Sir Paul McCartney performed the first of two consecutive nights at the Yankee Stadium in New York City.
Prior to the show, McCartney and his band performed a 19-song soundcheck, witnessed by a handful of guests, competition winners and fans who could afford higher-priced tickets.
- ‘Get Back’
- ‘Matchbox’
- ‘Honey Don’t’
- ‘Blue Suede Shoes’
- ‘C Moon’
- ‘Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying’
- ‘Celebration’
- ‘Coming Up’
- ‘Ebony And Ivory’
- ‘All My Loving’
- ‘Only Mama Knows’
- ‘Magical Mystery Tour’
- ‘Midnight Special’
- ‘The Sun Is Shining’
- ‘Petroushka’
- ‘Dance Tonight’
- ‘Leaning On A Lampost’
- ‘Yesterday’
- ‘Lady Madonna’
McCartney’s band was Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens (vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion, harmonica), Brian Ray (vocals, guitar, bass), Rusty Anderson (vocals, guitar) and Abe Laboriel Jr (vocals, drums).
The Yankee Stadium shows were part of McCartney’s On The Run tour. On this first night the audience included McCartney’s fiancée Nancy Shevell, his son James, Linda McCartney’s brother John Eastman, former Wings member Denny Laine, plus celebrities Larry David, Chevy Chase and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The setlist was changed slightly from previous concerts, with the addition of Beatles songs ‘The Night Before’ and ‘I Will’. The performance of ‘The Night Before’ was the first time McCartney had ever played it live.
He also ended with ‘Golden Slumbers’, ‘Carry That Weight’ and ‘The End’, which provided the climax to the Abbey Road medley in 1969 – recent McCartney concerts had closed with ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’ and ‘The End’.
Following the performance of Jet, McCartney asked “Who is this guy Derek Jeter? Someone said he has more hits than me!” This was in reference to the New York Yankees star who hit his 3,000th hit earlier in the week.
The setlist
- Hello Goodbye
- ‘Junior’s Farm’
- ‘All My Loving’
- ‘Jet’
- ‘Drive My Car’
- ‘Sing The Changes’
- ‘The Night Before’
- ‘Let Me Roll It’
- ‘Paperback Writer’
- ‘The Long And Winding Road’
- Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
- ‘Let ’Em In’
- ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’
- ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’
- ‘I Will’
- ‘Blackbird’
- ‘Here Today’
- ‘Dance Tonight’
- ‘Mrs Vandebilt’
- ‘Eleanor Rigby’
- ‘Something’
- ‘Band On The Run’
- ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’
- ‘Back In The USSR’
- ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’
- ‘A Day In The Life’/‘Give Peace A Chance’
- ‘Let It Be’
- ‘Live And Let Die’
- ‘Hey Jude’
Forthcoming dates in the On The Run tour:
July 2011
- 16 – Yankee Stadium, New York, NY
- 24 – Comerica Park, Detroit, MI
- 26, 27 – Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
- 31 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
August 2011
- 1 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
- 4 – Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, OH
Also on this day...
- 2014: Ringo Starr live: Red Robinson Show Theatre, Coquitlam, British Columbia
- 2010: Paul McCartney live: Pepsi Center, Denver
- 2009: Paul McCartney plays outdoor show on the Ed Sullivan Theater
- 1984: UK single release: I’m Stepping Out by John Lennon
- 1969: Recording, mixing: You Never Give Me Your Money
- 1968: Recording, mixing: Revolution, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Cry Baby Cry
- 1968: The Beatles move into the Apple headquarters at 3 Savile Row, London
- 1962: Live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening)
- 1961: Live: Holyoake Hall, Liverpool
- 1958: Julia Lennon dies
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Ahh, good ol’ cheeky bitch Paul. I can’t stop laughing at that Jeter joke.
The concert, to put it simply, was wonderful. The way Paul commands an audience of such large volume is incredible. He is able to get everyone up on their feet to dance and sing for about 3 hours. Quite a charismatic character he is as he made jokes such as the Jeter one and told stories of his days of being a Beatle. You can’t help but wait on his every word and join in on every note. What a great evening it was!
Don’t ever stop Paul!
Paul was fantastic! I personally screamed like a Beatlemaniac all the way though. The entire concert was simply amazing, and Paul’s as great in real life as anywhere else. 🙂
You couldn’t help but scream and sing along. The entire audience had a collective feeling, like we were all in this together. 😀
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