There aren’t very many shows where you can reasonably claim that if it ended after the first number, you’d have gone home happy. In the case of Paul McCartney’s concert Friday night at the Santa Barbara Bowl, that might even be a bit of an exaggeration.

An audience that paid $300–600 for tickets to see him in an uncharacteristically smallish venue would have expected—and got—a little more for their money than just one song. Still, let’s go with that slightly exaggerated feeling and emphasize what a major kick it was to see McCartney open his 2025 tour by singing the John Lennon–associated Beatles song *Help!* in full, in public, for the first time in his career.

It was a “you had to be there” moment, but a lot more people will be there in the weeks to come. Assuming this stays as the opener for all upcoming shows, the joy will be shared far beyond the roughly 4,900 people who saw Friday’s underplay gig.

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The tour continues Monday night at a different Southern California venue, the Palm Springs Acrisure Arena. This will be the official opening night and the first truly representative show of the tour, without staging or curfew restrictions.

We won’t know until Palm Springs whether McCartney’s regular setlists might be a bit longer than the hour and 55 minutes he played in Santa Barbara. Due to its residential location, the Santa Barbara Bowl has a hard curfew at 10 p.m., which limited the show’s length.

But who cares about curfew issues, anyway? Didn’t I just say it could have ended at 8:05 and it’d have been fine?

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The asterisk on his performance of *Help!* is that McCartney did have it in his nightly setlist back in 1990, but only as a brief, 50-second snippet in a Lennon tribute medley late in the show.

Kicking off his shows with *Help!* now is a more radical and expansive move. This follows a recent tradition of beginning concerts with a Lennon-associated number, something he did a decade ago with *A Hard Day’s Night*.

But *Help!* is even more identified as a John Lennon song—some would consider it the best Lennon song, if forced to single one out. As a tribute to his fallen comrade, it is a hundred times more effective at this point than reviving *Here Today* again would be. No speeches or preambles were necessary. It’s an inherently sentimental choice that’s also just viscerally exciting, regardless of whether you’re thinking about its rarity or heritage.

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The second number of the show was, if not as much of a surprise, equally a corker and thematically appropriate. Right after singing “I’m feeling down,” McCartney kicked into *Coming Up*.

Because, let’s face it, in Paul McCartney’s oft-rosy world, no one is going to suffer from depression—even exhilarating depression—for more than one song at a time.

*Coming Up* is underrated as one of McCartney’s great explosions of joy, at least in the live single version that became a No. 1 hit in 1980.

On a big screen behind the stage, McCartney’s crew played animated footage showing an apocalyptic cityscape giving way to massive flower blooms. Meanwhile, a three-man brass section, the Hot City Horns, took the stage for the first of many appearances, helping McCartney and his funk-efficient band reset the world aright.

This might be the best one-two punch McCartney has ever had to open a show on one of his tours.

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From there, the concert followed more expected lines in sequence and content, largely a condensed version of the epic show that passed through Southern California in 2022, when he played SoFi Stadium.

If you were hoping that the occasion of an upcoming Wings book, documentary, and best-of collection would inspire him to pull out some ’70s obscurities, no: this tour is not offering that kind of refresh—at least not as of opening night.

At 83, McCartney is definitely focused on what he now considers his core concert repertoire. But it’s a solidification, not a calcification.

If you’ve seen him in recent years, you have a very good idea of what to expect in the setlist following that startling opening.

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What you might not expect is how good it feels to hear this band playing those songs in a way that makes you feel like you’re hearing *Let Me Roll It* or *Jet* for the first or second time.

As noted, his long-time ensemble members—guitarist Rusty Anderson, guitarist-bassist Brian Ray, drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., and keyboardist Paul “Wix” Wickens—have been with him for about a thousand years longer than the Beatles were ever together, give or take.

And they still seem to be having as much fun as McCartney, which is a high bar.

Together with their frontman, they are pulling off a neat hat trick: playing the classics very close to how they were recorded—there’s hardly anything you could call a rearrangement—yet offering fresh, living, breathing versions with little flourishes and ad libs that reinforce you’re hearing the songs in real time.

It’s no wonder he wants to stay on the road. Against the odds, everything comes together to make it feel like there is still plenty of tread on the tires of everything being performed.

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There can also be an element of surprise in what most galvanizes a crowd.

The audience in Santa Barbara looked a little older on average than the usual McCartney crowd, especially in the seated areas, where surprisingly many chose to sit—although not on the general admission floor.

Looking through the setlist, would you guess which song finally got everyone in the Bowl on their feet, en masse?

You might be wrong—the number was *Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da*.

Nothing against it, but *Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da* was an unexpectedly irresistible, take-no-prisoners barnburner of the night. (Your mileage may vary at future tour stops.)

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The Santa Barbara show was tacked on to the beginning of the tour with the understanding that it would not feature the full production fans would see starting Monday in Palm Springs.

But you could have fooled the Santa Barbarans: the show looked far from bare-bones. There were two vertical screens on either side of the stage for musician close-ups and a rear screen showing prerecorded video and occasional crowd shots.

The green lasers, a nostalgic touch since the Wings Over the World tour of ’75–’76, were still present and accounted for.

During *Live and Let Die*, smoke plumes erupted forcefully on the appropriate beats, though flames appeared only on the screen, suggesting that actual pyrotechnics might be added starting Palm Springs.

We’ll find out soon.

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A side note about Santa Barbara’s lovely amphitheater setting: amid the ticket lottery chaos earlier in the week that left thousands disappointed, there were still tickets available for sale at the Bowl box office prior to showtime. Fans willing to brave the journey and navigate long, somewhat confusing lines could still snag tickets. Read it and weep.

