Montreal

From For Whom The Bell Tells, January 11, 2019:

Thursday, September 20 – Centre Bell, Montreal

“Bon retour au Centre Bell!” read massive signs across the city. The atmosphere around the venue is electric as the sold-out audience starts to arrive in the afternoon. Seven years since his last visit but you would think far longer given the almost tangible levels of anticipation.

The terrible traffic in the city (there is building going on everywhere) holds up Paul’s arrival for soundcheck.  When his car pulls in just after 5:30pm Paul heads to stage for soundcheck.  After soundcheck he’s taking a language lesson and cramming it all it as team members run in and out of his dressing room asking questions and delivering last minute updates.  Mind boggling really as within hours he’ll be rocking out in front of almost 20,000 people!

The following morning the Montreal Gazette report: “HEARTS GO BOOM FOR PAUL McCARTNEY AT THE BELL CENTRE. McCartney crammed an amazing 39 songs into a highly energetic, beautifully staged display of positive energy.”

From Montreal Gazette, September 21, 2018:

[…] From the moment Sir Paul took the stage Thursday night to face a sold-out Bell Centre and launched into A Hard Day’s Night — as perfect a musical representation of Beatlemania as he and John Lennon ever wrote — the belief in yesterday was evangelical in its fervour.

And yet one surprising thing about a McCartney show is that the glorious past is approached faithfully, but not reverently — at least in terms of sequencing. Immortals like Lady Madonna and Eleanor Rigby are placed side by side in the set list with more debatable efforts like the recent Fuh You and his 2015 collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West, FourFive Seconds. If the critically inclined raised an eyebrow, virtually no one else seemed to care.

As usual, the songs — admittedly given a charge by one of the great live backing bands of all time — spoke for themselves and did most of the talking. Undervalued Wings gems like the bluesy Let It Go — with a three-man horn section doing its riffs halfway down the arena on the floor — and the robust rocker Hi Hi Hi made welcome appearances alongside the inevitable avalanche of Fab Four evergreens, solo beauties and a few selections from his latest disc, the mostly wonderful Egypt Station.

Not leaving the stage during the by-now-expected three hours (with no intermission), McCartney crammed an amazing 39 songs into a highly energetic, beautifully staged display of positive energy. […]

Bell Centre

This was the 2nd concert played at Bell Centre.

A total of 2 concerts have been played there • 2010 • Aug 12th • 2018 • Sep 20th

Setlist for the soundcheck

1. Jam

2. Twenty Flight Rock

   Written by Eddie Cochran, Ned Fairchild

3. Blue Suede Shoes

   Written by Carl Perkins

4. All My Loving

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

5. Coming Up

   Written by Paul McCartney

6. My Valentine

   Written by Paul McCartney

7. Miss Ann

   Written by Richard Penniman / Little Richard, Enotris Johnson

8. It's So Easy

   Written by Buddy Holly, Norman Petty

9. San Francisco Bay Blues

   Written by Jesse Fuller

10. Things We Said Today

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

11. Ram On

    Written by Paul McCartney

12. Midnight Special (Prisoner's Song)

    Written by Traditional

13. Massage

14. Lady Madonna

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

Setlist for the concert

1. A Hard Day's Night

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

2. Hi, Hi, Hi

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

3. Can't Buy Me Love

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

4. Letting Go

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

5. Who Cares

   Written by Paul McCartney

6. Come On to Me

   Written by Paul McCartney

7. Medley

1. Let Me Roll It

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

2. Foxy Lady

   Written by Jimi Hendrix

8. I've Got a Feeling

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

9. Let 'Em In

   Written by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

10. My Valentine

    Written by Paul McCartney

11. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five

    Written by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

12. Maybe I'm Amazed

    Written by Paul McCartney

13. I've Just Seen a Face

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

14. In Spite of All the Danger

    Written by Paul McCartney, George Harrison

15. From Me to You

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

16. Michelle

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

17. Love Me Do

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

18. Blackbird

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

19. Here Today

    Written by Paul McCartney

20. Queenie Eye

    Written by Paul McCartney, Paul Epworth

21. Lady Madonna

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

22. FourFiveSeconds

    Written by Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Kirby Lauryen, Mike Dean, Tyrone Griffin, Dave Longstreth, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg, Noah Goldstein

23. Eleanor Rigby

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

24. Fuh You

    Written by Paul McCartney, Ryan Tedder

25. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

26. Something

    Written by George Harrison

27. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

28. Band on the Run

    Written by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

29. Back in the U.S.S.R.

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

30. Let It Be

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

31. Live and Let Die

    Written by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

32. Hey Jude

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

33. Encore

1. Yesterday

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

2. I Saw Her Standing There

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

4. Helter Skelter

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

5. Golden Slumbers

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

6. Carry That Weight

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

7. The End

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

See song statistics for “Freshen Up Tour”

Going further

• http://dailyhive.com/montreal/paul-mccartney-sold-out-bell-centre-show-photos