Concert Review: Paul McCartney at Coors Field, Denver

Paul McCartney: Got Back, Coors Field, Denver. Author’s photo

Concert Review: Paul McCartney at Coors Field, Denver

Paul McCartney made his fourth stop in his 17-city US/Canada tour “Got Back” last Saturday night, October 11, in Denver. Between Albuquerque and De Moines, this visit to the Mile High City was a “stretch.” Coors Field holds over 50,000 during a Rockies baseball game, but for this concert, the baseball field was covered with seating to expand the capacity by several thousand.

Before I get to the details of the concert – the set list, pictures, Paul’s commentary between songs, and my commentary on the history – first, some background on the significance of this concert tour.

“Got Back” Tour

I’ve seen him perform twice previously in a smaller venue in Denver, but for many, Saturday night at Coors Field was a “now or never” event. Sir Paul McCartney is 83 years old, and one wonders if he’ll tour North America again.

Coors Field, before the concert. Author’s photo taken with iPhone 17 Pro

To say this is “nostalgia” is an understatement. Many in the audience were not yet alive when the Beatles were initially popular. The teenager sitting behind us wept loudly when Paul paid tribute to John Lennon.

He played many favorites, but there was a palpable sense that these were Paul’s favorites that he wanted to share one more (last?) time with his fans. I recall seeing him perform the song When I’m 64 before he was 64, and wondering if he realized he’d be playing sold-out arena concerts two decades after that.

To listen to Sir Paul McCartney is to be in the presence of a legend. He’s not only been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, but also became the first rock & roll billionaire.

I first heard the Beatles on the radio in late 1963. I bought their first vinyl album, released in the US, Meet The Beatles, when it went on sale in January 1964. I vividly remember when they first arrived in the US on February 7, 1964, and appeared on the Ed Sullivan TV show, as I wrote about here.

I’ve listened to him on 45 singles, 33 1/3 LP albums, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs, and now streaming media.

“Paul plays the soundtrack of my life.”

Paul McCartney Concerts I’ve Attended

Paul’s signature Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass. Author’s photo

My first Paul McCartney concert was in 2002 at the sold-out Pepsi Center in Denver. I was not in the worst seat in the house; that was the row behind me. It was BYOO – Bring Your Own Oxygen. We were sitting in the nose-bleed section.

Average ticket: $150
Price Range: $150-600
Tour Gross: $126M

My second concert, known as his “The US Tour,” was held at the same venue in 2005. My review of that concert is here, with a history of some of the songs based on my pilgrimage to Liverpool, Paul’s home.

My ticket: $115
Price Range: $115-250
Tour Gross: $77M

This Concert’s Details

Here’s my take from the 23rd row of the stands.

The smoke machines were fired up before the concert began.

Smoke machines at Paul McCartney: Got Back, Coors Field, Denver. Author’s photo

Although the concert began closer to 8 than the posted 7:30 p.m. time, when it did start, it was after the video board counted down.

Count down to Paul McCartney: Got Back, Coors Field, Denver. Author’s photo

Everyone was on their feet for the first song, which started without an introduction.

Paul McCartney plays Help! Author’s photo

• Help!

This is the first time the song has been played on an official tour since 1965, making it a 60-year-in-the-waiting event. Originally, John Lennon sang lead vocals on his autobiographical tune.

Already, you could smell the audience smoking Mother Nature.

Paul plays Coming Up. Author’s photo

• Coming Up

From his second solo album, McCartney II (1980), there was even an excerpt of music from Peter Gunn.

He finally greeted the audience with:

“Hello Denver. Going to have a lot of fun. Colorado Party. New songs, old songs, in between songs. This one isn’t a new song:”

Paul greets the audience. Author’s photo

• Got to Get You into My Life

With an opening horn fanfare, this song is from the Beatles’ 1966 album Revolver. Paul has previously said, “It’s actually an ode to pot… like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret.”

• (Baby You Can) Drive My Car

From the 1965 Rubber Soul album

By this point in the concert, you could tell that Paul was already winded. From the jumbotron, you could see his grey stubble of a beard. He no longer dyes his hair.

The enthusiastic response to the song prompted Paul to tell the audience:

“You’re going to be a great crowd”

• (I Feel Like) Letting Go

From the 1975 Wings album Venus and Mars, which refers to his relationship with his wife and bandmate at the time, Linda.

Paul finished the song and said:

“Mile High City. No kidding”

• Come On To Me

This song, released in 2018 as part of Record Store Day, was first performed as part of “Carpool Karaoke” on The Late Late Show with James Corden. You see James in his car, calling an offscreen person, saying, “Help, I need somebody, help, not just anybody, Help…” He picks up Paul McCartney in Liverpool and goes to visit the house where Paul grew up, then the local Philharmonic Dining Rooms pub, where, as the curtains open, Paul plays this song in a surprise concert for the patrons.

At this point in our concert, it’s dark, and lasers come out of the stage and flash onto the stadium.

