The Paul McCartney World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by Paul McCartney, notable for being McCartney's first tour under his own name, and for the monumental painted stage sets by artist Brian Clarke. The 103-gig tour, which ran from 1989 through 1990, included a concert played to what was then the largest stadium crowd in the history of rock and roll.

Tour The tour was Paul McCartney's first world tour under his own name; it was also his first major tour outing in ten years, following the Wings UK Tour 1979, and his first world tour since the 1976 Wings Over the World Tour , both also with Linda McCartney.

While the tour coincided with the release of the solo album Flowers in the Dirt, and promoted that record by inclusion of its songs in the set list, the Paul McCartney World Tour has been characterised as thematically more about him embracing his Beatles past; for the first time in any of his tours, a substantial number of Beatles songs were featured in the set list.

The tour was documented by the 1990 live albums Tripping the Live Fantastic and Tripping the Live Fantastic: Highlights!, and the 1991 concert film Get Back. A one-hour tour documentary was also aired on Channel 4 in the UK, titled From Rio to Liverpool.

Set designs The sets for the tour were designed by regular McCartney collaborator, the artist Brian Clarke, who together with Linda McCartney created the album cover for Flowers in the Dirt. The hand-painted stage set backdrops, notable for their scale, were executed under Clarke’s supervision by the scenic painters Elms Lesters, at the Los Angeles Painting Rooms. The scale designs for the tour, individual artworks by Clarke in acrylic and paper collage on Velin, were first publicly exhibited in 1990, at the Mayor Gallery in London. Elements from the sets appear as the graphic basis of much of the promotional material.

Tour booklet Concert attendees received, free of additional charge, a lavish 9x12-inch 98-me page booklet, containing the tour itinerary, lengthy profiles of the band members, descriptions of the tour's stage and logistics, and an extended description of Friends of the Earth's mission. Two-thirds of the booklet consisted of McCartney's reflections upon his life and career, illustrated by many photographs.

Set list The following set list is from the September 28, 1989 concert in Scandinavium, Gothenburg. It is not intended to represent all dates throughout the tour.

"Figure of Eight" "Jet" "Rough Ride" "Got to Get You into My Life" "Band on the Run" "Ebony and Ivory" "We Got Married" "Maybe I'm Amazed" "The Long and Winding Road" "The Fool on the Hill" "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" "Good Day Sunshine" "Can't Buy Me Love" "Put It There" "Things We Said Today" "Eleanor Rigby" "This One" "My Brave Face" "Back in the U.S.S.R." "I Saw Her Standing There" "Twenty Flight Rock" "Coming Up" "Let It Be" "Ain't That a Shame" "Live and Let Die" "Hey Jude" Encore "Yesterday" "Get Back" "Golden Slumbers" "Carry That Weight" "The End"

Tour dates + List of 1989 concerts Date City Country Venue 26 September Drammen Norway Drammenshallen 28 September Gothenburg Sweden Scandinavium 29 SeptemberStockholmIsstadion 30 September 3 OctoberHamburgWest GermanyAlsterdorfer Sporthalle 4 October 6 OctoberFrankfurtFesthalle 7 October 9 OctoberParisFrancePalais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy 10 October 11 October 16 OctoberDortmundWest GermanyWestfalenhalle 17 October 20 OctoberMunichOlympiahalle 21 October 22 October 24 October Rome Italy Palaeur 26 OctoberMilanPalatrussardi 27 October 29 OctoberZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadion 30 October 2 NovemberMadridSpainPalacio de los Deportes 3 November 5 November Lyon France Halle Tony Garnier 7 NovemberRotterdamNetherlandsRotterdam Ahoy 8 November 10 November 11 November 23 NovemberInglewoodUnited StatesGreat Western Forum 24 November 27 November 28 November 29 November 3 DecemberRosemontRosemont Horizon 4 December 5 December 7 December TorontoCanada SkyDome 9 December Montreal Montreal Forum 11 DecemberNew York CityUnited StatesMadison Square Garden 12 December 14 December 15 December

+ List of 1990 concerts Date City Country Venue 2 JanuaryBirminghamEnglandNational Exhibition Centre 3 January 5 January 6 January 8 January 9 January 11 JanuaryLondonWembley Arena 13 January 14 January 16 January 17 January 19 January 20 January 21 January 23 January 24 January 26 January1 FebruaryAuburn HillsUnited StatesThe Palace of Auburn Hills2 February4 FebruaryPittsburghCivic Arena5 February8 FebruaryWorcesterWorcester Centrum9 February12 FebruaryCincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum14 FebruaryIndianapolisMarket Square Arena15 February18 FebruaryAtlantaThe Omni19 February 3 MarchTokyoJapan Tokyo Dome 5 March 7 March 9 March 11 March 13 March 29 March SeattleUnited States Kingdome 31 MarchBerkeleyCalifornia Memorial Stadium 1 April 4 April Tempe Sun Devil Stadium 7 April Irving Texas Stadium 9 April Lexington Rupp Arena 12 April Tampa Tampa Stadium 14 AprilMiami GardensJoe Robbie Stadium 15 April 20 AprilRio de JaneiroBrazilMaracanã Stadium 21 April 23 June Glasgow Scotland S.E.C.C. Arena 28 June LiverpoolEngland King's Dock 30 June Stevenage Knebworth Park 4 JulyWashington, D.C.United StatesRFK Stadium 6 July 9 JulyEast RutherfordGiants Stadium 11 July 14 JulyPhiladelphiaVeterans Stadium 15 July 18 July Ames Cyclone Stadium 20 July Cleveland Cleveland Stadium 22 July Raleigh Carter–Finley Stadium 24 JulyFoxboroughFoxboro Stadium 26 July 29 July Chicago Soldier Field

Box office score data VenueCityTickets sold / availableGross revenueThe Palace of Auburn HillsAuburn Hills35,294 / 35,294$1,005,879Civic ArenaPittsburgh 29,365 / 29,365$836,903Worcester CentrumWorcester29,600 / 29,600$728,545Riverfront ColiseumCincinnati14,545 / 14,545$414,533Market Square ArenaIndianapolis30,650 / 30,650$873,525The OmniAtlanta29,784 / 29,784$848,844California Memorial StadiumBerkeley118,352 / 118,352$3,550,560Sun Devil StadiumTempe66,546 / 66,546$1,996,380Texas StadiumIrving57,337 / 57,337$1,863,453Rupp ArenaLexington19,951 / 19,951$568,604Tampa StadiumTampa58,241 / 58,241$1,747,230Joe Robbie StadiumMiami Gardens95,410 / 95,410$2,862,300RFK StadiumWashington, D.C.91,892 / 91,892$2,756,760Giants StadiumEast Rutherford105,082 / 105,082$3,415,165Veterans StadiumPhiladelphia102,695 / 102,695$3,107,980Cyclone StadiumAmes53,763 / 53,763$1,747,298Cleveland StadiumCleveland66,476 / 66,476$1,994,280Carter–Finley StadiumRaleigh51,260 / 51,260$1,537,800Foxboro StadiumFoxborough85,938 / 85,938$2,578,110Soldier FieldChicago55,630 / 55,630$1,807,975Total1,197,811 / 1,197,811(100%)$36,242,124

Personnel

Paul McCartney – lead vocals, guitars (acoustic, electric and bass), keyboards Linda McCartney – backing vocals, keyboards, percussion Hamish Stuart – backing vocals, guitars (acoustic, electric and bass) Robbie McIntosh – backing vocals, electric guitar Paul "Wix" Wickens – backing vocals, keyboards Chris Whitten – drums, percussion

See also List of most-attended concerts

References