Bruce was at Paul McCartney’s Got Back Tour stop in New Orleans on October 29, 2025. Below are a selection of his photos from the night and his impressions of the show.

Paul McCartney gave another fabulous performance in New Orleans at the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. His first appearance in the Crescent City was 61 years earlier on Wednesday, September 16, 1964. At that first concert Paul was a member of the Beatles and was 22 years old. He was on stage for less than 30 minutes. For his most recent show in the City That Care Forgot, McCartney, age 83, performed for two hours and 40 minutes, more than five times the length his Beatles concerts.

Paul’s previous performance in New Orleans was also at the Smoothie King Center on May 23, 2019. For some of those attending both concerts, comparisons were inevitable. During the six and one-half years between shows, Paul got older. But not in a bad way. Aging is a natural process, and at 83, he is still fit and full of energy. His voice is not as strong as it was back then. Although he may not shout as much during the second half of “Hey Jude,” he still belts out “Helter Skelter” with plenty of raw energy. And while he doesn’t hit some of the higher notes with ease anymore, his still sounds great. The magic remains. And his musicianship show no signs of diminishing. During the show he plays bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, ukulele and piano. His performance is amazing for anyone, much less someone 83 years old.

McCartney was backed by the same four musicians who have now been with him for 24 years, more than double the time Paul was with some other guys known as John, George and Ringo. As usual, guitarist Rusty Anderson, guitarist/bassist Brian Ray, keyboardist Paul “Wix” Wickens and drummer Abe Laboriel demonstrated why Paul continues to have them in his band. They are joined by the Hot City Horns, consisting of Mike Davis on trumpet, Paul Burton on trombone and Kenji Fenton on saxophone. 

In 2019, Paul opened his concert with the theme from the Beatles first film, “A Hard Day’s Night.” His 2026 concert began with the title song to the group’s second movie, “Help!” His vocal sounded quite different than John’s voice on the 1965 single. Hearing an 83-year-old Paul sing “When I was younger, so much younger than today” was both nostalgic and a poignant reminder of the days of Beatlemania when four young men conquered the world. His band provided tight and effective backing vocals on the counter melody.

This was quickly followed by “Coming Up,” augmented by the Hot City Horns. During the song, the band drifted into a riff reminiscent of Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn.” After a quick “hello” to New Orleans, it was on to “Got To Get You Into My Life.” Once again, the horn section sounded great, as did Paul, whose voice had warmed up and was hitting the notes effectively. Next up was a rocking version of “Drive My Car.” (“Beep beep, beep beep yeah” indeed.) The slower tempo “Letting Go” featured the Hot City Horns and great guitar work. It turned into a slow boiling rocker, with a break featuring only the horns and Abe on drums leading into Paul letting go and belting out “I feel like letting go.”

Next it was time for the band to do a more recent song, “Come On To Me” from his 2018 album “Egypt Station.” Paul told the crowd: “You may know it, you my not. We don’t care. We’re gonna do it.” When it was over, Paul shed his jacket and joked that it was his wardrobe change of the evening, most likely poking fun at singers who go through numerous costume changes as part of their show.

Paul then switched to his colorful Les Paul guitar for the John Lennon-inspired “Let Me Roll It.” The song featured a great organ solo and the usual in-concert instrumental coda of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.” Once done, Paul told of seeing Hendrix at a near-empty Bag of Nails club just before the American guitarist exploded upon the London scene. Paul remained on guitar for “Getting Better” from “Sgt. Pepper.”

The Wings-era “Let ‘Em In” had Paul on keyboards and gave drummer Abe an opportunity to really shine. To emphasize the marching beat of the song, the video screen showed numerous marching bands, including New Orleans’ own St. Augustine Marching 100. Paul Burton’s trombone was prominently featured. Next was a song dedicated to his wife, Nancy, the ballad “My Valentine.”

