Rehearsals for the "Got Back" tour

On the eve of the Australian tour opener for his “Got Back” tour, Paul McCartney and his band held a private rehearsal at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Afterwards, Paul participated in a 25-minute Q&A session with 30 competition winners, moderated by journalist Sean Sennett. He then performed a six-song, 25-minute set, reprising material the band had previously rehearsed. All phones were confiscated at the door, and the only ones aware of the timing and location of this event were the competition winners and select members of the media.

From Sir Paul McCartney talks songs, screams and dreams ahead of opening gig of Australian tour – ABC News, October 18, 2023

Speaking words of wisdom, Sir Paul McCartney sits on stage surrounded by a small coterie of his most adoring fans. The scene is very different from the one that greeted the songsmith upon his arrival in Australia 59 years ago, at the peak of Beatle-mania. Back in 64, an estimated 350,000 people lined the streets of Adelaide to catch a glimpse of McCartney and co.

At a sneak peek ahead of the music legend’s Wednesday-night gig at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, a much smaller — but equally effusive — audience was treated to a far more intimate Q&A encounter as McCartney reflected on his life and work.

“It was just great, it was fantastic — it was something special,” McCartney said, in response to an audience member who asked about the Beatles’ Adelaide visit. “It was overwhelming really, because … we’d seen big crowds and we’d had all the screaming and stuff, so we weren’t kind of bowled over by that — but that many people, it was insane.”

McCartney’s current tour Got Back is intended as a medley of music from different stages of his career, which has spanned more than six decades and included songs with The Beatles and Wings, as well as his solo output. While the show itself is not quite a magical mystery tour, McCartney believes there is thaumaturgy in melody. In many respects, music is the theme that runs through his life. It has made him who he is today, and still consumes many of his waking moments — and some of his sleeping ones.

“Someone said to me once, ‘Do you believe in magic?’ and I said, ‘Well, I’ve kind of got to’, because a couple of my songs I sort of didn’t write. I woke up one morning and then there was this tune in my head and it turned out to be Yesterday,” he said. “It just arrived and I didn’t have to sit down and write it or anything.“

Let It Be emerged from the ether in similarly mysterious circumstances, in one of “those kind of dreams where there’s someone you’ve lost and there they are”.

“It’s magic,” Sir Paul said. “I had a dream and my mum came to me, and she’d been dead for 10 years, so it was such a blessing to see her in this dream. My mum said to me, ‘Don’t worry … it’s going to be OK’. She said, ‘Just let it be’, and I thought wow. I woke up with that in my mind and wrote that song.”

The reflection accords with a remark he made in the recent McCartney 3,2,1 documentary miniseries, in which he spoke of especially congruous combinations of musical notes, of notes that get along together. Elaborating in Adelaide last night, McCartney made a tongue-in-cheek confession about the observation.

“I’ve nicked that line off Mozart — because someone said, ‘How do you write, how do you compose?’ He said, ‘I like to find the notes that like each other,’” he said.

Music has been more than kind to McCartney, but has not been without its dissonant moments, even — or perhaps especially — at those times of greatest glory.

“One of the lucky things with The Beatles is that [fame] was gradual so you kind of got used to it on that level, then that level, then that level — then when it went to the stratosphere, you were kind of used to it,” he said. “It was great — until it wasn’t. After a while we got fed up with it, so we retired [from touring] and made Sergeant Pepper.“

Asked by a fan about what, after loved ones and pets, he would rescue if he were ever to find his house on fire, McCartney paused — but only for a moment.

“I’d probably grab my guitar. There’s a piano but it’s too heavy,” he joked. “I’m always sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just seeing what comes, and if you’re lucky, it’ll be a fresh idea. I love it. That’s all there is to it. I love music.”

Entertainment Centre

This was the 1st concert played at Entertainment Centre.

A total of 2 concerts have been played there • 2023 • Oct 17• Oct 18

Setlist for the soundcheck

1. Matchbox

   Written by Carl Perkins

2. Letting Go

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney

3. Fuh You

   Written by Paul McCartney, Ryan Tedder

4. Women and Wives

   Written by Paul McCartney

5. Let 'Em In

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney

6. Coming Up

   Written by Paul McCartney

7. Drive My Car

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

8. Birthday

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

9. Come On To Me

   Written by Paul McCartney

10. You Never Give Me Your Money

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

11. Helter Skelter

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

12. Band On The Run

    Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney

Setlist for the concert

1. Can't Buy Me Love

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

2. Coming Up

   Written by Paul McCartney

3. Drive My Car

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

4. Let 'Em In

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney

5. Come On To Me

   Written by Paul McCartney

6. Birthday

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

See song statistics for “Got Back Tour”

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