BEATLES MAGAZINE: PAUL McCARTNEY AT SANTA BARBARA BOWL

Sunday, 28 September 2025

PAUL McCARTNEY AT SANTA BARBARA BOWL

Audience members at the opening show of his current US tour, at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, California on Friday September 27, got an unexpected surprise when McCartney opened his set with the Fab Four’s 1965 anthem Help!.

Photo:andrea_papacjoyce/ig

The complete rendition of the Beatles' track, "Help!", hasn't been heard live since the band performed it in its entirety in Wales on December 12, 1965.

Interestingly, that performance took place the same year the song was originally released. However, Paul McCartney did include a very brief excerpt—around a minute long—during a medley on his 1989 and 1990 Flowers in the Dirt tours.

With a capacity of just over 4500 people, the Santa Barbara Bowl is the smallest venue on McCartney‘s US tour. The show itself was only announced two weeks ago, and fans were required to store their phones in secure pouches.

Much of McCartney‘s set was given over to Beatles songs, including a virtual duet with Lennon on 1970’s I’ve Got A Feeling.

The tour continues on September 29 at Acrisure Arena, Thousand Palms, California.

SETLIST

Help!
Coming Up
Got To Get You Into My Life
Let Me Roll It
Getting Better
Let 'Em In
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
I've Just Seen A Face
Love Me Do
Dance Tonight
Blackbird
Now And Then
Lady Madonna
Jet
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Get Back
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude