Sir Paul McCartney duetted with the late John Lennon as he kicked off his ‘Got Back’ North American tour in Washington on Thursday night (28.04.22).
The Beatles legend – who turns 80 in June – pulled out all the stops as he opened his first arena run since his 2019 ‘FRESHEN UP’ jaunt.
Fans of the Liverpool legend were treated to an epic 36-song set at the Spokane Arena, with several surprises along the way.
For a rendition of the Beatles classic ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ from 1970’s ‘Let it Be’, which he left for the six-song encore, Macca was able to sing with his beloved bandmate – who was assassinated, aged 40, in December 1980 – with footage from Peter Jackson’s ‘Get Back’ docu-series beamed on a big screen behind him.
He told the crowd: “Peter Jackson said: ‘I can pull John’s voice out if you’d like me to.'”
Macca is not the first artist to get to sing with a late star through the power of technology, as Adam Lambert did just that with the late Freddie Mercury at his concerts with Queen.
McCartney paid a special tribute to the late George Harrison with a stirring rendition of ‘Something’ – one of two tracks the late guitarist penned for ‘Abbey Road’, along with the classic ‘Here Comes The Sun’ – which he played on a ukulele his bandmate gave to him.
Macca also performed 1967’s ‘Getting Better’ and 1969’s ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ for the first time solo in almost two decades, the last time being 2003.
‘She Came in Through The Bathroom Window’ from ‘Abbey Road’ hasn’t been performed by the music legend since 2008, but also got an outing during the three-hour set.
On the solo side of things, Macca gave ‘McCartney III’ track ‘Women And Wives’ its live debut, almost two years after the long-awaited third instalment in the trilogy was released in December 2020.
Macca ended the night by waving the Ukrainian flag in solidarity with the European country amid Russia’s invasion.
The ‘Got Back’ tour continues in Seattle, Washington on May 2, ahead of his headline set at Glastonbury this June.
Paul McCartney’s Washington setlist:
‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ (The Beatles song)
‘Junior’s Farm’ (Wings song)
‘Letting Go’ (Wings song)
‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ (The Beatles song)
‘Come On To Me’
‘Let Me Roll It’ (Wings Song, followed By ‘Foxy Lady’ jam)
‘Getting Better’ (The Beatles song, first time live since 2003)
‘Women And Wives’ (live debut)
‘My Valentine’
‘Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five’ (Wings song)
‘Maybe I’m Amazed’
‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’ (The Beatles song)
‘In Spite Of All The Danger’ (The Quarrymen song)
‘Love Me Do’ (The Beatles song)
‘Dance Tonight’
‘Blackbird’ (The Beatles song)
‘Here Today’
‘Queenie Eye’
‘Lady Madonna’ (The Beatles song)
‘Fuh You’
‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!’ (The Beatles song)
‘Something’ (The Beatles song)
‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ (The Beatles song)
‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ (The Beatles song, first time since 2003)
‘She Came In Through The Bathroom Window’ (The Beatles song, first time since 2008)
‘Get Back’ (The Beatles song)
‘Band On The Run’ (Wings song)
‘Let It Be’ (The Beatles song)
‘Live And Let Die’ (Wings song)
‘Hey Jude’ (The Beatles song)
Encore:
‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ (The Beatles song)
‘Birthday’ (The Beatles song)
‘Helter Skelter’ (The Beatles song)
‘Golden Slumbers’ (The Beatles song)
‘Carry That Weight’ (The Beatles song)
‘The End’ (The Beatles song)