Live Review & Photo Gallery: Paul McCartney at United Center • Chicago

Brassneck | November 27, 2025

Paul McCartney

United Center

Chicago, IL

November 25, 2025

Review by Jeff Elbel. Photos by Ed Spinelli.

Can it really have been eight years since the last time Sir Paul McCartney performed in Chicago? The still-fab former Beatle was a relatively regular presence during the 2010s in the town he first visited with his old band in 1964, but the sold-out two-night stand on Monday and Tuesday at United Center was his first return since 2017’s One on One tour, when he was still featuring songs from 2013’s New album. True, there was a one-night stand in Moline in 2019 that pulled devoted Beatlemaniacs to the western border of the state to hear some songs from 2018’s Egypt Station.

Without a new album to promote, McCartney’s current Got Back tour seems to have been undertaken just to get on the road while the getting’s good. True, there are the restored Beatles Anthology set, a new Wings retrospective, and Morgan Neville’s Man on the Run documentary. Any excuse is a good one. Chicago was clearly glad to have McCartney back for any reason.

At 83, McCartney remains an aspirational figure of aging properly and a solid recommendation for the benefits of the vegetarian diet he has long promoted. He and his longtime band nonetheless bypassed the opportunity to repurpose an old favorite and ask the audience, “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 84?” The answer from the multigenerational audience couldn’t have been anything but a resounding yes.

The concert was a joyous celebration from start to finish. The set list included 21 Beatles songs, seven Wings favorites, six solo cuts, and one from the Quarrymen that predated the Beatles.

There are understandable limitations to McCartney’s vintage voice. As such, the set began with a set of high-energy rockers that allowed guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray to cut loose while joyful drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr. kept the beat lively and McCartney’s voice rose to full power. By the time McCartney stepped onto a hydraulic riser alone with his acoustic guitar to sing civil rights anthem “Blackbird” and love note to dearly departed John Lennon, “Here Today,” his singing seemed paradoxically stronger than it was during his prior visit.

The strength and accuracy of McCartney’s voice did ebb and flow, tending to be strongest on the belters like “Letting Go,” “Jet,” and “Get Back” and somewhat less stable on the crooners like “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Let it Be.” There was no sense of complaint, however. Ovation after ovation made it clear that the crowd appreciated having a living legend of popular music from the mid-1960s onstage in 2025 and delivering an authentic performance with a hot band.

The core five-piece band was augmented by the three members of the Hot City Horns, who put the brassy blast into several songs, including the irresistibly groovy “Coming Up.” McCartney led the arrangement into a quote of the “Peter Gunn” theme, giving extra time for a howling trombone solo. “Got to Get You Into My Life” was another song that made stellar use of brass.

Keyboardist Wix Wickens worked sonic wonders from his keyboard rig, playing the merry flute melody in a warm and inviting “Let ‘Em In” while Laboriel played marching cadences on his drum set.

McCartney played his familiar Hofner bass from his days with the Beatles on songs including jangling opener “Help!” and the rollicking “Drive My Car.” He also played bass on the set list’s newest solo song, the hot-blooded “Come On to Me” from Egypt Station. McCartney acknowledged that many fans wanted songs from the Fab Four, but he was cheekily unapologetic. “If you haven’t heard of it, too bad,” he said. “We’re gonna do it anyway.”

Ray took over on bass as McCartney shifted to electric guitar for songs like Wings’ riff-rocker “Let Me Roll It.” Wickens stepped out with the song’s bristling organ leads. The arrangement was stretched as Anderson and McCartney traded licks during a coda of “Foxy Lady.” Afterward, McCartney told a story about seeing Hendrix as a rising club act in London.

McCartney spent ample time at his grand piano, hammering out the barrelhouse pop of songs like “Lady Madonna” and leading the audience through a rowdy singalong of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.” Anderson uncorked a snarling guitar solo during Wings’ “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five,” tangling lines with McCartney’s sparkling piano.

The middle of the set featured the furthest trip by the wayback machine as the band gathered at the front of the stage with stripped-down acoustic instrumentation. The massive screen behind the stage showed the interior of the Cavern Club where the Beatles made their name in their native Liverpool while McCartney and the group blasted through “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” McCartney told the story of recording the Elvis Presley-influenced “In Spite of All the Danger” with the Quarrymen in 1958, and how a musical career evolved for “four boys from Liverpool” who dreamed of forming a band and becoming famous.

“They did okay,” said McCartney, in the mother of all understatements.

McCartney described meeting and getting to know producer George Martin as one of the great privileges of his life. The band then played “Love Me Do,” the first Beatles single recorded by those four boys from Liverpool at Abbey Road Studios in London with Martin. Wickens played John Lennon’s reedy harmonica part.

The acoustic set wrapped with McCartney on mandolin for “Dance Tonight.” The irrepressible Laboriel stood at his cocktail set, keeping time on the kick drum while performing dances including the Macarena, the Floss, and the Sprinkler.

The set featured many tributes. The tender “My Valentine” was offered to McCartney’s wife, Nancy, seen on screens in the middle of the crowd. Abbey Road standout “Something” was dedicated to its author, George Harrison, and performed on a ukulele Harrison had given to McCartney. The Beatles’ 2023 single and archeological marvel “Now and Then” was a touching tribute to late members Harrison and Lennon.

Dozens of members of the crowd got into the act during “Band on the Run,” shining their cell phone lights through white balloons emblazoned with the Fans on the Run podcast logo. McCartney lingered for a moment during the show, simply basking in the communal experience. At another pause, he read posters held aloft throughout the arena. One sign indicated that a fan was attending his 145^th McCartney show. McCartney quipped that it seemed a bit obsessive, but he was thankful regardless.

McCartney was center stage to play the carnivalesque “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song described a circus act and promised daring leaps through a hogshead of real fire. More than a hogshead of flame was later deployed during the sensory overload that accompanied Wings’ bombastic James Bond theme “Live and Let Die.” Fire and fireworks rose from the stage while explosions rocked the walls of the United Center. At the final eruption, McCartney comically plugged his ears and winced, asking off-mic whether all of that chaos was really necessary.

The main set closed with the hymnal “Let it Be,” featuring every voice in the audience as the choir.

The encore began with what McCartney described as a favorite moment from the show. The band performed “I’ve Got a Feeling,” joined by none other than Lennon, who appeared and sang via footage from the Beatles’ famous January 30, 1969, performance on the rooftop of the Apple Corps headquarters in London. Afterward, McCartney described how special it was to be able to sing with John again.”

The band continued with the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” and a manic “Helter Skelter.” The concert concluded with a portion of the Abbey Road medley, including the soothing “Golden Slumbers,” stirring “Carry That Weight,” and exuberant “The End.”

Tuesday’s 35-song concert was the final night of the Got Back North American tour. After the band took their bows, McCartney offered closing-night thanks to his touring family for a wonderful run. He cited Chicago as a favorite city and thanked the local crowd for decades of support. “We knock off now for a bit of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we wish you all the best for that,” he said. Then, he opened the door to future possibilities with his familiar send-off. “All that remains to be said is, ‘We’ll see you next time!'” he exclaimed, leaving the stage as showers of confetti rained onto the crowd.

Maybe we’ll get to see McCartney again and sing that revamped “When I’m Sixty-Four” with him after all. Here’s hoping.

SET LIST:

01 Help!

02 Coming Up

03 Got to Get You Into My Life

04 Drive My Car

05 Letting Go

06 Come On to Me

07 Let Me Roll It

08 Getting Better

09 Let ‘Em In

10 My Valentine