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The real beginning of the show, before *Help!*, was a computer-graphics video culminating in McCartney’s iconic Hofner bass exploding into tiny shards. The crowd reacted playfully: “Nooo, he just got it back!” (A forthcoming documentary explores that story.)

Not to worry—the very intact Hofner was McCartney’s instrument of choice at the start, though over the next two hours he naturally switched among electric and acoustic guitars, piano, and mandolin (for *Dance Tonight*).

No live drums appeared onstage, but vintage footage of him on a drum kit during the *Get Back* sessions filled in.

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He played only a little lead guitar, but in a band with three lead guitarists, that’s no surprise.

This comes into play during the climactic *The End*, when he, Brian Ray, and Rusty Anderson take turns elaborating on the solo parts originally played by McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison on *Abbey Road*.

This reliable final-moment conceit is thrilling and still gives the “three-ways” a good name.

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At the outset, McCartney promised some old songs, some new songs, and some in-betweeners.

The “new songs” bit was a bit of a misnomer; no sneak previews of his upcoming album—apparently worked on sporadically with producer Andrew Watt since 2021—were offered.

The freshest solo song in the set was 2007’s *Dance Tonight*.

But technically “new” was the one Beatles number that postdates his previous visit here three years ago: the final Beatles song, *Now and Then*.

The other Beatles’ parts appeared only on the big screen—as spliced video—not as audio tape.

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For the encore of *I’ve Got a Feeling*, however, he continued to incorporate both audio and video of Lennon’s duet part.

Those longing to hear McCartney sing the entire tune solo—“everybody had a wet dream,” in one fan’s words—will still have to wait.

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Speaking of *I’ve Got a Feeling*, there is a moment that tests McCartney’s voice: the uppity bridge lyric “All that I’ve been looking for was somebody who looked like you!”

At 83, he still nails it without sounding strained or losing the Little Richard–style energy.

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Fans naturally look for a report on McCartney’s vocal condition, as they do for any aging rocker currently touring—whether it’s Paul Simon, Mick Jagger, or Roger Daltrey, whose Who farewell tour is also passing through southern California this week.

McCartney belongs in a category of his own, arguably having the greatest rock ’n’ roll voice of all time. Let’s say that’s inarguable.

Would you believe me if I told you he’s still got it?

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Granted, he had a few shaky moments near the beginning of the show, including during *Help!*.

If I had one wish for the evening, it would have been a final encore reprise of *Help!*—when he was completely warmed up and more than ready.

Because McCartney fully came into his vocal power over the first few numbers, and unless you’re an extreme nitpicker unwilling to allow for age, there were few flaws with his performance Friday night.

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The tenderness of a reverie like *My Valentine* may not be exactly what it was when first recorded, but it’s close enough for balladic rock ’n’ roll.

Certainly by *Blackbird*—which he performed solo and acoustic—he was in pitch-perfect form.

And when it comes to the actual rockers, he’s still going for it, holding almost nothing back—going “screamo” on us in *Helter Skelter* and engaging in fun falsetto melismas.

He neither seems nor sounds like a guy worried about conserving his voice.

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In short: McCartney’s marvelous singing continues to be one of the wonders of the world—even without an “83 is the new 38” handicap, but especially taking that into account.

(Dragging one’s sorry ass up the hundreds of steps to the scenic heights of the Santa Barbara Bowl gives plenty of time to contemplate decrepitude—or someone else’s lack of it.)

Simply put: if you’re one of the people on the internet claiming you won’t consider going because you prefer to remember McCartney as he was, then you, sir, may be the fool on the hill.

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It’s a bit of both: the publicity and McCartney himself have described the show as a tour kickoff, but the advertising and poster art still list it as the *Got Back* tour, which officially began in 2022.

He has embraced an off-again, on-again touring model that renders the distinction moot.

He’s rather like Bob Dylan in that regard, having been on his so-called “never-ending tour” for decades—putting batches of fresh dates on sale without clear demarcations of eras.

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For both artists, it’s not about the act of plugging—it’s about the joy of playing and hitting markets they’ve rarely or never played before, spreading their immortality around.

Their stage personas could not be more different: Dylan acts his age, McCartney defies his.

Both mindsets are valid, each offering their own rewards for audience and artist alike.

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But what a life-giving kick it is to see Sir Paul with the preternatural ability to deliver a raucous show as effectively, merrily, and even rapturously as he has for decades.

From every indication, he’ll be doing this until the wheels come off. Until then, he’s riding atop a very sturdy vehicle, saying: “Let me roll it to you.”

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### Setlist for Paul McCartney at the Santa Barbara Bowl, September 26, 2025:

1. Help!
2. Coming Up
3. Got to Get You Into My Life
4. Let Me Roll It / Foxy Lady
5. Getting Better
6. Let ’Em In
7. My Valentine
8. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
9. I’ve Just Seen a Face
10. Love Me Do
11. Dance Tonight
12. Blackbird
13. Now and Then
14. Lady Madonna
15. Jet
16. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
17. Get Back
18. Let It Be
19. Live and Let Die
20. Hey Jude

**Encore:**
21. I’ve Got a Feeling
22. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
23. Helter Skelter
24. Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End

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### Got Back Tour Dates for 2025:
[Tour dates list can be added here if available.]
https://variety.com/2025/music/concert-reviews/paul-mccartney-tour-santa-barbara-bowl-setlist-help-review-1236533062/