Lasers at Coors Field for Paul McCartney concert. Author’s photo

Paul took off his jacket and said:

“That’s the only wardrobe change of the whole evening.”

The crowd loved it, but you could see the age in his eyes.

Paul, without his jacket. Author’s photo

• Let Me Roll It

From the 1973 Wings album Band on the Run.

This was followed by the instrumental:

• Foxey Lady

Paul explained:

“This is a tribute to Jimi Hendrix, who I hung out with in London. He was playing at a little club and it was getting late and pretty much everyone had gone home. Jimi starts up with his stuff, and he’s just blowing everyone’s minds. We just go, ‘Wow, who is this guy?’ As I said, the club was kind of empty that night, but a couple nights later the word had got around and it was full; everyone was there — [Eric] Clapton, [Pete] Townshend, me.

• Getting Better All The Time

This highly percussive song is from the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I wrote about the debut of this album in my article here.

Paul at the piano. Author’s photo

Paul moves to one of the two pianos on stage to play

• Let ’Em In

From the 1976 Wings album Wings at the Speed of Sound, if you listen carefully, you’ll hear the Westminster Chimes at the very beginning. The song mentions an eclectic cast of characters associated with “someone’s knocking at the door:”

• Sister Susie: a nickname for Linda McCartney
• Brother John: Linda McCartney’s brother
• Martin Luther: who hung his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Church door
• Phil and Don: of the Everly Brothers
• Uncle Earnie: refers to Ringo Starr, who played the character in the London Symphony Orchestra’s recording of The Who’s rock opera Tommy.
• Auntie Gin: Paul’s aunt

Paul then described the following song with:

“I wrote for my wife Nancy, in the audience tonight.”

• My Valentine

From Paul’s solo 2012 album Kisses On The Bottom.

• Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five

From the 1973 Wings album Band on the Run.

• Maybe I’m Amazed

From the 1970 debut solo album, McCartney, made after the breakup of the Beatles, it was a love song to his wife at the time, Linda. If you listen carefully, you realize it’s the harmonization of the rest of the band that fills this song.

Paul on acoustic guitar. Author’s photo

Paul then picked up his acoustic guitar and asked:

“Doing OK? How about the people on this side? How about those on this side? How about those in the back?”

• I’ve Just Seen a Face

From the Beatles’ album Rubber Soul in the US, but on their British album Help! It had been inspired by Paul’s relationship with the actress Jane Asher.  Paul wrote it in her basement, where he was a lodger in 1963.

The jumbotron showed pictures of the early Beatles.

George and Ringo. Author’s photo

John and George. Author’s photo

Paul addressed the audience, saying:

“We got some signs in the audience. One says,”186.” That many times? A bit obsessive, isn’t it? Another says psycho. In Japanese that means ‘fabulous.’ Takes you back a long time ago. A city in the north of England called Liverpool. There were four lads. They did quite well for themselves. We did a demo, this is the first thing we ever recorded.”

[The Japanese word saikou (最高) is pronounced very similarly to the English word “psycho” and means “the best,” “fabulous,” or “awesome.”]

He then launched into:

• In Spite of the Danger

You can find it on the 1995 album Beatles Anthology 1 as a song by the Quarrymen, the “first” band Paul belonged to, which also included John Lennon, George Harrison, pianist John Lowe, and drummer Colin Hanton. Paul wrote it in 1958, “a self-penned little song very influenced by influenced by Elvis.”

Paul instructed the audience that the following song would be a sing-along.

“We went down to London, and met George Martin at Abbey Road. This was our first professional record.”

Paul on Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass. Author’s photo

• Love Me Do

They were to record many of their studio albums at Abbey Road Studios. On my recent trip to England, I took a stroll down Abbey Road, as one does when one’s in London.

Abbey Road, London. Author’s photo

Paul took up a mandolin, saying:

“You can dance to this.”

Paul on mandolin. Author’s photo

• Dance Tonight

Everyone was on their feet. This song, from Paul’s 2007 album Memory Almost Full, has a strong beat. Even the drummer danced.

Paul said:

“And that’s the only choreography in the show.”

Paul on acoustic guitar. Author’s photo

Paul goes back to his acoustic guitar to play the following song from the 1968 double album The Beatles, better known as “The White Album.”

• Blackbird

“I wrote it back in the ’60s when there was a lot of troubles in the southern states, over Civil rights. So I wanted to write a song that, if the song ever got back to them, it would give them some hope. We did a concert in Jacksonville, and the promoter said,’You understand, it’s segregated.’ ‘What do you mean?’ we asked. ’Whites sit on the left side, Blacks on the right side.’

Well, that’s stupid. So we said to them, ‘We’re not playing.’ It became the first integrated concert they had. It was beautiful because years later, I met a Black lady who had been a kid at the show. She said, ‘It’s amazing, because I’d never sat with white people before. And it was great because it didn’t matter, we were all Beatles fans.’

I’m very proud of that; we had in our contract we’d never play anything segregated.”

Musical Trivia:

Paul once explained on a British TV show that his guitar accompaniment for Blackbird was inspired by Johan Sebastian Bach’s lute piece Bourrée in E Minor. He and George Harrison tried to learn it as a “show-off” piece.

