Phoenix • Wednesday, June 26, 2019

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From paulmccartney.com, September 10, 2018:

PAUL McCARTNEY 
The ‘FRESHEN UP’ Tour 2019
THREE NEW U.S. DATES ANNOUNCED OF NEW TOUR

Thursday 23rd May: New Orleans LA – Smoothie King Arena 
Monday 3rd June: Fort Wayne IN – Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 
Saturday 26th June: Phoenix AZ – Talking Stick Resort Arena 

Paul McCartney has added three new dates to his eagerly anticipated ‘Freshen Up’ tour, making for a total of eight confirmed shows on Paul’s first Stateside run since the ‘One On One’ Tour that played to some two million fans around the world during 2016 and 2017. […]

The U.S. leg of ‘Freshen Up’ will now open with Paul’s return to New Orleans on May 23, where he will rock the Smoothie King Arena for the first time since 2014. On June 3, Paul will make his live debut in Fort Wayne IN, playing the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. And On June 26, Paul will visit the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix AZ, another city he hasn’t played since 2014. […]

Sometimes you want to say something nice to someone, and you think, ‘I’ll put it off. I’ll tell him later. I’ll tell him tomorrow or maybe next week. And sometimes it can be too late and you really wish you’d said it. When we were kids in Liverpool, I mean, we were just young guys. And particularly in those days, too, you didn’t really say that kind of stuff to each other. You didn’t really say, ‘I love you, man.’

Paul McCartney, introducing “Here Today“

From AzCentral, June 29, 2019:

[…] At 77, McCartney’s voice continues to defy the laws of science. You can hear the age creep in at times, if mostly on the night’s most understated ballads. But that voice has held up better than the best of his contemporaries. And the set’s most raucous moments were especially impressive, from the screaming climax of the second song, an epic “Junior’s Farm,” to that blistering version of “Helter Skelter” that he wisely held off for the encore some two-and-a-half hours later.

Still looking boyish despite the wise decision to let his hair go grey, McCartney made his entrance, strolling on stage with his trusty Hofner Beatle bass, and set the tone for his performance with “A Hard Day’s Night.”

He switched off instruments throughout the set. He was seven songs deep when he followed a raucous highlight of the new release, “Come On to Me,” with the removal of his bass and jacket, promising “OK, that is the one and only wardrobe change of the whole evening.” The he grabbed an electric guitar for a suitably gritty “Let Me Roll It.” […]

He’s touring with the bandmates he’s been using since 2002 – Brian Ray, Rusty Anderson, Paul “Wix” Wickens and Abe Laboriel Jr.,a force of nature on the drums who earned a big response when he busted out some silly dance moves during “Dance Tonight.”

That last one was part of a stripped-down mini-set that included “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “In Spite of All the Danger” and harmonica-driven early hits “From Me to You” and “Love Me Do.”

As much as these guys always do a brilliant job of capturing the essence of whatever song he throws their way, from “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” to “Birthday,” this time he brought reinforcements in the form of three horn players who made their entrance through the crowd on “Letting Go,” the fourth song of the night.

To call the horns a welcome addition to the mix would be a massive understatement. Hearing McCartney backed by horns on “Got to Get You Into My Life” would make you wonder how he’s gone so many years without live horns. But even on the songs that don’t require horns, they sounded great. […]

From paulmccartney.com, July 8, 2019:

“Welcome back to Phoenix…”

To kick off this evening’s soundcheck, Paul welcomed himself and, well, all of us back to Phoenix with a sweet, melodic jam with the above refrain—before turning on a dime to fire up an incendiary ‘Matchbox’ followed by an exuberant ‘Coming Up’ and, ratcheting the electricity up that much further, ‘Drive My Car’ right into ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’. Barely half an hour into soundcheck, it was already clear how special Paul’s first show in Phoenix since his August 2014 US Airways Arena date was going to be.

(Speaking of ‘Drive My Car’… you know local Macca mania has spread well beyond the confines of the venue he’s playing when even the highway signs herald Paul’s arrival: “A Long & Winding Road Needs Alert Drivers” read one, while another lit up with “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da Life Goes On If You Slow Down”—was that second sign a clever combo of two Beatles references? ‘Ob-La-Di…’ being the obvious live staple of Paul’s shows since 2010, and the deep cut ‘Slow Down’, the Larry Williams tune The Beatles covered in 1964? If anyone from the Arizona Department of Transportation is reading this, let us know!)

Then it was time for Paul to take the capacity crowd at the Talking Stick Resort Arena (same building as 2014 for my fellow trivia nerds, different name) on an “emotional journey from The Beatles to his latest work” (sweet headline, ARIZONA REPUBLIC). And yes, we did start with some Beatles (‘A Hard Day’s Night,’ ‘Can’t Buy Me Love,’ ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’), some Wings (‘Junior’s Farm’,’Letting Go’), and two trips to Egypt Station (‘Who Cares’, ‘Come On To Me’), all before the first song tonight’s setlist had in common with Paul’s first play at this same building, back in 2002 when it was called the America West Arena (‘Let Me Roll It’).

However, as anyone who’s ever been to one of Paul’s shows well knows, the name, place and size of the venue are irrelevant once that “emotional journey” (thanks again, ARIZONA REPUBLIC) gets underway. Once ‘Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five’ or ‘Dance Tonight’ kicks in, you’re going to be moving whether you’re one of the thousands in an arena or stadium crowd or packed into a surprise club gig—and, as at least one reviewer has noted, time and space become pretty much irrelevant at a McCartney show.

And so it was, with another nearly three hours folded into a seeming instant, the closing Abbey Road medley of ‘Golden Slumbers’, ‘Carry That Weight’, and ‘The End’ was, as ever, met with tears of elation, and the Freshen Up caravan was Vegas-bound.

Steve Martin, Paul’s publicist

Last updated on March 13, 2021

Talking Stick Resort Arena

This was the 1st and only concert played at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

Setlist for the soundcheck

Setlist for the concert