Show Review: Paul McCartney Brings One of The Year's Best Shows to Oakland
Paul McCartney
Oakland Arena
Oakland, CA
May 8th, 2022
Photos and Review by Jared Stossel
Back in 2014, at the last minute, I ended up buying a ticket to Sir Paul McCartney’s “Farewell to Candlestick Park” event in San Francisco. It was the first and last time I got to witness a performance at the iconic stadium. There was a historical significance related to that show, as Candlestick Park was the site of the final Beatles show in history (not counting the rooftop London performance during the Let It Be sessions). Not only was McCartney absolutely on fire that evening, but it was one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen. Last night, I got to witness Paul McCartney again, this time at Oakland Arena, a venue I’ve frequented for many years, and he was just as electrifying as the last time I saw him.
McCartney kicked off his show at 8 PM as the final piano notes of The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life” rang out gloriously throughout the arena’s PA system. There was no flashy introduction, no big “grand” entrance; he doesn’t need one. McCartney walks out from stage left, and the audience roars. Suddenly, we’re transported back to the 1960s, asMcCartney and his band launch into the classic Beatles number “Can’t Buy Me Love”. From then on, the night was a journey through the music that McCartney has been bringing to the masses for decades, ranging from the Liverpool quartet, to Wings, to his own solo work (he has eighteen albums comprised solely of his own material to date). The only song from his most recent effort, McCartney III, was “Women And Wives”, but it was fitting inclusion: the performance took place on Mother’s Day, with a dedicated to all of the mothers in the audience that evening.
One of my favorite parts of this show were the stories that McCartney would throw in. After jamming to the late Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” with the band, he told the audience about how Hendrix learned “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” but ended up needing Eric Clapton to tune his guitar during the performance. In another portion of the show, the band moves to the front of the stage as McCartney tells the audience about the formation of The Beatles. He speaks of how they initially formed before performing “In Spite of All The Danger” by The Quarrymen, the group formed by the late John Lennon that eventually evolved into the world-famous band we know today. McCartney tells the audience about working for the first time with producer George Martin, “the Fifth Beatle”, before heading straight into “Love Me Do”.
It’s so hard to condense this down into a few paragraphs. I could talk about this show for days. All these songs carry such an importance not just in regards to structure of the show, but throughout musical history. There’s nothing like watching “Blackbird” being performed by the man himself, or “Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite”, or singing along to “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” with thousands of others. You can’t help but smile at what’s happening in front of you.
My personal favorite moment of this show came in the five-song stretch before the encore: “Get Back”, “Band on the Run”, “Let It Be”, “Live and Let Die”, and “Hey Jude”, all played back-to-back. “Live and Let Die” featured one of the largest displays of fireworks and pyrotechnics I’ve ever seen in concert, giving even an act like Kiss a run for their money. And much like “Blackbird”, there’s no other moment I’ve experienced in recent years that gave me the feeling I got as a packed arena sang along to the chorus of “Hey Jude” with the legendary songwriter.
McCartney returned to the stage a few moments later for an encore that featured something quite special. The band performed “I’ve Got A Feeling”, but halfway through the track, video footage of John Lennon materialized on the stage. If you recall, director Peter Jackson released a 3-part documentary series on The Beatles titled through Disney Plus back in November. Jackson found a way to isolate Lennon’s vocal performance, therefore allowing him to “perform” every evening on the tour with McCartney. It was quite a beautiful moment, before the encore moved into tracks like “Golden Slumbers”, the energetic “Birthday”, and the classic “Helter Skelter”. We reach “The End”, and there it is: one of the best performances of the year, by the legend himself.
Paul McCartney Set List
Can’t Buy Me Love (The Beatles)
Junior’s Farm (Wings)
Letting Go (Wings)
Got To Get You Into My Life (The Beatles)
Come On To Me
Let Me Roll It (Wings)
Getting Better (The Beatles)
Women and Wives
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five (Wings)
Maybe I’m Amazed
I’ve Just Seen A Face (The Beatles)
In Spite of All The Danger (The Quarrymen)
Love Me Do (The Beatles)
Dance Tonight
Blackbird (The Beatles)
Here Today
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna (The Beatles)
Fuh You
Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite! (The Beatles)
Something (The Beatles)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (The Beatles)
You Never Give Me Your Money (The Beatles)
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (The Beatles)
Get Back (The Beatles)
Band on the Run (Wings)
Let It Be (The Beatles)
Live and Let Die (Wings)
Hey Jude (The Beatles)
Encore:
I’ve Got A Feeling (The Beatles)
Birthday (The Beatles)
Helter Skelter (The Beatles)
Golden Slumbers (The Beatles)
Carry That Weight (The Beatles)
The End (The Beatles)
Edit: A correction has been made to the setlist. An original version of this article stated that “Getting Better” and “Got To Get You Into My Life” were songs from Wings, when they were both by The Beatles. The setlist has been corrected to reflect this.
Paul McCartney
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