Paul next explained that the following tune was:

“A song from after John died. When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, we never said”I love you, man” because you were all trying to be so rough and tough and cool… I realized that I’d never said it to him, so I…tried to put some of those feelings in this song.”

• Here Today

From the 1982 solo album Tug Of War. Paul wrote it as an imaginary conversation shortly after John Lennon was killed.

Paul at the piano. Author’s photo

Paul goes back to the piano for:

• Now and Then

Released as a single in 2023 as “the last Beatles song,” it featured lyrics sung by John Lennon based on an unfinished 1977 solo home demo. It was not until AI-assisted audio restoration technology, developed for Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back documentary, that this song could finally be produced. The other side of the single was a stereo remix of the Beatles’ first single Love Me Do.

Paul said after singing the song:

“Thank you John for writing that song.”

• Lady Madonna

From the 1968 single. Paul has previously said the song:

“was me sitting down at the piano trying to write a bluesy boogie-woogie thing … It reminded me of Fats Domino for some reason, so I started singing a Fats Domino impression. It took my other voice to a very odd place.”

Paul then addressed the crowd:

“How many people are actually from here? How many people are from somewhere else? On behalf of the tourist board, we welcome you.”

Paul on his Höfner bass. Author’s photo

Back on his signature Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass, he played:

• Jet

From the 1973 Wings album Band on the Run, it was the first single from the album released in Britain and America. Paul claims it was inspired by his pet Labrador Retriever dog by the same name.

Paul then said:

“The next song is off the Sgt Pepper album”

• Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite!

From the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, the lead vocals were originally sung by John Lennon, and the song sounds like it’s played on a calliope.

Paul explained:

“At John’s house, we noticed a poster on the wall and we stole it.”

The poster featured Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royal appearance at Rochdale and had many items that would appear as lyrics in the song.

The circus poster from 1843 that inspired John Lennon to write “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite”. Image: Wikimedia

Paul then takes up a ukulele and says,

“Let’s hear it for George!”

Paul on ukulele. Author’s photo

Wild cheers.

“I was over at George’s place, and told him, ‘I’ve learned one of your songs’…”

• Something

The song began simply with Paul’s ukulele, but shifted in the middle to an electric lead with Paul playing acoustic guitar.

The song is from their 1969 album Abbey Road. George Harrison wrote it, and it became a huge hit. James Taylor has said that the opening lyric was inspired by his song Something in the Way She Moves, which he recorded at Apple Records. George claims he tried to sing it in the style of Ray Charles. His wife, Patty Boyd, whom he met while filming A Hard Day’s Night, claims she was the inspiration for the song. He denied it, saying it was about the Hindu deity Krishna. Patty later married Eric Clapton and inspired his song Layla.

Nevertheless, it has subsequently been covered by Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Joe Cocker, Lena Horne, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, the O’Jays, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and even Elvis Presley.

Paul went back to his Höfner and said

“We’re gonna ask you to sing for us.”

• Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

And everyone in the audience was singing

“Ob-la-Di, Ob-La-Da
Life goes on, brah
La-la, how the life goes on”

Paul on Höfner. Author’s photo

The jumbotron cameras shifted to girls on the floor, dressed in ’60s outfits, holding the sign of a red heart: “We Love Paul.”

• Band on the Run

By this time in the concert, you could tell that, despite his impressive vocal range, Paul couldn’t hit all the high notes. But we didn’t care; we were listening to Paul McCartney!

• Get Back

Paul back on the piano. Author’s photo

Paul, back on piano, sang

• Let It Be

The audience lit up their iPhones at the stadium.

Stadium lit up. Author’s photo

This was followed by

• Live and Let Die

This song, from the Roger Moore James Bond film of the same name, as I wrote about here and here, was accompanied by fireworks.

Fireworks at Coors Field. Author’s photo

His voice may have gotten a bit feeble, but we didn’t care; we were listening to Sir Paul McCartney!

• Hey, Jude

So ended the concert, or did it? He often ends with this song. But there would be an encore. We took this opportunity to slip out while everyone was standing, to head to the parking lot ahead of our 50,000+ new friends.

The Encore

Paul played several more songs:

• I’ve Got a Feeling

This was a “virtual duet” with vocal tracks from John Lennon done at the Abbey Road rooftop concert in 1969, their “last” public concert.

• Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

This is the penultimate song from the eponymous Sgt Pepper’s album, which is then followed by A Day in the Life.

• Helter Skelter

• Golden Slumbers

This song, on the Abbey Road album, is “a lullaby” and segues into:

• Carry That Weight

Which also segues into:

• The End

This last song that was recorded by all four Beatles, with the only drum solo ever by Ringo Starr, is a remarkable song that begins with great energy and rock and roll exuberance, asking:

Are you gonna be in my dreams tonight?

but resolves after a time signature change, with the piano slowing down, that dissolves into the piano disappearing with a slower finish of:

And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to
The love you make.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com