Paul McCartney live: Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast – 4 November 2023

Saturday, 4 November 2023 · Paul McCartney · Live performance · Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia · By Beatles Fabdom

Paul McCartney performed at Heritage Bank Stadium on the Gold Coast on 4 November 2023, closing the Australian leg of his Got Back tour. It was his first concert in the city and followed the Brisbane performance at Suncorp Stadium on 1 November.

The seven-show Australian visit had begun in Adelaide on 18 October and continued through Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane. The Gold Coast finale brought together Beatles songs, Wings recordings and solo material, from the Quarrymen’s “In Spite of All the Danger” to songs from Egypt Station.

The tour had also included McCartney’s first Newcastle concert on 24 October and two Sydney stadium dates, including 27 October at Allianz Stadium.

The Australian tour reaches its final night

McCartney’s 2023 Australian dates were his first in the country since December 2017. The route included both established destinations and the two new concert cities, Newcastle and the Gold Coast. At Carrara, the stadium provided the setting for the final Australian performance before the tour moved to Mexico and Brazil.

Jessie Lynch’s review for The Music reported a multigenerational audience of around 30,000. The programme opened with “Can’t Buy Me Love”, followed by “Junior’s Farm” and “Letting Go”, moving immediately between the Beatles and Wings catalogues.

The closing Australian show took place two days after the release of the Beatles’ final single, “Now and Then”. The Gold Coast concert retained the established Got Back programme, including the on-screen John Lennon duet during the encore.

Suncoast Christian College visits the soundcheck

Before the evening performance, McCartney met eight students and two teachers from Suncoast Christian College. Their Senior Band had won the national #GotBackToSchool competition with a performance of “Maybe I’m Amazed”.

The competition invited Australian schools to submit videos of pupils performing a McCartney song. The winning students were congratulated by Paul inside Heritage Bank Stadium and attended the afternoon soundcheck.

The visit is described in the official Australian tour diary. Pianist and vocalist Jacob Wiener described meeting his musical hero as the opportunity of a lifetime.

Soundcheck setlist

1. Instrumental jam
2. Matchbox
3. Drive My Car
4. Temporary Secretary
5. One After 909
6. Coming Up
7. C Moon
8. Let ’Em In
9. It’s So Easy!
10. From Me to You
11. Ram On
12. Midnight Special
13. Queenie Eye
14. Lady Madonna

McCartney’s band and the Hot City Horns

Wickens, Ray, Anderson and Laboriel formed McCartney’s long-established core touring band. Fenton, Davis and Burton supplied the Hot City Horns, extending the brass arrangements within the stadium programme.

Concert setlist

1. Can’t Buy Me Love
2. Junior’s Farm
3. Letting Go
4. She’s a Woman
5. Got to Get You into My Life
6. Come On to Me
7. Let Me Roll It
8. Getting Better
9. Let ’Em In
10. My Valentine
11. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
12. Maybe I’m Amazed
13. I’ve Just Seen a Face
14. In Spite of All the Danger
15. Love Me Do
16. Dance Tonight
17. Blackbird
18. Here Today
19. New
20. Lady Madonna
21. Fuh You
22. You Never Give Me Your Money
23. She Came In Through the Bathroom Window
24. Jet
25. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
26. Something
27. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
28. Band on the Run
29. Get Back
30. Let It Be
31. Live and Let Die
32. Hey Jude

Encore

33. I’ve Got a Feeling — with John Lennon on screen
34. Birthday
35. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
36. Helter Skelter
37. Golden Slumbers
38. Carry That Weight
39. The End

From the Quarrymen to Wings and solo recordings

“In Spite of All the Danger” reached back to the Quarrymen’s early recording history. “Love Me Do”, “She’s a Woman” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” represented the Beatles’ early years, while “Getting Better”, “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” and the Abbey Road selections took the programme through their later studio work.

The pairing of “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” came before “Jet” at this show. The encore concluded with the separate final Abbey Road sequence, “Golden Slumbers”, “Carry That Weight” and “The End”.

Wings material included “Junior’s Farm”, “Letting Go”, “Let ’Em In”, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five”, “Jet”, “Band on the Run” and “Live and Let Die”. Solo selections included “Maybe I’m Amazed”, “My Valentine”, “Dance Tonight”, “New”, “Come On to Me” and “Fuh You”.

Remembering John Lennon and George Harrison

“Here Today”, written after John Lennon’s death, provided a direct tribute to McCartney’s former bandmate. The Gold Coast review in The Music described Paul introducing the song by recalling how difficult it had been for the young Liverpool musicians to tell one another that they loved each other.

For “Something”, McCartney played the ukulele associated with his tribute to George Harrison. Later, the encore’s “I’ve Got a Feeling” paired the live band with Lennon’s filmed rooftop performance, continuing the virtual duet used on the Got Back tour.

Heritage Bank Stadium: the Carrara venue

The stadium stood at 296 Nerang–Broadbeach Road, Carrara, Queensland 4211. It was known as Heritage Bank Stadium at the time of the 2023 concert and is now called People First Stadium.

