 80 years young next month, it’s hard to grasp just how he’s still doing this, at this level. Does he still have it?
He rips straight into “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and the shackles are off. The crowd erupts, there can’t be a soul present that doesn’t know this song, and the evening has officially started. McCartney rolls into a couple of post-Beatles numbers, “Juniors Farm” followed by “Letting Go,” both of which are received enthusiastically. Perhaps wanting to keep the adrenaline going for the fans, he then launches into “Got To Get You Into My Life,” and the audience is cheering, whooping and bouncing along raucously once more.
The consummate professional, McCartney regularly engages the audience, dropping anecdotes only he could possibly have (such as the time Jimmy Hendrix played “Sgt Pepper’s” live, then called on Eric Clapton, in the audience, to re-tune his guitar) and paying tribute to those who have helped him get to where he is today— notably John Lennon, George Harrison and George Martin.
There are numbers aplenty showcasing stunning visuals on the huge LED screen behind the musicians, such as “Let Them In” (images of diversity and pride flags abound) and “My Valentine” (featuring the music video footage of Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman performing the song in sign language), making the concert feel appropriate to a venue of this size. There is huge production value in the massive pyro effects during “Live and Let Die;” there’s something for everyone, and the audience’s attention is kept throughout.
Conversely, there are close, intimate moments; McCartney opening “Something” with a ukulele solo, followed by a touching tribute to George Harrison playing on the LED when the band joins in to complete the number. Similarly, he plays “Blackbird” solo, atop an elevated stage showcasing yet more LED screens. This is not one grumpy old man sitting, hunched over a guitar; this is a performer at the top of his game, literally looking down on the rest of us. Running the emotional gamut, he plays “Here Today” in front of a poignant salute to John Lennon. These moments make the show feel so much more personal, and one would guess there were few throats without lumps in them.
He doesn’t hammer home the emotional stakes, though, mixing these moments in among the raucous crowd-pleasers, such as the obligatory singalong that is “Hey Jude,” the evening’s pre-encore closer. On top of all this, there’s a high-tech feel, evinced when footage from the recent TV series “Get Back” is shown on screen during the song of the same name. Large cheers emanate from the crowd when McCartney later sings a duet, of sorts, with John Lennon, during “I Got a Feeling,” Lennon’s vocals having been isolated by none other than Peter Jackson for this very purpose. Another touching tip of the hat.
Eventually, after what at the same time feels like forever and hardly any time, the band wraps up “Hey Jude” and exits the stage ahead of an encore. The excitement is palpable as the band quickly (perhaps no more than 3 minutes rest) re-takes the stage, McCartney waving a huge Ukrainian flag, playing out the remainder of the evening to end on an epic rendition of “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight,” which rocks the stadium to its foundations.
One thing this reviewer considered en route to the venue, while having plenty of time to think of these things due to the traffic, was just how relevant could someone like Paul McCartney be in 2022? Would he come across as a ghost of the past, someone people are just going to see so that they can tell Instagram they were there, that they saw him? Or maybe, just maybe, could he still have it?
The crowd of all ages (there’s a group of 20-somethings just ahead of this reviewer, singing along to EVERY WORD, not just Beatles-era) is hugely engrossed in the whole spectacle, and aside from the usual ‘film every note’ types in the audience, everyone is engaged and present. McCartney plays for over two and a half hours, incredible for anyone regardless of age, and he barely looks like he’s broken a sweat. The songs were played to perfection, another testament to just how good he is. How good he’s always been. McCartney is a contemporary of David Bowie, and while the two were rarely musically in sync, he’s taken the opposite route to Bowie in later years, proudly standing on the largest stages on the planet, saying “I’m still here.”
No doubt, he still has it, in spades.
Set List:
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
Let ’em In
My Valentine
1985
Maybe I’m Amazed
We Can Work It Out
In Spite Of All The Danger
Love Me Do
Dance Tonight
Blackbird
Here Today
New
Lady Madonna
Fuh You
Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite
Something
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
College
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
Photo Credit: Marv Watson
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