Paul McCartney live: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas – 26 October 2002

26 October 2002 | Paul McCartney | Live concerts | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

On Saturday 26 October 2002, Paul McCartney performed at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The concert was the 48th date in the 58-show Driving World Tour itinerary and belonged to the autumn American leg commonly called Back in the U.S.

This was McCartney’s third MGM Grand concert of 2002, following performances on 5 and 6 April. It was not the second of two consecutive October nights in Las Vegas: the previous evening’s show was at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim. The autumn return brought material from Driving Rain together with Beatles and Wings classics, plus deeply personal tributes to John Lennon and George Harrison.

A return to Las Vegas during the Back in the U.S. leg

The 2002 itinerary began in Oakland on 1 April and reached Las Vegas within its opening week. After the two spring MGM Grand performances, McCartney continued through North America before taking a summer break from this tour. The autumn run began in Milwaukee on 21 September and worked its way back to the western United States.

By late October, the band had played Portland, Tacoma, Sacramento, San Jose and Anaheim. Las Vegas followed on 26 October, with Los Angeles and Phoenix completing the American section before Mexico City and Japan. The return to the MGM Grand was therefore part of the tour’s later development rather than a continuation of the April engagement.

For the immediately preceding concert, see Anaheim on 25 October. The complete itinerary below keeps the spring and autumn legs distinct while retaining every played date.

The five-piece band behind McCartney’s 2002 return

The Driving World Tour introduced the core five-piece lineup that became central to McCartney’s later concert career. Alongside Paul were a long-standing keyboard collaborator and three musicians whose guitar, bass, drum and vocal contributions gave the new band its identity.

• Paul McCartney: lead vocals, bass guitar, guitar and piano, moving between full-band performances and quieter acoustic or keyboard passages.
• Paul “Wix” Wickens: keyboards and vocals, with additional guitar, percussion and harmonica roles. He provided continuity with McCartney’s earlier touring bands.
• Rusty Anderson: guitar and vocals, supplying a substantial part of the electric-guitar sound.
• Brian Ray: guitar, bass and vocals, allowing the arrangements to change as McCartney switched instruments.
• Abe Laboriel Jr.: drums and vocals, anchoring the full-band sections.

The official notes for Back in the U.S. identify this band and describe the 2002 tour as McCartney’s first full tour in nearly a decade. Its combination of musical range and a compact lineup helped connect the new album with songs from much earlier periods.

Driving Rain songs among Beatles and Wings favourites

The evening opened with Hello, Goodbye, followed by Jet and All My Loving. This opening established the show’s movement between Beatles and Wings material before Getting Better and Coming Up led towards the contemporary songs.

Lonely Road, Driving Rain and Your Loving Flame formed a sequence from the 2001 studio album. Later sections brought Blackbird, Every Night, Eleanor Rigby and Here, There and Everywhere into a programme that also found room for Let ’Em In and She’s Leaving Home. The result was not simply a greatest-hits sequence from one band or decade.

Band on the Run remained one of the central Wings selections. Fans of that album can explore the Wings Band on the Run T-shirt.

Here Today and Something: remembering John and George

Two consecutive selections gave the concert an especially personal dimension. Here Today was McCartney’s song for John Lennon, written after Lennon’s death. Something honoured George Harrison and his affection for the ukulele.

In a November 2002 interview, McCartney explained that thinking of Harrison immediately brought the ukulele to mind, recalling occasions when they had played the instruments together. The same interview discussed Here Today as a way of expressing things he had not said directly to Lennon. These accounts explain the tributes within the tour without needing to invent a Las Vegas-specific speech or quotation.

The placement of these songs between the acoustic material and later full-band favourites gave remembrance a place within the career-spanning programme. My Love, also in the set, connected the evening with McCartney’s Wings years and his musical partnership with Linda.

Concert setlist: MGM Grand Garden Arena, 26 October 2002

The documented sequence contains 36 listed musical entries, divided into the main set and two encores. Carry That Weight appears as a passage within You Never Give Me Your Money, rather than being counted here as a separate full-length performance.

1. Hello, Goodbye
2. Jet
3. All My Loving
4. Getting Better
5. Coming Up
6. Let Me Roll It
7. Lonely Road
8. Driving Rain
9. Your Loving Flame
10. Blackbird
11. Every Night
12. We Can Work It Out
13. You Never Give Me Your Money (including a Carry That Weight passage)
14. The Fool on the Hill
15. Here Today
16. Something
17. Eleanor Rigby
18. Here, There and Everywhere
19. Michelle
20. Band on the Run
21. Back in the U.S.S.R.
22. Maybe I’m Amazed
23. Let ’Em In
24. My Love
25. She’s Leaving Home
26. Can’t Buy Me Love
27. Freedom
28. Live and Let Die
29. Let It Be
30. Hey Jude

First encore

31. The Long and Winding Road
32. Lady Madonna
33. I Saw Her Standing There

Second encore

34. Yesterday
35. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
36. The End

The concert and the Back in the U.S. live album

Back in the U.S. was released on 26 November 2002 and presented highlights from McCartney’s American touring that year. Its repertoire overlaps heavily with the Las Vegas concert, but the album is a tour compilation, not a complete recording of this one MGM Grand show.

That distinction matters when comparing tracklists. A song’s presence on the album does not establish that its released recording came from Las Vegas on 26 October, and the album sequence should not replace the documented concert running order. This article follows the date-specific concert list above.

