Tokyo • Tuesday, April 25, 2017

About

On this date, Paul McCartney started a new leg of his “One On One” tour in Japan, with a new visit to the Budokan.

From paulmccartney.com, March 9, 2017:

Almost two years to the day since Paul McCartney rocked The Budokan for the second history making time in his career, music’s most revered icon has announced he’ll be returning to one of Japan’s most sacred venues with his all new ‘One On One’ tour for a special concert on Tuesday 25th April. The announcement follows Paul selling out three nights at the massive Tokyo Dome. This show is set to be the biggest music event in Japan in 2017.

Speaking about his return Paul said: “The Budokan is such a special venue for me. I have amazing memories from first visiting in the 60s and then again on our last tour. I was already excited to be returning to Japan but with the news of the three Dome shows selling out and now this extra date I can’t wait to get back with the band and celebrate!” 

In 2015 Paul performed an emotionally charged two-hour concert, including 28 songs, at The Budokan as part of his ‘Out There’ tour. His return made global headlines as Macca-mania swept Japan, with over 5,000 people lining the streets around the venue with press reports claiming the venue shook with the audience reaction! As part of the show Paul performed ‘Another Girl’ for the first time.

The Beatles were the first ever rock band to play at The Budokan, amidst controversy, in 1966, driving the audience wild with a show featuring just eleven tracks.

On New Years Eve Paul made a surprise appearance on Kohaku Uta Gassen to tease his 2017 return to Japan. Amidst the excitement and speculation that followed Paul confirmed the following day that he’d be bringing his ‘One On One’ tour to Japan in April – his first live shows of 2017.

From paulmccartney.com, April 28, 2017:

Paul arrived in Japan this week to scenes of Beatlemania at Tokyo Haneda Airport.  This week the mania continued as he played his first show of 2017 at the iconic Budokan venue.  The Budokan came to international notoriety when Paul first visited with The Beatles in 1966.  That year they performed five concerts all 30 minutes in length.  In contrast Paul performed an epic show of over two hours with a set featuring some of the most loved songs in the world.  ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ and ‘Yesterday’ were the only two songs that Paul played in the set that featured in the Beatles setlist. Paul drove the sold out audience wild, speaking to the crowd in Japanese. The set also included some songs that Paul had previously never performed in Japan such as ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and ‘Love Me Do’.

During the soundcheck, Paul McCartney played “Under Pressure” from David Bowie / Queen. From Maccaboard (paulmccartney.com):

At the end of the rehearsal for the Budokan, McCartney started playing ‘Ram On’, then abandoning it, realising they wouldn’t do ‘Something’, so they wouldn’t need the ukelele anyway. McCartney walks away, asking whether sound man Paul ‘Pablo’ Boothroyd needs any more from the band. Brian Ray, with the bass for ‘Ram On’ and ‘Bluebird’ before that still in hand, starts playing one note. McCartney starts, probably hearing a similarity, humming the familiar ‘Under Pressure’ riff for one bar. Brian joins him for another bar. That’s about it.

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Last updated on March 21, 2021

Nippon Budokan

This was the 8th concert played at Nippon Budokan.

A total of 8 concerts have been played there • 1966 • Jun 30th • Jul 1st • Jul 1st • Jul 2nd • Jul 2nd • 2015 • Apr 28th • 2017 • Apr 24th • Apr 25th

Setlist for the soundcheck

Setlist for the concert