When it comes to Paul McCartney’s concert at the newly opened Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2013, there’s only one way to describe it—it was phenomenal. The show lasted nearly three hours and featured 38 classic Beatles songs without a single dull moment. According to the audience, it was one of the best concerts, not just in terms of song performances but also musicianship.
Paul amazed everyone right from the start, including a tribute to Jimi Hendrix, a cover of the fantastic Wings song Foxey Lady – Let Me Roll It. He then moved to the piano and played a song for his new wife, Nancy Shevell, from his latest album. Remaining at the piano, he performed The Long & Winding Road and Maybe I’m Amazed. Read more about Paul McCartney’s visit to Brooklyn in 2013, when he performed at Barclays Center, on brooklyn-trend.com.
First-Ever Performance in Brooklyn
Around 16,000 fans gathered at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on that Saturday evening, already having a good idea of what to expect over the next few hours. Judging by their vintage T-shirts and receding hairlines, many had seen him perform before, attending his concerts in other venues and cities. They knew it was only a matter of time before they swayed in unison to Hey Jude, felt the heat from Live and Let Die, and sang along at the top of their lungs during Band on the Run.
For the past eleven years, Paul McCartney had been touring extensively with the same four-member band, turning these moments into rituals at his concerts. But that didn’t mean the show was predictable. It was almost impossible to feel anything but excitement while watching McCartney perform some of the greatest rock songs ever written. Plus, he always tried to add a few surprises to each performance.
Although this was McCartney’s first time performing in Brooklyn, he had played in New York before. The Beatles first landed in the Big Apple on February 7, 1964, with the entire legendary Liverpool quartet. Many Brooklynites had witnessed the early days of the “British Invasion,” when rock bands from distant British shores took America by storm, unlike any subsequent generation.
The Beatles in New York
If you saw that invasion—even just on television—then everything that followed would have seemed very familiar. But if you weren’t there or weren’t even born yet, this is a story worth retelling, especially because, despite the passage of time, it still echoes through the city.
The crowd outside the Plaza Hotel was enormous, but John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were already used to such mass hysteria. Earlier that day, an equally large crowd had greeted them upon their arrival in New York. The moment marked the beginning of a new era, emphasized by the fact that even the airport had been renamed.
Just over two months earlier, in Dallas, John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, and by Christmas 1963, what was previously known as Idlewild Airport was renamed in honor of the late president. Here, the band held a chaotic press conference—relaxed but visibly surprised by the sea of microphones and barrage of questions thrown at them. Lennon ran his hands through his hair, while Harrison leaned forward and wryly remarked, “Let the feast begin.”
Although the airport crowd of 5,000 fans had dwindled to a more manageable 600 by the time the Beatles reached the Plaza Hotel, they still needed a police escort of 50 officers to make it to Manhattan. Brooklyn, however, was not on their itinerary. The Beatles played a couple of concerts at Carnegie Hall, the Midtown Manhattan music temple, accompanied by a classical orchestra.
Out There Tour 2013
Fast forward to Paul McCartney’s solo concert—it was his first time performing in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, and he absolutely rocked the house. There are no words grand enough to describe the show. He performed at least six or seven songs he had never played live before Out There Tour in 2013.
Although the show got off to a slow start—with a DJ playing an extended set of remixed Beatles and McCartney songs before a collage of vintage photographs began scrolling on two large screens—the moment McCartney and his band finally took the stage, the audience roared with excitement.
All was forgiven when he played the opening notes of Eight Days a Week. Hard to believe, but until this tour, he had never performed this song live, not even with The Beatles. That set the tone for the entire night. With no new album to promote, Paul had plenty of time to dig into his archives.
Both the audio and visual pre-show elements were largely new, and the lighting effects were absolutely top-notch. Paul and his band stepped onto the stage at 8:50 PM to thunderous applause, mixing in nearly three dozen songs from The Beatles, Wings, and his solo career. He finished performing at approximately 11:30 PM.
A Night of Tributes and Timeless Classics
The final segment of the concert followed a familiar script, particularly for those who had been following McCartney’s performances for the past decade. It included a series of heartfelt dedications—Maybe I’m Amazed to Linda McCartney, Here Today to John Lennon, Something (accompanied by a ukulele) to George Harrison, My Valentine to his wife Nancy Shevell, and Another Day to Phil Ramone, who had recently passed away at the time.
Of course, there were also songs that Paul simply couldn’t leave out of any concert. It’s nearly impossible to count how many times he has sung Blackbird, Lady Madonna, We Can Work It Out, and Let It Be. Yet he still sings them with genuine passion, and even something as widely performed as Yesterday remains deeply moving in his voice. There’s a certain irony—McCartney wrote Yesterday at 22, but it carries even more emotional weight when he sings it, a song about loss and longing, at 70.
Paul McCartney’s Photo Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum
Beyond the concert, there was another unique collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum. It turns out that Sir Paul McCartney is quite skilled with a camera, particularly his Pentax. As a result, McCartney and the Brooklyn Museum have been showcasing over 250 personal photographs capturing the intensity of life on tour, as well as quiet moments unseen by millions of fans, in the exhibition Paul McCartney’s Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm.
The exhibition offers a new perspective on the demands of touring, the constant media attention, and the experiences of McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, and Starr during a transformative era in their lives.
One of the highlights is a gallery dedicated to The Beatles’ first arrival in New York in 1964. It’s incredibly cool not only to see the city as it was then—with its massive yellow taxis and a less crowded skyline—but also to view New York through Paul McCartney’s eyes: from the windows of cars, looking out at the frenzy of fans, and witnessing the city’s undying love for The Beatles and their music.