MGM Grand Garden Arena: concert location

The MGM Grand Garden Arena is part of the MGM Grand complex on the Las Vegas Strip. McCartney returned to the venue on later tours; our account of 10 June 2011 provides another point in its history as a McCartney concert venue.

Complete Driving World Tour itinerary, 2002

The following itinerary contains all 58 performed dates, from Oakland on 1 April to Osaka on 18 November. It spans the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan. Existing Beatles Fabdom concert articles are linked; unlinked dates remain listed so that the chronology is not restricted to our current article coverage. The cancelled Australian booking is identified separately after the performed dates.

Spring North American leg: Driving USA

1. 1 April 2002: Oakland Arena, Oakland, USA
2. 3 April 2002: HP Pavilion, San Jose, USA
3. 5 April 2002: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, USA
4. 6 April 2002: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, USA
5. 10 April 2002: United Center, Chicago, USA
6. 11 April 2002: United Center, Chicago, USA
7. 13 April 2002: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada
8. 16 April 2002: First Union Center, Philadelphia, USA
9. 17 April 2002: Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, USA
10. 19 April 2002: FleetCenter, Boston, USA
11. 21 April 2002: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, USA
12. 23 April 2002: MCI Center, Washington, DC, USA
13. 24 April 2002: MCI Center, Washington, DC, USA
14. 26 April 2002: Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA
15. 27 April 2002: Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA
16. 29 April 2002: Gund Arena, Cleveland, USA
17. 1 May 2002: The Palace, Auburn Hills, USA
18. 4 May 2002: Staples Center, Los Angeles, USA
19. 5 May 2002: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, USA
20. 7 May 2002: Pepsi Center, Denver, USA
21. 9 May 2002: Reunion Arena, Dallas, USA
22. 10 May 2002: Reunion Arena, Dallas, USA
23. 12 May 2002: Philips Arena, Atlanta, USA
24. 13 May 2002: Philips Arena, Atlanta, USA
25. 15 May 2002: Ice Palace, Tampa, USA
26. 17 May 2002: National Car Rental Center, Sunrise, USA
27. 18 May 2002: National Car Rental Center, Sunrise, USA

Autumn American leg: Back in the U.S.

28. 21 September 2002: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, USA
29. 23 September 2002: Xcel Energy Center, St Paul, USA
30. 24 September 2002: United Center, Chicago, USA
31. 27 September 2002: Civic Center, Hartford, USA
32. 28 September 2002: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, USA
33. 30 September 2002: FleetCenter, Boston, USA
34. 1 October 2002: FleetCenter, Boston, USA
35. 4 October 2002: Gund Arena, Cleveland, USA
36. 5 October 2002: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, USA
37. 7 October 2002: RBC Center, Raleigh, USA
38. 9 October 2002: Savvis Center, St Louis, USA
39. 10 October 2002: Value City Arena, Columbus, USA
40. 12 October 2002: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, USA
41. 13 October 2002: Compaq Center, Houston, USA
42. 15 October 2002: Ford Center, Oklahoma City, USA
43. 18 October 2002: Rose Garden, Portland, USA
44. 19 October 2002: Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, USA
45. 21 October 2002: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, USA
46. 22 October 2002: HP Pavilion, San Jose, USA
47. 25 October 2002: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, USA
48. 26 October 2002: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, USA, this article
49. 28 October 2002: Staples Center, Los Angeles, USA
50. 29 October 2002: America West Arena, Phoenix, USA

Mexico

51. 2 November 2002: Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City, Mexico
52. 3 November 2002: Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City, Mexico
53. 5 November 2002: Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City, Mexico

Japan

54. 11 November 2002: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
55. 13 November 2002: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
56. 14 November 2002: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
57. 17 November 2002: Osaka Dome, Osaka, Japan
58. 18 November 2002: Osaka Dome, Osaka, Japan

Cancelled Australian booking, not counted above

23 November 2002: Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Australia, cancelled. The planned Australian finale did not take place. Contemporary reports on 28 October explained that McCartney had called off the concert out of respect for those affected by the Bali bombing. It is not included among the 58 performed dates or counted as a fifth country visited by the completed tour.

Explore more McCartney concerts

Follow this tour back to Chicago on 10 April 2002, compare the spring Tampa concert, or continue with the previous night in Anaheim. The Paul McCartney artist hub brings together more of his music and history.

For an artist-focused merchandise option, browse the McCartney Photo T-shirt.

Frequently asked questions

Where did Paul McCartney perform on 26 October 2002?

He performed at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the autumn Back in the U.S. leg of the Driving World Tour.

Was this McCartney’s first Las Vegas concert of 2002?

No. He had already played the MGM Grand Garden Arena on 5 and 6 April. The 26 October show was his third concert at the venue that year; the previous night’s concert was in Anaheim.

Who was in Paul McCartney’s band in Las Vegas?

The five-piece band comprised Paul McCartney, Paul “Wix” Wickens, Rusty Anderson, Brian Ray and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.

Which songs honoured John Lennon and George Harrison?

Here Today was McCartney’s tribute to John Lennon. Something honoured George Harrison and was performed on ukulele during the 2002 tour.

How did the Las Vegas concert end?

The first encore contained The Long and Winding Road, Lady Madonna and I Saw Her Standing There. The second contained Yesterday, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) and The End.

How many dates were on the Driving World Tour?

The completed 2002 itinerary contained 58 performed dates across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan. The planned 23 November Melbourne concert was cancelled and is not included in that total.

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