Paul McCartney at the United Center on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.
I just returned to Austin from Chicago. I traveled to the Windy City to see Paul McCartney in concert at the United Center on Monday, November 24, 2025. Chicago was the last stop on McCartney’s “Got Back” tour.
The place was packed and nobody left early. Paul came onstage about 8:20 p.m. and sang until 11:10 p.m. At no time during his performance did he leave the stage and turn it over to a sidekick, so that he could go offstage and take a break. He was on his feet and climbing the stairs to his piano (which malfunctioned at one point) and seemed very “with it.” He did not sit down while playing (like B.B. King did in his final years) and his endurance was just as impressive as Mick Jagger’s.
During the evening, he pointed out a gentleman who has seen him 142 times and came with a sign that said so. There was another guy with a sign that said “124.” Many signs proclaimed the crowd’s love for Paul and he seemed to return that warm sentiment.
I’ve now seen Paul McCartney five times. I’d love to post video of a few songs from the show, but I’m not sure how that can be accomplished without repercussions for me, so I am posting only a few still photos.
PAUL McCARTNEY & THE BEATLES, Aug. 31, 1965
First time was in 1965 at the San Francisco Cow Palace (afternoon concert). Security was one guy and waist-high chicken wire. (Ineffectual). It was my very first concert. Girl from Iowa climbs on back of a Czechoslovokian motorcycle driven by Philadelphia boyfriend Colgate (William Hopkins), cuts class at Berkeley in the summer of 1965 (Aug. 31), and says, “Let’s go up and see if we can get tickets.” And we could. They cost $7. It is my belief that they had been saved for the Beatles, themselves, to use for friends and family, but now it was showtime. We were in the 7th row on the aisle with folding chairs. There was one guy guarding the stage, which had waist-high chicken-wire. Someone ran onstage and took Ringo’s drumsticks and John’s hat, when they finally showed up, late. I thought we were all gonna’ die during the exiting part, when I was moving but my feet were not touching the floor. People stood on the folding chairs, causing them to go down like dominoes. It was pandemonium, with teenagers passing out left and right.
At the time, the film “Hard Day’s Night” had just been released. Shirley Bassey sang the theme from “Goldfinger” and Cannibal and the Headhunters did their thing (making a train dance on the floor.) The National Anthem was played by King Curtiss. The Astronauts from California were supposed to be part of the lead-in, but they did not show up. The tickets cost $7 apiece, I repeat, because to go from $7 to $800 is quite a big increase, as you will agree.
PAUL McCARTNEY, 2025
The tickets for us in section 302 way up high in the United Center on Nov, 24, 2025 (12 rows from the top) cost $800 apiece ($1600 total) on Monday night. People on the floor had paid $3,000. (Talk about inflation!)
The show began with Paul singing “Help” this night and the lyrics were so perfect for anyone aged 83. At no time did his demeanor, voice, or ability to move about show his age, which was wonderful for me, someone only slightly younger than he is. I did notice that many members of the audience were brandishing canes, but, thankfully, Paul was not, nor was I. I was also grateful that almost everybody stayed seated until the finale, so we could all see. A teenager on the end of the aisle in front of me kept standing up to dance, which pretty much totally obscured the video screens that allowed the far-away fans to see the faces of the band clearly.
Paul McCartney, Nov. 24, 2025.
I took so many videos of his many hits that my phone died, which turned out to be a real problem when both my daughter (who had flown in from Nashville for the show) and I used up all of our phone charge and had to try to call an Uber or Lyft to get home. We had taken a Lyft to get there, which cost $14. There is now a building–run by Uber apparently—that you go to and make these calls for Uber or Lyft drivers. Cabs are like land lines and impossible to find. That building was not there in 2015.
We finally had to go outside and we found a “pirate” Uber driver who quoted us a price of $50 to drive us back to Indiana Avenue’s South Loop. The daughter had already called and been given a $47 price and a 20 minute wait from the normal Uber network. We had no idea what the building name was and there was talk of going to your driver’s “lane.” I last went to a show at the United Center in 2015 (Queen with Adam Lambert). I have been to the United Center to try to see Caitlin Clark play, for my July 23rd birthday, but I have not ventured out for a musical performance there, although I did see the Eagles with Steely Dan in Austin and John Mulaney here on Nov. 14, 2025. There was also a night back in the Quad Cities with the Tennessee comic Nick Bugazzi (sp?) at the Mark of the Quad Cities. But, with Elton John, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, et. al. fading into retirement, there are few musical groups I would spend the time or money to see (although I’d make an exception for Benson Boone or Adele or Bruno Mars.) And I did go see the Dave Matthews Band on June 27th of this year at Northerly Isle Pavilion, so now I see concerts in both states. (Not as many United Center runs.)
PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS
The second time I saw Paul, my name was driven first in the state of Iowa for tickets at the Ames Hilton Colisseum football stadium in Ames, Iowa. Channel 6 anchor Paula Sands asked me if I could get her tickets for the July 31st show at the Ames Hilton Colisseum football field. I did, as I was allowed to purchase up to 8 tickets. That concert was Paul with wife Linda and Wings. Our tickets were in the 7th row from the front. I took my son and my college roommate and her daughter. July 18, 1990, is when Wikipedia says he played Ames, setting an Iowa record for concert attendance at the time. I’m not sure that is right, because that means that daughter Stacey was born, but only 3 years old. She attended with me on Monday night and she is now 38.
When I saw him at Wrigley Field on July 31, 2011, he was far away. It was his “On the Run” tour. The fourth time was at the Civic Center in Moline (the Mark of the Quad Cities,) on June 11, 2019. I know it was then called the Taxslayer Center, but it will always be known as the Mark of the Quad Cities to me. That entire concert was ruined by a drunk girl who insisted on trying to claim a seat in our row when her ticket was far, far away. I missed the entire fire-filled finale of “Live and Let Die,” so I was glad that it was incorporated into this show again (but not as the finale.) At the Monday show there were 6 encores, which were much appreciated by the assembled fans.
ME, @ THE MARSHALL FIELDS WALNUT ROOM PRIOR TO THE SHOW
It was truly a great show. Maybe not as historical as that day I suggested we cut class and drive up from Berkeley via motorcycle in 1965 to see the Beatles, but close. I don’t know if I can post any of the videos. If anyone has any advice there, the only way I know how to do it is to upload it to YouTube, which has become very finicky about a 30 second clip being the intellectual property of the group and, therefore, not to be posted. They actually threatened me over a 30 second snippet of Bryan Adam’s Candle in the Wind tour or whatever it was called. (“Summer of ’69”). Definitely dimmed my Bryan Adams fan-ship.
I haven’t posted since, but that particular song (“Summer of ’69”) was available elsewhere on the web and I used one of him in much younger days.
Paul was soooooooooooooooooo much better!
