History in the making as Sir Paul, at 83, brings last surviving sliver of Beatlemania to Coors Field

Paul McCartney. Billy Joel. Paul Simon. Neil Young. Bob Dylan. The Rolling Stones. We’ve reached a point in (their) lives when it’s now or never if you want to see them “Get Back” one last time. 

It’s no secret that the music industry focuses on youth and beauty. But every once in a while, you get a chance to step back and experience living history. Sir Paul McCartney’s Saturday night blowout at Coors Field is a chance to experience the last surviving sliver of Beatlemania, a 62-year-old phenomenon that for most only exists in grainy archive footage.

Any McCartney concert, wrote former Denver Post rock critic Ricardo Baca, ”is the closest modern-day Beatles fans will ever get to that original musical experience.” He wrote that in 2010, back when McCartney was 68. Even then, he continued, you take every chance you can to see McCartney “because he’s our primary connection to the greatest band in the history of rock ‘n roll, and that’s a torch he’s fine with carrying.”

Fast forward 15 years and, at age 83, the world’s premier elder rock statesman and its most famous bass player is about to play in Denver for presumably the last time. And if you are wondering what we are in for, we are here to “Help!”

(No seriously, that’s the first song. This is the first time the Beatles (or McCartney) have played that particular tune on an official tour since 1965. ”Help!” of course, is John Lennon’s personal cry of desperation, and McCartney has never before taken on the lead vocals in concert. Rolling Stone called it the emotional climax of McCartney’s entire concert – and it’s the very first song. “A knockout moment in a night full of them,” wrote Rob Sheffield. “Paul made the whole night a statement of purpose, and a challenge to the audience to keep up with him, in a celebration of how far he’s traveled over the years.”     

Hitting the high notes:

• Even at 83, McCartney’s touring show is three hours long. His set list showcases his extensive catalog of hits from the Beatles, Wings and his solo career, including relatively new songs like 2018’s “Come On to Me.”

• Don’t leave early. The curtain call includes six songs. (Things could go a little “Helter Skelter.” Just sayin’.)

• The capacity for concerts at Coors Field is about 50,000 people.

• McCartney’s 2002 world tour was the highest-grossing tour of the year in the world (besting the Rolling Stones) at $126 million. By 2002, McCartney was both a knight and a billionaire – the first in rock history. He sold out the Pepsi Center that year with an average ticket price of $130. Floor seats for Saturday’s show were going for $400-$600 today, with the cheap seats going for about $150.

• McCartney returned to the Pepsi Center in 2010. That tour grossed $93 million.

• McCartney’s 2002 tour was the highest-grossing in the world that year at $126 million (besting the Rolling Stones). By 2002, McCartney was both a knight and a billionaire – the first in rock history. He sold out the Pepsi Center that year with an average ticket price of $130. Floor seats for Saturday’s show were going for $400-$600 earlier today, with the cheap seats selling at about $150. He returned to the Pepsi Center in 2010. That tour grossed $93 million.

• We get McCartney on the front end of this leg of the tour, which opened Sept. 29 in Palm Springs and runs through Nov. 25 in Chicago.

• Will McCartney acknowledge John Lennon from the Coors Field stage on Saturday? He did in 2002 by singing “Here Today” from1982’s “Tug of War” album. “It’s a song I wrote for John, about John, when I was in a retrospective mood,” McCartney told The Denver Post’s G. Brown at the time. “I was thinking about the way you are in life. When you’re young guys, you goof around a lot. You don’t actually sit down and say, ‘John, let me just tell you, I really think you’re a terrific person, I think you’re a marvelous musician, and I really love you.’ Guys don’t ever do that – well, we didn’t, anyway.”

• Stop reading here if you don’t want to know McCartney’s final words at the end of the night, but they are too good to pass up here. … He’s been saying to his adoring fans: “See you next time.”

Get back!

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at john.moore@denvergazette.com

Paul McCartney in Denver/The Got Back Tour

• When: Saturday (Oct. 11)

• Where: Coors Field

• Tickets: $100-$615

• Info: ticketmaster.com