Paul then sped things up with a pounding version of “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five,” complete with intricate tempo changes but no “Band On The Run” coda as on the album. McCartney then lead the band on piano through a majestic, powerful version of “Maybe I’m Amazed.” Although Paul can’t quite sing it like he did in the 1970s, his voice held strong.

Paul switched to acoustic guitar for a high-spirited take on “I’ve Just Seen A Face” that had the musicians come to the front of the stage. Paul then led the band through a wonderful version of one of his earliest songs, “In Spite Of All The Danger,” which is credited to Paul and George Harrison and was recorded in 1958 by Paul, John and George’s pre-Beatles band, the Quarrymen. While the song is by no means one of Paul’s finest, it somehow always becomes one of the highlights of Paul’s concerts, featuring beautiful harmonies, acoustic guitars, Wix on accordion, and a sing-along section.

This was followed by a fun and fairly accurate verison of the Beatles first single, “Love Me Do.” For the catchy, hummable “Dance Tonight,” Paul switched to mandolin. Abe entertained the crowd with his dancing.

Paul went back to his acoustic guitar for the solo section of the concert. He performed “Blackbird” and “Here Today” on a rising stage with colorful graphics behind him. During the latter song, written as a tribute for John shortly after his death, Paul’s voice sounded older than on the others songs, making it quite poignant. His emotions made it difficult for him to sing the song. At times, he seemed to talk his way through before ending it with a falsetto passage. He followed the song with: “Finally got to say, ‘Love you, John.’”

 Paul returned to the piano for what was billed two years ago as “The Last Beatles Song,” John’s “Now And Then.” The song has a certain finality sound to it that still brings shivers down my spine and tears to my eyes. It was great hearing it played live. The video screen featured scenes from Peter Jackson’s powerful, moving video of the song. “Lady Madonna” featured Paul on piano and a sax solo by Kenji Fenton.

Paul switched back to his trusty Hofner violin bass for “Jet,” which had the band and the Hot City Horns rocking out. “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite” was augmented by colorful and well-staged lighting effects.

Next up was Paul’s tribute to George. McCartney took out a ukulele given to him by Harrison and began playing “Something” by himself. About halfway through, the band fell into place and Paul switched to acoustic guitar as song morphed into its “Abbey Road” version.

Back on bass, Paul led the band and audience through a fun version of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” full of handclaps, horns and Abe’s laughter. Paul delivered strong vocals on “Band On The Run” and “Get Back.” He then switched to piano for a stately version of “Let It Be” and a loud, rousing take on “Live And Let Die” with its wild pyrotechnics display.

For the finale, Paul was at his magic piano for “Hey Jude.” He provided a great vocal on the first part of the song, though did a lot less screaming than on the single during the song’s extended sing-along ending. As usual, Paul had the audience joining in with separate vocal segments for the men and woman in attendance. When the song was over, the crowd knew Paul would be back for more. And from that point forward to the actual end of the show, nearly everyone in the arena stood. 

After a short break, Paul, armed with his Les Paul guitar, returned to the stage for “I’ve Got A Feeling.” During the parts of the song sung on the record by John, John’s voice was brought in, giving Paul the opportunity to sing with John again, just like they did during the January 1969 rooftop concert. The video screen showed John singing the song during his vocal passages. It was an emotional moment for Paul and the audience.

 Paul then switched back to bass for the reprise version of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” leading into a loud and wild version of “Helter Skelter” complete with a freak-out light show and bits of Paul screaming away.

 McCartney then returned to piano to temporarily calm things down with the concluding songs of the “Abbey Road” medley, “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End.” During the latter song, Paul grabbed his guitar to take part in the dueling guitar solos with Rusty and Brian. It was a fitting end to a great show by Paul and his terrific backing band.

Unlike many concerts by artists from the sixties and seventies, you left fully satisfied. There was no sickening feeling that the group on the stage should “hang it up” or disappointment that “the records sound so much better.” Instead, it was exhilarating to hear and see Paul breathe life into a significant part of the soundtrack to our lives. It was a fabulous show by one of the greatest songwriters and performers of all time.