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Get back, Jojo. Pop icon Paul McCartney brought his Got Back tour to Montreal for the first of two nights at a packed Bell Centre on Monday, taking fans on a magical, mysterious tour through decades of music history during which he has been an enduring and evolving presence.
And the former Beatle is not slowing down. McCartney is contributing a virtually silent song called Bonus Track to the upcoming compilation album Is This What We Want?, protesting against copyright theft by artificial intelligence companies — you can’t get more current than that.
He’s got a new book coming out, Wings, revisiting his personal and artistic transition to a post-Fab Four career in music in the early 1970s. It’s hard to imagine, but there was a time where McCartney wondered what he would do without the band that first made him famous. More than 50 years later, he’s still going strong.
He is the subject of Morgan Neville’s new documentary Man On the Run, which recently premiered at the Telluride Film Festival. And he’s got a yet-untitled solo album coming in 2026, as does his old pal Ringo Starr.
Paul McCartney is the subject of Morgan Neville’s new documentary Man On the Run. Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette
Super-fan Scott Fowler, 35, was seeing McCartney for the 15th time. What keeps him coming back: “Good sound quality, good quality concert, good music,” he said. “He has so many songs, such a big catalog.”
Fowler was with his fiancée of two days, Jen Halligan, who was celebrating her 29th birthday at her very first McCartney concert.
“Scott and his family love The Beatles and love Paul McCartney,” she said. “He’s the founding father of everyone I listen to today. He’s the teacher of every artist I love.”
David Vandernoot, 67, and his partner Delphine, are visiting Montreal from the French-speaking Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy, where McCartney frequently vacations.
“We often see him around but we’ve never caught him live,” Vandernoot said. “We came to see how he does it at 83, to keep singing. He’s a living legend.”
Paul McCartney played hit after hit in a nearly three-hour concert at the Bell Centre in Montreal Nov. 17, 2025.
McCartney brought the legend to life Monday night, playing hit after hit in a nearly three-hour concert that had a few lulls but for the most part felt like one big nostalgic love-in. There were Beatles favourites galore, beginning with opener Help!, followed soon after by Drive My Car and Getting Better.
Exuding impressive energy, he bounced from bass to guitar to piano, backed by his four-member band of more than 20 years plus the three-piece Hot City Horns. McCartney’s voice isn’t what it used to be, but it wasn’t half bad, getting him through Michelle and a solo performance of Blackbird, the latter of which he explained was written in tribute to the civil rights movement. Lady Madonna was a stomper and Ob-la-di Ob-la-da got everyone dancing.
There were Wings classics including a triumphant Band On the Run, Jet, Let ‘Em In and, in the home stretch, a pyrotechnics-punctuated Live And Let Die. And there were McCartney solo numbers like Let Me Roll It, Maybe I’m Amazed and, from 2018 (the last time he played Montreal) — a song “maybe you haven’t heard but too bad I’m gonna play anyway,” he teased — Come On To Me.
But drawing the biggest cheers throughout the evening were all things Beatles. And McCartney didn’t resist. Old footage and photos of his former bandmates were projected on the screen behind him.
Paul McCartney has a yet-untitled solo album coming in 2026. Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette
There were tributes to George Harrison and John Lennon, including the “last Beatles song,” Now and Then, an updated Lennon demo from the ‘70s re-released in 2023 with overdubbed vocals from McCartney and Starr and an old guitar track from Harrison.
He brought the house down with an epic, extended rendition of Hey Jude, leading the crowd in a delirious “Naaa, naa, naa, na-na-na naaa,” singalong.
“Thank you so much, Montreal; we knew we were going to have a party here tonight,” McCartney said as the show wound down.
“Only one thing remains to be said, which is we’ll see you next time.”
Spotted in the audience on the way out were a couple of other music giants, Elvis Costello and Diana Krall.
Asked for his reaction on the show as the two sat down to wait out the rush, Costello replied, “It’s beyond words, isn’t it, really? Beautiful, beautiful.”
“It was so emotional,” Krall added.
“That’s the thing,” Costello concurred. “Really emotional.”
Paul McCartney in concert at the Bell Centre in Montreal Nov. 17, 2025.
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