Paul McCartney got back to NJ with Bruce Springsteen, virtual John Lennon, Bon Jovi & more

Two days before Paul McCartney's 80th birthday (June 18), he wrapped up his 'Got Back' tour at NJ's MetLife Stadium, his first NYC-area show since his surprise Grand Central show in 2018 and his first proper NYC-area show since 2017. The tour is of course named after the beloved Peter Jackson film Get Back that came out this past fall, and pieces of that film factored into this tour. When Paul and his band did an explosive rendition of "Get Back," they were backed by a montage of footage from the film that Jackson put together specifically for this tour. When Paul kicked off the encore with "I've Got A Feeling," John Lennon was virtually there, with footage of him from the rooftop concert on screen and his isolated vocal track from the rooftop performance playing over Paul and the band. Paul said it was an important moment for him; "even though it's virtual, we're singing together again." He sounded genuinely touched.

That moment came towards the end of a nearly-three-hour set from Paul, who just never seems to slow down. To rewind a little, at the advertised start time of 8 PM, the venue projected a half-hour long video reel that mostly featured old Beatles photos, mostly set to Beatles songs. Then, right around 8:30, Paul and his band hit the stage and jumped right into "Can't Buy Me Love." As far as I could tell, every person in that massive stadium got to their feet, and Paul sounded as energized as he did playing that song with The Beatles over 50 years ago. His voice might be a little more grizzled these days, and there's a little less shakin' goin' on, but for the most part, Paul has very much still got it. He told the crowd he'd be playing some old songs, some new songs, and some in-between, and after opening with a stone cold classic, he went for the in-between with two Wings songs, which got a slightly milder reaction (Paul admitted later on in the set that he knows everyone wants to hear Beatles songs), but as always, his 39-song set was very Beatles-heavy, and he played tons of great ones. His horn section breathed new life into "Got To Get You Into My Life," and he did a fiery rendition of "Getting Better" during the portion where he was on electric guitar, which also included a triumphant-as-ever performance of Wings fave "Let Me Roll It" that ended with a nod to Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" (followed by Paul's usual story about Jimi performing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" at a show just two days after The Beatles had released the song). During his acoustic guitar portion, he did a rousing "I've Just Seen A Face" that inspired a stadium-sized campfire singalong, a song by pre-Beatles band The Quarrymen, and a rendition of "Love Me Do" that had even the most cynical (or tired) concertgoers on their feet. That portion also included a genuinely heart-wrenching "Blackbird," and Paul's lovely John Lennon tribute "Here Today."