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Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Knoxville

Concert • By Paul McCartney • Part of the US leg of the Got Back Tour

Last updated on June 30, 2022


Details

  • Country: USA
  • City: Knoxville
  • Location: Thompson Boling Arena
  • Attendance: 16,037 / 16,037
  • Revenue: $4,651,316

Location

  • Location: Thompson Boling Arena

Timeline

Band members

Line-up Discover Backing band 2019-Present

This was the eleventh date of the “Got Back” tour.

From knoxnews.com, June 1, 2022:

There are plenty of places Paul McCartney remembers. Yet, throughout his long and winding career — all the years he’s been wandering around — how come nobody told him there is a place called Knoxville? 

He has played the friendly state of Tennessee before, down in Nashville town. Then there was that time he had a golden slumber at Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge-West in Knoxville due to troubles driving his car. But the Apple scruffs of Scruffy City have been waiting for this live musical moment to arise, longer than the road that stretches out ahead. […]

Smiles awaited McCartney as the crowd decided to rise. It was clear from the first notes of “Can’t Buy Me Love” that everybody’s gonna dance around tonight, from those who were older and losing their hair to what seemed like children at the 79-year-old’s feet. Multiple generations were all in the palm of McCartney’s hand. […]

They just couldn’t get enough of that sweet stuff, as McCartney played the tunes of yesterday, today and in between, with fans helping sing his songs. He even stopped in place to have a moment “just to drink it all in.”  Although these songs had been heard by millions over the years – and 22,000 on this good night – each note felt just fuh you. 

I looked at his hand as he picked the bass guitar with ease, like a casual conversation after all these years. He’s getting better all the time as days and nights pass by, but he may not have a lot to give for much longer. 

After more than 30 songs, unexpected pyro hot as sun and John Lennon coming together with the band in virtual fashion, it’s safe to say people won’t forget the time or place they saw McCartney – that lucky day he came to Knoxville. While everyone has had a hard couple of years, everyone let their hair down, had a good time and surely will be listening to the music playing in their head over and over for days to come. 

Yes, the tickets were pricey. One sign-wielding fan claimed a floor seat was purchased using money from 176 aerobics lessons. But the memories are something money just can’t buy. And for though we may be parted, there’s still a chance we will see McCartney on stage in Knoxville again. […]

I tell you what, we got something special for you here. Peter Jackson rang me up and he said, ‘you know, I can take the Get Back film and I can isolate John’s voice, and you can play along live

Paul McCartney – Introducing “I’ve Got A Feeling”

If we do a Beatles song, the crowd lights up with your phones, like a sky full of stars. And then when we do a new song, it’s like a black hole. But we don’t care! We’re gonna do em’ anyway

Paul McCartney

From paulmccartney.com, June 6, 2022:

“How do I pick a notable moment from a show that was nothing but?”

That question from the writer from Auburn University’s WEGL FM perfectly sums up the quandary posed to us all — fans, media, GOT BACK crew members alike — by Paul’s Knoxville debut. At turns joyous, bombastic, tender, reflective and more, Paul’s unforgettable first visit to the Thompson-Boling Arena was everything anyone could want from his usual masterclass and so much more. It would, in fact, be impossible to pick a better closer to this chapter of the GOT BACK tour blog than this perfect complement to Fort Worth’s return to the site of the Wings Over America tour opener… Yes, Knoxville was that good.

“You are a great crowd, Knoxville!” Paul exclaimed early on to the adoring masses voicing their gratitude for his first visit to the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains.  And it was immediately and abundantly clear that this was indeed an exceptional crowd filling this arena’s particularly cavernous interior, one that was not shy in the least in showing their appreciation that Paul had at long last made it to their hometown. For the next nearly three hours, there would be non-stop singing, dancing, and full throated jubilation — all the manifestations of the unique magic that only a first-time Paul show can conjure.

The constantly heightening exchange of electricity was mutual, Paul and the band and the people of Knoxville amplifying one another all night long — As ‘Let Me Roll It’ steamrolled into ‘Getting Better’, the latter’s refrain became the theme of the evening, as the momentum built with each of these songs, by this performance and this audience continued to gain exponentially. The irresistible positivity of ‘We Can Work It Out’ made a perfectly occasioned return to tonight’s setlist, while ‘Dance Tonight’ spurred an impromptu exhibition dance-off amongst thousands of participants. Elsewhere, the supercharged crowd took in the tributes of ‘Something’ and ‘Here Today’ with an intensified reverence that equalled the ebullience of their response to the opening notes of ‘Lady Madonna’, the pyro-kinetic thrill ride of ‘Live And Let Die’… and it almost goes without saying: their absolutely deafening A+ effort to claim the title of loudest ‘Hey Jude’ singalong of the tour.

