Madison • Thursday, June 6, 2019

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From Channel3000:

It’s doubtful Paul McCartney knew much about Madison, Wisconsin while growing up in Liverpool, but after Thursday’s performance, he likely knows Beatlemania is alive and well in the city. 

The 76-year-old rocker performed for nearly three hours Thursday to a sold-out crowd at the Kohl Center. […]

His voice may not be as pristine as it was in his peak, but his charisma and musicianship quickly put to bed any questions about his status: he’s still one of the best in the business. 

There seemed to be many experienced McCartney concert-goers in Thursday’s crowd, even one man boasting that it was his 123rd concert. Keeping it fresh, McCartney has added a horn section to his regular backing-quartet of guitarists Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson, drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and multi-instrumentalist Paul Wickens. 

In between songs, ​McCartney told stories of hanging out with other legends of the ’60s like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton as well as Russian politicians during a performance at Moscow’s Red Square. The stories were nothing new to the seasoned fans, but something about hearing a Beatle tell a story about “the gold old days” doesn’t seem to sour. […]

A Paul McCartney show is unlike any other show on the road. It’s fast-paced, but easy going. It’s uplifting, but down to earth. McCartney’s day job is being one of the most successful and influential musicians of all time, yet the man on stage is still very much an excited kid living out a rock n roll dream. 

It’s hard to believe the guy who has seen McCartney 123 times didn’t walk out of the Kohl Center saying “I’ve got to see him at least one more time.” 

From Paul McCartney.com, June 21, 2019:

Earlier in the week, Generation Z rock revivalists Greta Van Fleet were on stage at the nearby Breese Stevens Field headlining their own gig. But this night, they were reportedly fans at the Kohl Center receiving the master class in rock n roll’s potential as spiritual communion that was Paul McCartney’s first-ever show in Madison.

Indeed, a Paul McCartney show is always the consummate near-three-hour rock show, a perfectly paced journey through dozens of hits, deep cuts, and new tracks that stake their place in this cavalcade of musical history.

As such it’s a constant well of inspiration for anyone and everyone from the 2010’s classic rock freshman valedictorians to the regular “mix of ages, from kids with their parents to one veteran fan who claimed to have seen McCartney play 123 times,” said THE CAPITAL TIMES.

And cheers to that same CAPITAL TIMES for making a rare novel observation about our Paul:

“Icon, god, legend — the words seem inadequate to describe the impact McCartney has had on popular culture and the effect he has on a room. They’ve made recent movies about Elton John (Rocketman) and Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody), but McCartney’s presence is so large in the world that they’ve made a movie about what it would be like if he didn’t exist (Yesterday).”

As for the show, Madison ecstatically received yet another near-three-hours of sheer brilliance–with a NEW twist or two: ‘Save Us’ gets its first airing of this run in the second song position before Paul introduces a, erm, not as NEW third number, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love.’  This was a crowd that had waited decades for Paul to rock them with ‘I’ve Got a Feeling,’ ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘Back in the USSR,’ to move them to tears with ‘Something,’ to soothe their souls with ‘Let It Be’ just prior to blowing back their hair with the concussive pyro of ‘Live and Let Die,’ to lead them through the na-na-na-na’s of ‘Hey Jude’…

As always, it’s impossible to describe the emotional electricity in the air as Paul promises to see his tens of thousands of new friends again sometime, so the words of the WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL will have to suffice: “No glum faces were seen in the crowd at the end of the show.”

From Steve Martin, Paul’s US Publicist

Last updated on June 22, 2019

Kohl Center

This was the 1st and only concert played at Kohl Center.

Setlist for the soundcheck

Setlist for the concert