Paul McCartney issues what may be his best setlist to date with Back in the U.S., a staggering live album. The Beatles and Wings member rattles through his biggest hits and a few solo treats too on this live album. It may be the best live album McCartney has released as a solo artist. That sweet spot between celebrating the all-time great pieces of music he wrote and underlining the contemporary importance of McCartney as a presence bigger than nostalgia. Freedom makes sure that McCartney is relevant for this show, a song that would be dropped from his setlist for good soon after this tour. Tragedy backs this tour. Between his last tour in 1993 and this one, which began in April 2002, McCartney had lost Linda McCartney, George Harrison, and had been present in New York during the World Trade Centre attack. There was a lot for McCartney to have to deal with at the time, and his Flaming Pie release, as well as a new marriage, and line-up, were hardly steady ground to launch a world tour with.
But he did so anyway, and the result is a marvellous showcase of the flair and contemporary style McCartney has afforded his very best songs. Crucial to any great tour is the instrumental flow and vocal strength. Back in the U.S. boasts both and offers little flourishes and differences to how people may remember the classics. Opening with Hello Goodbye is a nice touch, in the same category as The Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up when it comes to obvious opener choices. But the moment is made by McCartney’s exceptional vocal strength and the strength of the instrumentalists enlisted for this tour. Just plain staggering workings of Jet and All My Loving in the early moments of the show. McCartney often builds toward a big blowout on the Got Back tour. For Back in the U.S., he plays a two-hour hits collection that keeps momentum high and fan expectations higher. He sounds phenomenal, and the instrumental stylings for those old Beatles and Wings numbers are phenomenal.
Coming Up marks the biggest change of these early moments. McCartney gets to grips with his new vocal range extremely well, and it’s softened from there in the years to follow. Never has it sounded weak, though. That lower octave is backed by a quicker tempo and groovier style. Both Lonely Road and Driving Rain hold up well, too. This is as close as you’ll get to experiencing a McCartney live show if he never tours again. Even those contemporary flourishes, the lesser-known pieces, have a phenomenal quality to them. They slip into the set as though they’re familiar favourites. McCartney’s magnum opus comes in the form of a project which, at the time, must have felt a bit more like housekeeping. Recording live shows became a bit of a norm for major artists, and McCartney, up to this point, didn’t have a brilliant live showcase. He does now. Back in the U.S. is nothing short of a masterpiece.
An incredibly touching Blackbird is one of the many highlights to be had throughout this live album. Mother Nature’s Son even sounds excellent here. A surprise tearjerker moment from McCartney, who finds himself in perfect form for every moment of this. Even breaking up bits of the Abbey Road medley, a segue from Vanilla Sky to Carry That Weight, works. His joke about forgetting the words slots right into place, and it’s the playfulness, the spontaneity of that moment, that shines throughout this set. Every time you feel as though the show is about to lose a bit of steam, McCartney pulls out an all-timer of a performance. Band on the Run into Back in the U.S.S.R. and then Maybe I’m Amazed right afterwards. Back in the U.S. is a masterclass of a show, a thrill-filled explosion and a spectacular celebration of his very best works.
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