But don’t take my word for it—to sum up, here’s a snippet from the Knoxville News Sentinel’s review, one comprised largely of some very familiar lyric excerpts and (para)phrases: “After more than 30 songs, unexpected pyro hot as sun and John Lennon coming together with the band in virtual fashion, it’s safe to say people won’t forget the time or place they saw McCartney – that lucky day he came to Knoxville. While everyone has had a hard couple of years, everyone let their hair down, had a good time and surely will be listening to the music playing in their head over and over for days to come.”

And in an inspired final moment of off-stage performance, The Hot City Horns played Paul onto the waiting bus with an homage to Dolly Parton (a nod to Dollywood’s location about an hour away in Pigeon Forge TN), and with that it was time for GOT BACK to head northeast… Please tune in again when we resume reporting from Syracuse.

Steve Martin – Paul McCartney’s US publicist 
From Beatles legend Paul McCartney gets to Knoxville for the first time | Campus Events | utdailybeacon.com – June 1, 2022
From Beatles legend Paul McCartney gets to Knoxville for the first time | Campus Events | utdailybeacon.com – June 1, 2022
From Knoxville Sticker by Paul McCartney for iOS & Android | GIPHY

Thompson Boling Arena

This was the 1st and only concert played at Thompson Boling Arena.

Setlist for the soundcheck

  1. Instrumental Jam

Setlist for the concert

The setlist for this concert is incomplete, or we have not be able to confirm in an accurate way that this was the setlist. If you have any clue, pls let us know and leave a comment.

  1. Medley

  2. Blackbird

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

  3. New

    Written by Paul McCartney

  4. Get Back

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

  5. Let It Be

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

  6. Hey Jude

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

  7. Encore

    1. Birthday

      Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2. The End

      Written by Lennon - McCartney

See song statistics for “Got Back Tour”

Paul McCartney writing

Talk more talk, chat more chat

Notice any inaccuracies on this page? Have additional insights or ideas for new content? Or just want to share your thoughts? We value your feedback! Please use the form below to get in touch with us.

Tom Liverani • 2 years ago

SETLIST...

01. Can’t Buy Me Love

02. Junior’s Farm

03. Letting Go

04. Got to Get You Into My Life

05. Come on to Me

06. Let Me Roll It

07. Getting Better

08. Let 'Em In

09. My Valentine

10. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five

11. Maybe I’m Amazed

12. We Can Work It Out

13. In Spite of All The Danger

14. Love Me Do

15. Dance Tonight

16. Blackbird

17. Here Today

18. New

19. Lady Madonna

20. Fuh You

21. For the Benefit of Mr. Kite

22. Something

23. Ob La Di Ob La Da

24. You Never Give Me Your Money

25. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window

26. Get Back

27. Band On The Run

28. Let It Be

29. Live and Let Die

30. Hey Jude

Encore:

31. I’ve Got a Feeling

32. Birthday

33. Helter Skelter

34. Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End


The PaulMcCartney Project • 2 years ago

Thanks Tom ! I'm late at updating all the recent concerts, but it's coming !


Cannon Schultz • 2 years ago

I was there, it was amazing, though I was not as big as a Paul McCartney fan as I am now so i didnt know most songs. I went rather because I know hes getting older (which means hes less likely to do another tour) and because I knew I was gonna fall in love with his music (I was right). Im really sad that I wasnt as big as a fan then because I realized that some songs I didnt care about then, I love now. Im young, really young, ive only been alive for his last 4 studio albums, I wish people my age appricated him like i do.

But again, it was an amazing concert, it was just days before his birthday and his voice was amazing for his age, and I watched other videos of the same tour and I can say from first hand view that his voice was supperior at this specific concert.


The PaulMcCartney Project • 2 years ago

Thanks Cannon for sharing your memories. "I went rather because I know hes getting older (which means hes less likely to do another tour)" : that's the reason I used to go and see him live for the first time... in 2009 ! :)


John Mackintosh • 1 year ago

I first saw him live in New York in 1989 for that same reason-fear of missing out, especially as that was his first tour since the 1970s with Wings. Now, many years and shows later I still go. I am retired from my career but not from his music. You just can’t beat seeing the most creative musician alive today as many times as you can. Knoxville was excellent.


The PaulMcCartney Project • 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing, John !


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