Paul McCartney Electrifies Stadiums on ‘Got Back’ Tour with Live Debut of “Now and Then” and Surprise Classics
Few sights in live music rival the pure, unbridled euphoria of Sir Paul McCartney walking onto a stadium stage with his Höfner bass strapped across his shoulder, greeting fifty thousand adoring fans with two fingers flashed in a peace sign. On his expansive global Got Back tour, the 82-year-old rock titan delivered a masterclass in endurance, musicianship, and emotional power, staging three-hour musical marathons that traversed seven decades of modern culture.
The Historic Live Debut of “Now and Then”
The indisputable climax of the tour arrived during the opening night of the Latin American leg at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay, when McCartney introduced “Now and Then” into his concert setlist for the first time in history. As the familiar piano chords resonated through the stadium, towering high-definition video walls illuminated the night sky with deeply moving archival footage of John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, directed with cinematic finesse.
Singing live in perfect, tender synchronicity with John Lennon’s restored isolated vocal track, McCartney treated generations of fans to a virtual duet across time and space. When George Harrison’s slide guitar textures echoed through the stadium sound towers, tears flowed freely among concertgoers ranging from teenage fans to grandparents who experienced Beatlemania in 1964. McCartney repeated the emotionally charged performance across stadium stops in Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Madrid, Paris, and London.
Surprise Openers: The 35-Year Return of “Help!”
Beyond the emotional gravity of the final Beatles single, McCartney continuously kept hardcore setlist watchers on their toes. During several major tour stops, he astonished crowds by ditching his customary opener “Can’t Buy Me Love” to kick off the concert with “Help!”—marking the first time McCartney had performed the 1965 title track live in concert in over thirty-five years.
The electrifying energy never waned. Accompanied by his virtuoso touring band of twenty-plus years—guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, keyboardist Paul “Wix” Wickens, and powerhouse drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.—McCartney stormed through Wings classics like “Junior’s Farm,” “Jet,” and the roaring multi-section symphony of “Band on the Run.”
Intimate Acoustic Vignettes: “Blackbird” and “Here Today”
Amid the pyrotechnic explosions of “Live and Let Die” and the stadium-wide communal singalongs of “Hey Jude”—examined in our cultural history of how Hey Jude became the ultimate stadium sports anthem—the concerts found their deepest resonance during McCartney’s solo acoustic segment.
Elevated high above the stage on an illuminated hydraulic riser with only an acoustic guitar, McCartney delivered a sublime, fingerpicked rendition of “Blackbird,” composed during the height of the 1968 American civil rights struggle as detailed in our archive on the origins of Paul McCartney writing Blackbird. Immediately following, he dedicated “Here Today” to John Lennon, openly sharing the bittersweet pain of unsaid words between brothers before tragic loss. He also honored George Harrison by playing a delicate ukulele given to him by George for an uplifting rendition of “Something.”
The Virtual Duet on “I’ve Got a Feeling” and the Grand Finale
The concert’s high-energy encore featured another technical marvel: a thunderous performance of “I’ve Got a Feeling,” incorporating Peter Jackson’s isolated audio and pristine 4K video of John Lennon performing on the Savile Row rooftop in 1969. Hearing Lennon’s raw, bluesy roar duel back and forth with McCartney’s soaring vocal ad-libs in real time remained one of the most spine-tingling achievements in modern concert production.
Closing each marathon evening with the climactic triumvirate of Abbey Road—”Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and the furious three-way guitar duel of “The End”—Paul McCartney reminded the world why his music remains immortal. With every sweat-soaked riff and joyous cheer, the Got Back tour reaffirmed that the love you take is indeed equal to the love you make.