The venue is on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane. This concert was a separate date from McCartney’s Suncorp Stadium performance three days earlier.

Open the stadium in Google Maps.

Band on the Run merchandise

One of the evening’s Wings favourites is represented by our Paul McCartney Wings Band on the Run black T-shirt.

Got Back tour itinerary, 2022–2025

The tour began in Spokane in April 2022 and continued through Australia, Latin America, Europe and North America. Dates below follow the supplied tour chronology; the separate Brasília club appearance is identified alongside the 2023 stadium dates.

2022

• 28 April: Spokane Arena, Spokane, USA
• 2 May: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, USA
• 3 May: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, USA
• 6 May: Oakland Arena, Oakland, USA
• 8 May: Oakland Arena, Oakland, USA
• 13 May: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, USA
• 17 May: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, USA
• 21 May: Truist Field, Winston-Salem, USA
• 25 May: Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, USA
• 28 May: Camping World Stadium, Orlando, USA
• 31 May: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, USA
• 4 June: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, USA
• 7 June: Fenway Park, Boston, USA
• 8 June: Fenway Park, Boston, USA
• 12 June: Oriole Park, Baltimore, USA
• 16 June: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, USA
• 24 June: Cheese & Grain, Frome, England
• 25 June: Glastonbury Festival, England

2023

• 18 October: Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, Australia
• 21 October: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia
• 24 October: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, Australia
• 27 October: Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia
• 28 October: Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia
• 1 November: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia
• 4 November: Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast, Australia
• 14 November: Foro Sol, Mexico City, Mexico
• 16 November: Foro Sol, Mexico City, Mexico
• 28 November: Clube do Choro, Brasília, Brazil — separate intimate club appearance
• 30 November: Estádio Mané Garrincha, Brasília, Brazil
• 3 December: Arena MRV, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• 4 December: Arena MRV, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• 7 December: Allianz Parque, São Paulo, Brazil
• 9 December: Allianz Parque, São Paulo, Brazil
• 10 December: Allianz Parque, São Paulo, Brazil
• 13 December: Estádio Couto Pereira, Curitiba, Brazil
• 16 December: Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2024

• 1 October: Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay
• 5 October: River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 6 October: River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 11 October: Estadio Monumental, Santiago, Chile
• 15 October: Allianz Parque, São Paulo, Brazil
• 16 October: Allianz Parque, São Paulo, Brazil
• 19 October: Estádio da Ressacada, Florianópolis, Brazil
• 23 October: Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba, Argentina
• 27 October: Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru
• 1 November: Estadio El Campín, Bogotá, Colombia
• 5 November: Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica
• 8 November: Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe, Mexico
• 12 November: Estadio GNP Seguros, Mexico City, Mexico
• 14 November: Estadio GNP Seguros, Mexico City, Mexico
• 17 November: Corona Capital, Mexico City, Mexico
• 4 December: Paris La Défense Arena, Paris, France
• 5 December: Paris La Défense Arena, Paris, France
• 9 December: WiZink Center, Madrid, Spain
• 10 December: WiZink Center, Madrid, Spain
• 14 December: Co-op Live, Manchester, England
• 15 December: Co-op Live, Manchester, England
• 18 December: O2 Arena, London, England
• 19 December: O2 Arena, London, England

2025

• 26 September: Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, USA
• 29 September: Acrisure Arena, Palm Desert, USA
• 4 October: Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, USA
• 7 October: Isleta Amphitheater, Albuquerque, USA
• 11 October: Coors Field, Denver, USA
• 14 October: Casey’s Center, Des Moines, USA
• 17 October: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, USA
• 22 October: BOK Center, Tulsa, USA
• 25 October: Alamodome, San Antonio, USA
• 29 October: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, USA
• 2 November: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, USA
• 3 November: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, USA
• 6 November: The Pinnacle, Nashville, USA
• 8 November: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, USA
• 11 November: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, USA
• 14 November: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, USA
• 17 November: Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada
• 18 November: Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada
• 21 November: TD Coliseum, Hamilton, Canada
• 24 November: United Center, Chicago, USA
• 25 November: United Center, Chicago, USA

Frequently asked questions

When did Paul McCartney first play the Gold Coast?

His first Gold Coast concert was on 4 November 2023 at Heritage Bank Stadium.

Was this the final Australian Got Back show of 2023?

Yes. It was the seventh and final Australian performance, following Brisbane on 1 November.

Which school band met Paul at soundcheck?

Suncoast Christian College’s Senior Band won the #GotBackToSchool competition with “Maybe I’m Amazed”. Eight students and two teachers attended the Gold Coast soundcheck and met him.

Who played in the band?

Paul was joined by Paul Wickens, Brian Ray, Rusty Anderson and Abe Laboriel Jr, plus Hot City Horns musicians Kenji Fenton, Mike Davis and Paul Burton.

How did the concert end?

The encore included the on-screen John Lennon duet on “I’ve Got a Feeling” and ended with “Golden Slumbers”, “Carry That Weight” and “The End”.

What is Heritage Bank Stadium called now?

The Carrara venue is now known as People First Stadium, at 296 Nerang–Broadbeach Road.