It didn’t take long after Paul McCartney took the stage Friday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, that the 83-year-old proved why he can still pull a crowd.
He opened with his trademark violin-shaped Hofner bass strapped across his chest, barking out the lyrics to the Beatles’ “Help,” a song mainly written by John Lennon. While he maintains that Dick Clark-like eternal boyishness, McCartney’s voice has definitely weakened since we last saw him, at a two-night stand at Target Center in 2016.
But after tearing through his solo smash “Coming Up” and two more Beatles songs, “Got to Get You Into My Life” and “Drive My Car,” McCartney’s voice started to warm up. Even if he sometimes yelped, McCartney remains a compelling performer.
“Well, we got some old songs, some new songs and some in-between songs for you,” he announced to the sold-out crowd. One of the new ones, 2018’s rowdy rocker “Come On to Me,” paved the way for a ferocious “Let Me Roll It” that ended with a nod to Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.” He switched to an electric guitar for the Wings album cut that’s been a staple of his shows since its 1974 release.
McCartney kicked off a run of songs at the piano with a lively take on “Let ‘Em In.” Another “new” one followed, 2011’s “My Valentine,” a love song he wrote for his third wife, Nancy Shevell, who was in the crowd Friday night. (For those wondering why the track was accompanied by Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp performing the song in sign language, it’s footage from its original music video.)
Between numbers, McCartney often chatted up the fans. At one point, he read off a pair of signs from the audience: “100 shows since 1976” and “Paul, sign my butt,” which earned a chuckle from the Cute Beatle. But he also got serious, too. After “Blackbird,” McCartney told a story about a Beatles concert in Florida when the band refused to play a racially segregated concert and convinced the promoter to allow for an integrated audience.
He followed with a solo acoustic take on “Here Today,” a song he wrote after Lennon’s assassination in 1980. While touching, it also featured his worst vocals of the evening. But he perked up yet again for 2023’s “Now and Then,” the final Beatles single that McCartney and Ringo Starr produced using tracks recorded by Lennon in 1977 and George Harrison in 1995.
Throughout the show, McCartney continued to swap instruments, pulling out a mandolin for 2007’s sunny “Dance Tonight” and a ukulele for a new arrangement of George Harrison’s late-period Beatles classic “Something.”
Speaking of late-period Beatles, McCartney drew heavily from that era in the last stretch of the concert, which ran more than two hours and 40 minutes. He wrapped the main set with “Get Back,” “Let it Be” and “Hey Jude” as well as Wings’ two biggest hits, “Band on the Run” and “Hey Jude.”
He kicked off the encore with “I’ve Got a Feeling,” which he performed as a virtual duet with Lennon, using footage from the Beatles’ final concert in 1969, which was held on the roof of the band’s Apple Corps building. From there, he played “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise),” “Helter Skelter,” “Golden Slumbers” and “Carry That Weight.”
To wrap things up, McCartney ended with — what else? — “The End.” It felt even more poignant than usual given that this will likely stand as McCartney’s final performance in the Twin Cities. Thanks for the memories, Paul.
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