Paul McCartney promises marathon Got Back stadium and arena concerts in Australia

Paul McCartney has announced a massive tour of Australia. Hear audio from the Beatles legend on why he’s excited to perform here.

McCartneymania will ignite Australia when the Beatles legend brings his much-anticipated Got Back tour to stadiums – and one lucky “intimate” arena show – in October and November.

It will be Paul McCartney’s first concerts in 2023 after his epic headlining performance at the Glastonbury festival in the UK a year ago.

The beloved performer and pop music pioneer will open the tour with an arena concert for about 8000 fans in Adelaide on October 18 – his first show in the city in 30 years.

On their historic first tour of Australia in 1964, about 350,000 people lined the streets between the Adelaide airport and Town Hall to catch a glimpse of Paul, John, George and Ringo.

Paul McCartney opens his Got Back tour in Australia in October. Picture: Supplied / MPL Communications

His first Australian tour in six years includes capital city shows at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on October 21, Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on October 27 and Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on November 1.

Taking a leaf out of Elton John’s book, McCartney has also booked two concerts in cities he has never played before – the McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on October 24 and the final show at Heritage Bank Stadium on the Gold Coast on November 4.

It is likely this will be his final tour of Australia.

The Beatles legend’s Australian shows will be his first since he performed at Glastonbury in 2022. Picture: Supplied / MPL Communications.

The 81-year-old pop powerhouse joked about how he will get match fit again for his Australian tour after being off the road for the past year.

“It’s sex and drugs! Aw come on, behave yourself Paul,” he said, laughing.

“Yeah. It takes practice... And that’s what we do. We’ll be in LA, before we come, and we’ll spend two weeks in a place we normally go to, where we just meet every day and do band rehearsals.

“And so we mess around a bit and we jam a bit, and then we sort of say, ‘OK, better try and learn that one’. Or relearn (a song).”

McCartney said the four-hour concerts by his mate-in-rock Bruce Springsteen had thrown down the gauntlet – and created an arduous benchmark – to pop superstars to at least hit the three-hour mark so fans feel they have hard all the songs they love.

The marathon concerts he plays now are in stark contrast to the 30 minute sets The Beatles performed in the 1960s.

“I saw (Bruce) the other day and I said to him, ‘Listen, I blame you!’” he said.

“Because people used to do sensible length concerts, and then he starts doing four hours, and it’s like, ‘Oh, wait a minute.’ So we start thinking, ‘Oh we could do a bit more.’ So we’re working up towards the three hours.”

McCartney and his marathon mate Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury. Picture: Supplied / MPL Communications.

While the love for The Beatles and McCartney’s epic solo catalogues has never waned, the world fell in love with him and the band all over again via the Peter Jackson documentary series Get Back in 2021.

McCartney “performs” with John Lennon during his Got Back show, employing the same technology Jackson used to isolate and enhance the Beatles’ individual voices for the series.

The revered pop icon said his memories of that first Beatles tour in 1964 are a “bit of a blur” these days.

Not just screaming teens: Workmen and schoolchildren mob the car carrying British pop sensation The Beatles from Adelaide airport on June 15, 1964. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

“We wanted this kind of success and this fame. So when you got it, it was really thrilling. But it was a little bit of a whirlwind, because you know, big crowds and you’re rushing from the hotel to the car and then from the car to the gig,” he said.

The first tickets will be available via a Telstra Plus Members pre-sale on August 3, telstra.com/music with staggered times for each city and those details via the website.

Then the Frontier Members pre-sale opens on August 9, with all ticketing details and box office opening times via frontiertouring.com/paulmccartney.

General tickets will go on sale on August 11 via Ticketek and Ticketmaster, depending on your venue.

Adelaide Entertainment Centre, October 18, Ticketek.com.au

Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, October 21, Ticketmaster.com.au

McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, October 24, Ticketmaster.com.au

Allianz Stadium, Sydney, October 27, Ticketek.com.au

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, November 1, Ticketek.com.au

Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast, November 4, Ticketek.com.au

Originally published as Paul McCartney promises marathon Got Back stadium and arena concerts in Australia