Boston • Tuesday, June 7, 2022

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This was the thirteenth date of the “Got Back” tour and the first of two consecutive nights in Boston.

From Boston Herald, June 10, 2022:

Paul McCartney grabbed a guitar and tore through the tasty riff of “Let Me Roll It” before pushing his band into a stomping snippet of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.” It rocked.

With McCartney being a rock star, it would be expected that his Tuesday Fenway Park show would rock. But that’s not a given. Many musicians play huge shows that lean more on nostalgia than visceral rock ’n’ roll.  McCartney indulged in some nostalgia, but he spent more time rumbling through high volume, big energy rock — “Junior’s Farm” and “Get Back” and “Band on the Run.”

McCartney gets an absurd amount of respect. He might deserve a bit more.

People gleefully crow about Willie Nelson and Keith Richards’ immortality, but forget that McCartney will be 80 next week and still fills and thrills stadiums with two and a half-hour shows — he booked Fenway for back-to-back dates Tuesday and Wednesday.

When Sir Paul first played Fenway back in 2009, he was a mere 67 and performed 34 songs. Tuesday night, the 79-year-old played two more in a set that ran from 1958 Quarrymen obscurity “In Spite of All the Danger” to songs off 2018 album “Egypt Station,” from rock to just about everything else.

[…] From wonderfully obligatory Beatles songs such as “Let It Be” and “Hey Jude” to the more obscure stuff (Wings’ jam “Letting Go” was nice), Paul had a blast. He grinned and shouted, did little dances and played half a dozen different instruments. He said he’ll be back. Hopefully he brings some new songs again next time. He has got to keep writing, got to keep adding material to a catalog that’s already astounding.

From paulmccartney.com, June 22, 2022:

Once again, Paul did it Fenway… 

But seriously folks, as anyone who’s attended one of Paul’s previous plays at the fabled Fenway Park can tell you, there’s a unique spell that’s cast only by the unique combination of Paul’s music played live on the grounds of Boston’s Cathedral of Baseball. Over the course of those legendary nights—2009’s debut two-night stand or 2013 and 2016’s return visits—there have been too many highlights to count, with guest appearances ranging from The Dead’s Bob Weir on ‘Hi Hi Hi’ to an utterly unexpected Rob Gronkowski on ‘Helter Skelter’… the one constant being that mythical blend of McCartney Green Monster Magic. 
 
Boston proved more than ready, willing and able to get back with Paul. From the crowds gathering early along the length of Lansdowne Street hoping to catch a glimpse of Paul’s arrival as he arrived through Fenway’s Gate C to the mass of fans in the stands who united to transform into a human billboard spanning the length of the field and spelling out “WE LOVE YOU PAUL,” Paul’s fifth and sixth Fenway gigs would prove every bit as extraordinary as his four prior ones — or as some who were there might argue, even more so. 
 
“McCartney gets an absurd amount of respect,” night one had the Boston Herald proclaiming — and adding, “He might deserve a bit more.” Having borne witness to the sheer surplus of love and respect that emanated from both sold out Fenways, it’s hard to see how that would even be possible. Night one’s hordes came to Rock with a capital R, greeting the indelible riffs of ‘Let Me Roll It’, ‘Junior’s Farm’ and ‘Get Back’ with howls upon howls of approval. And those enthusiastic bursts of joy were by no means reserved for the barnstormers and guitar anthems of the McCartney canon—’Maybe I’m Amazed’ was audibly and visually uplifting and drew more than a few happy tears, ‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!’ took Fenway on a laser guided trip, ‘Fuh You’ was singled out by both the Boston Globe and Herald (the latter likening the 2018 Egypt Station standout to “a 2020 Harry Styles smash,” clarifying “this is meant as a compliment”)—and during ‘Hey Jude’, there was even a reported sighting of John Kerry attempting to capture the moment on his phone. […]

Steve Martin – Paul McCartney’s US publicist 

Last updated on June 30, 2022