Sir Paul McCartney launched the US leg of his 2025 Got Back Tour on Friday (9/26) at the Santa Barbara Bowl, surprising the sold-out crowd by opening with “Help!” the Beatles song he had not performed in full since 1965.
The set drew from his full career, mixing Beatles, Wings, his solo material, and even a nod to his first group, The Quarrymen.
A few days later on Monday (9/29), he brought the tour into the High Desert of the Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms, adding a few extra tunes he didn’t play in Santa Barbara.
The Got Back Tour began in 2022 and has now comprised 79 shows worldwide including a stop in Liverpool earlier this summer where The Boss joined him, and in Mexico City last winter where Jack White and St. Vincent jammed with him.
It's peculiar that “Help!” sat on the sidelines for so long as it was originally recorded as the title track to the Fab Four’s fifth studio album. McCartney had's rocked it in 35 years, but others sure have.
Tina Turner tops that chart at covering the banger 594 times (including at her last performance ever), The Damned have played it 154 times, and U2 included it in their shows 108 times.
Backing the Beatle on this leg are Paul “Wix” Wickens on keyboards, Brian Ray on bass and guitar, Rusty Anderson on guitar, Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, and the Hot City Horns filling it all up.
The opener at the Bowl had a fairly strict no-phones policy where attendees had to put their devices in special bags.
“Nobody’s got a phone tonight," the singer / bassist / guitarist / walrus / pianist noted. "It’s better.” However the woman above seemed to have snuck one through the tight Central Coast security.
The Santa Barbara Bowl whose capacity is around 4,500, is a historic hillside amphitheater nestled in the foothills just above the city.
The cozy venue is carved into a canyon setting that gives the venue natural acoustics and a super chill vibe. Over the years it has hosted Bob Marley (1979), the Beastie Boys (1992), and Radiohead (2017) among many others.
After a three hour drive east is the newly built Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms in Greater Palm Springs.
Super close to where the Coachella music festival is held each spring, the $290 million 11,000 capacity venue was privately funded and gave the desert region a much needed place to rock all year long.
It has appeared that many artists are choosing to either begin or end their tours out there in the desert as the facility is new, Palm Springs is delightful, and it's about half the size of a typical basketball arena.
Olivia Rodrigo opened her Guts tour there (with Chappell Roan opening) in 2024. And The Who are concluding their Farewell Tour there tonight.
Clocking in at 35 songs, Paul added nine extra tunes to the show in the desert.
From The Beatles: “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!,” “Drive My Car,” “Something”; from Wings: “Band on the Run,” “Letting Go”; solo: “Come On to Me,” “Here Today,” “Maybe I’m Amazed”; and from The Quarrymen: “In Spite of All the Danger.”
Paul now heads to Vegas where he plays the football stadium, he'll be at the baseball park in Denver, and frolic from one huge area to the next in North America till Thanksgiving. See the man while you can.
Tickets available on Paul's website.
Remaining dates of the Got Back Tour:
10/4 Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas
10/7 Isleta Amphitheater, Albuquerque
10/11 Coors Field, Denver
10/14 Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines
10/17 US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
10/22 BOK Center, Tulsa
10/25 Alamodome, San Antonio
10/29 Smoothie King Center, New Orleans
11/2 State Farm Arena, Atlanta
11/6 Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
11/8 Nationwide Arena, Columbus
11/11 PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh
11/14 KeyBank Center, Buffalo
11/17 Centre Bell, Montréal, Canada
11/21 FirstOntario Centre, Hamilton, Canada
11/24-11/25 United Center, Chicago
