Sir Paul McCartney performed his first show in San Francisco since The Beatles’ final concert at Candlestick Park in August 1966.
The show took place at the AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, and was seen by 40,000 people.
The setlist was mostly the same as his previous shows in Cardiff and London, although he added ‘San Francisco Bay Blues’, the US folk song by Jesse Fuller previously recorded by McCartney on his 1991 album Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).
The setlist
- ‘Venus And Mars’/‘Rock Show’
- ‘Jet’
- ‘All My Loving’
- ‘Letting Go’
- ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’
- ‘Highway’
- ‘Let Me Roll It’
- ‘The Long And Winding Road’
- ‘Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five’
- ‘Let ’Em In’
- ‘My Love’
- ‘I’m Looking Through You’
- ‘Two Of Us’
- ‘Blackbird’
- ‘Here Today’
- ‘Dance Tonight’
- ‘Mrs Vandebilt’
- ‘San Francisco Bay Blues’
- ‘Eleanor Rigby’
- ‘Something’
- ‘Sing The Changes’
- ‘Band On The Run’
- ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’
- ‘Back In The USSR’
- ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’
- ‘Paperback Writer’
- ‘A Day In The Life’/‘Give Peace A Chance’
- ‘Let It Be’
- ‘Live And Let Die’
- ‘Hey Jude’
Last updated: 7 October 2021
Also on this day...
- 1969: Recording, mixing: Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
- 1968: Recording: Revolution
- 1964: Liverpool première of A Hard Day’s Night
- 1964: UK single and album release: A Hard Day’s Night
- 1963: Live: Winter Gardens, Margate
- 1963: Radio: Pop Go The Beatles
- 1962: Live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Joe, Paul also performed in San Francisco at the Cow Palace in 1976 (about a mile from Candlestick Park).
My understanding is that the Cow Palace is in Daly City rather than San Francisco. Is that not the case?
True Joe, and I guess in a technical sense your statement about first in San Fran since Candlestick Park ’66 is not in error, however Daly City is well within metro San Francisco.
Daly City is not in SF. “Metro SF” ?
I use to think George played the guitar on Paperback Writer and was please that at least for that single he was not shown up by Paul. I saw Paul in SF the other night and he announced to the the crowd that “this was the guitar I played on the record.” Yet another brushing aside of George who does not become a great guitarist unitl 1969.
How is that brushing aside George? It was the same Epiphone Casino he played on the record. McCartney played the main riff in the studio; Harrison was on rhythm guitar.
saw the SF show, first time seeing Paul for me, it was a big deal and i got a little unexpectedly emotional towards the beginning. the crowd was unfortunately under-participatory, which was slightly upsetting but didn’t prevent it from being one of the better and more memorable concert performances I’ve seen, especially the pyrotechnics during “live and let die” and the fact that he did helter skelter and really belted it (i wasn’t sure he was capable of that)! All together, an awesome experience.
It was probably one of the biggest and most emotional experiences of my life – I’d always dreamed of seeing the Beatles since being a kid. I brought my kids in fact and they too enjoyed it – I think it will be a nice memory they can share when they get older. As for the crowd, I thought they were pretty enthusiastic and participatory for the SF area….we’re a bit iconoclastic so I think it was actually pretty strong, especially during Hey Jude. I think the tributes to John and George were amazing….many tears among the fans as far as I could see. It seemed obvious to me that he truly loved them both, despite the tension they had at times as a band. I don’t think he was slighting George at all – his rendition of Something that began with a nice story about George and he playing it as a ukelele duet was memorable and sweet.
Another highlight I felt was his rendition of Blackbird on solo acoustic and voice – his reference to the civil rights movement and how far we’ve come (no doubt a reference to Obama’s victory), was significant, without being over the top. His reminder that the world needs more love and peace, while simple, heartfelt, and a stark reminder of just how important music can be in fomenting change. Going from a Day in the Live to Give Peace a Chance was an especially nice transition.
It was an amazing experience (I’d see him again in a heartbeat) and the fact that the sound they produced was entirely live, with just 5 players, was a testament to Paul’s enduring musicianship and top notch performance chops. He’s an amazing showman and at 68, the performance he gave was especially inspiring. He took zero breaks except briefly between encores and seemed to barely perspire. The finale was surreal – to hear him lead with Sgt. Pepper, jam through the end of Abbey Road, and then right on cue close with “The End” was masterful. What he’s given the world few will forget – thank you Paul, we love you…please come back soon!