Watch Paul McCartney play The Beatles’ ‘Help!’ for the first time in 35 years

Paul McCartney has played The Beatles classic ‘Help!’ for the first time in 35 years – check out footage below.

The music legend is kicking off the North American leg of his ‘Got Back’ tour on Monday (September 29) in Palm Desert, California, and to warm up for the shows, he played a one-off show at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Friday (September 26).

To kick off the show, McCartney dipped into his vast back catalogue and played the vintage 1965 single ‘Help!’, the first time it has made a Macca playlist since 1990. The bulk of the rest of the setlist reflected the shows he has played in recent years, and it remains to be seen if he has plans to incorporate other new songs in the coming shows.

Watch fan-captured footage of the soundcheck of ‘Help!’ here, alongside footage of the last time he played it, as part of a montage of John Lennon songs in Chicago in July 1990:

Paul McCartney abrió con Help! en la vuelta de Got Back 🔙 Setlist completo de una noche memorable https://t.co/RkVEU1nMKc pic.twitter.com/Nw7NY65pct

— Calico Skies Radio | McCartney 👐🏻 (@calicoradio) September 27, 2025

Paul McCartney’s setlist at the Santa Barbara Bowl: 

‘Help!’ 
‘Coming Up’ 
‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ 
‘Let Me Roll It’ 
‘Getting Better’ 
‘Let ‘Em In’ 
‘My Valentine’ 
‘Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five’ 
‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’ 
‘Love Me Do’ 
‘Dance Tonight’ 
‘Blackbird’ 
‘Now And Then’ 
‘Lady Madonna’ 
‘Jet’ 
‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ 
‘Get Back’ 
‘Let It Be’ 
‘Live And Let Die’ 
‘Hey Jude’ 
‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ 
‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’ 
‘Helter Skelter’ 
‘Golden Slumbers’ 
‘Carry That Weight’ 
‘The End’ 

Elsewhere, McCartney recently took in one of Oasis’ comeback shows in Los Angeles’ Rose Bowl Stadium, alongside other famous names such as Billie Eilish, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kristen Stewart and Metallica’s James Hetfield.

McCartney was also one of several big names to recently urge Keir Starmer to protect the work of creatives against attempts from AI firms to avoid revealing the copyrighted material they have used in their systems.

There is also a definitive anthology collection coming from Wings on November 7, personally overseen by McCartney. ‘WINGS’ will be available on an array of formats and you can explore them here.

Meanwhile, the story of McCartney’s long-lost bass guitar – which went missing in 1972 and was returned to him last year – is set to be told in an upcoming documentary.