There are artists and there are icons. And then there’s Paul McCartney.
August 19, 2009 || An ageless Paul McCartney performed at Cowboys Stadium as the final stop on his “Summer Live ’09” tour. With a sold-out crowd of nearly 36,000 people attending, it was a relatively intimate show. Well, as intimate as you can get in a humongous stadium able to hold 100,000 people reconfigured for “smaller” shows.
The rapturous crowd enjoyed a two-and-a-half-hour show consisting of iconic nostalgia from McCartney’s extensive catalog, including favorites from The Beatles, his band Wings, and his solo career. Highlights surely included “Drive My Car,” “The Long and Winding Road,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “Let It Be,” “Live And Let Die,” “Yesterday,” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” among countless others. The band also covered “It’s So Easy” by Texas-born Buddy Holly, a major influence on the Beatles, with it being the first time McCartney performed the song live.
Photo Credit: Paul Ridenour
While this was McCartney’s first time playing in Arlington, he had previously performed several times in Dallas and Fort Worth, including once with The Beatles in 1964. He returned to Arlington in 2019 to perform at Globe Life Park.
The concert marked the first time two major events happened simultaneously in Arlington’s Entertainment District, as the Texas Rangers also had a game that night.
It was the third concert at the new stadium, with previous performances by George Strait and the Jonas Brothers.
Paul McCartney
Cowboys Stadium—Arlington, Texas
August 19, 2009
Setlist (from Setlist.FM)
- Drive My Car
- Jet
- Only Mama Knows
- Flaming Pie
- Got to Get You Into My Life
- Let Me Roll It (with ‘Foxy Lady’ snippet)
- Highway
- The Long and Winding Road
- My Love
- Blackbird
- Here Today
- Dance Tonight
- Calico Skies
- It’s So Easy (Buddy Holly & The Crickets cover)
- Mrs. Vandebilt
- Eleanor Rigby
- Sing the Changes
- Band on the Run
- Back in the U.S.S.R.
- I’m Down
- Something
- I’ve Got a Feeling
- Paperback Writer
- A Day in the Life (with Give Peace a Chance snippet)
- Let It Be
- Live and Let Die
- Hey Jude
Encore #1:
- Day Tripper
- Lady Madonna
- I Saw Her Standing There
Encore 2:
- Yesterday
- Helter Skelter
- Get Back
- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
- The End
Ex-Beatle churns out the hits
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
August 20, 2009
Newspapers.com
Blog post by Jason S. Sullivan, 08-19-25
Jason S. Sullivan 