Paul McCartney has performed The Beatles track ‘Now And Then’ live for the first time. Check out footage of the rendition below.
The music legend introduced the song to his set as he played live at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay last night (October 1). The performance marked the opening night of his ‘Got Back’ tour, which is set to continue across South America, the UK and Europe over the coming weeks.
Hints that the Beatles icon would be breaking out the track for the first night of the tour emerged earlier this week, when fans spotted McCartney playing the song during a soundcheck on Monday (September 31).
Arriving in November 2023, ‘Now And Then’ was released as the “final” song to be shared from the Liverpool four-piece. It was made with the help of AI technology, and the last track to include all members: McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison and John Lennon.
At the show in Uruguay last night, the song appeared as the 19th in the huge 37-track setlist, being played after ‘Here Today’ – which Macca dedicated to his late bandmate John Lennon. The singer, songwriter and bassist played the AI-assisted song sitting by a piano, while footage from the Peter Jackson-directed music video played on the screen behind him. Check it out below.
Other highlights during the opening night of the ‘Got Back’ tour included a rendition of ‘My Valentine’ dedicated to his wife Nancy Shevell, a rendition of ‘In Spite Of All The Danger’ by The Quarrymen (the band that would later evolve into The Beatles), ‘Something’ being dedicated to George Harrison, and ‘I’ve Got a Feeling’ being performed as a virtual duet with Lennon.
The remainder of the set consisted of the biggest hits from The Beatles, Wings and McCartney’s solo career. The night started with a performance of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, and concluded with The Beatles’ 1969 ‘Abbey Road’ track ‘The End’. Find the full setlist below, as well as more footage from the night.
Paul McCartney’s Uruguay setlist was:
‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (The Beatles song)
‘Junior’s Farm’ (Wings song)
‘Letting Go’ (Wings song)
‘She’s a Woman’ (The Beatles song)
‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ (The Beatles song)
‘Come On to Me’
‘Let Me Roll It’ (Wings song)’Getting Better’ (The Beatles song)
‘Let ‘Em In’ (Wings song)
‘My Valentine’ (dedicated to Nancy Shevell)
‘Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five’ (Wings song)
‘Maybe I’m Amazed’
‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ (The Beatles song)
‘In Spite of All the Danger’ (The Quarrymen song)
‘Love Me Do’ (The Beatles song)
‘Dance Tonight’
‘Blackbird’ (The Beatles song)
‘Here Today’ (dedicated to John Lennon)
‘Now and Then’ (The Beatles song) (live debut)
‘New’
‘Lady Madonna’ (The Beatles song)
‘Jet’ (Wings song)
‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!’ (The Beatles song)
‘Something’ (The Beatles song) (dedicated to George Harrison)
‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ (The Beatles song)
‘Band on the Run’ (Wings song)
‘Get Back’ (The Beatles song)
‘Let It Be’ (The Beatles song)
‘Live and Let Die’ (Wings song)
‘Hey Jude’ (The Beatles song)
‘I’ve Got a Feeling’ (The Beatles song as a virtual duet with John Lennon from The Beatles’ rooftop concert)
‘Birthday’ (The Beatles song)
‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’ (The Beatles song)
‘Helter Skelter’ (The Beatles song)
‘Golden Slumbers’ (The Beatles song)
‘Carry That Weight’ (The Beatles song)
‘The End’ (The Beatles song)
‘Now And Then’ stemmed from a demo tape recorded by late bandmate John Lennon and was completed with the help of AI – which lifted the songwriter’s vocals off the initial recording and allowed the surviving members to work with them.
After first sharing details of the song, both McCartney and Starr teased the upcoming project for months. This included the latter revealing that he thought the project was “beautiful”, and later admitting that working on the single was “like having John Lennon back”. They’d build more hype for the single by posting images of a cassette tape across social media and internet as well as creating projections across Liverpool.
A 12-minute film about the song was also broadcast as part of a series of programmes on the BBC to celebrate the legacy of The Beatles.
In the video, McCartney recalled how Lennon first wrote and recorded a demo of ‘Now And Then’ in his New York City home in the late ’70s – featuring just his piano and vocals. Following his death, his wife Yoko Ono would later give the recording to McCartney, George Harrison and Starr in 1994, along with the demos for ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’.The latter two were both released as ‘new’ Beatles tracks in the mid-’90s as part of The Beatles ‘Anthology’ project.
The surviving members – alongside producer Jeff Lynne – also recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for ‘Now And Then’, but the project was ultimately put on hold as “technological limitations” meant that Lennon’s vocals and piano were not able to be separated for a clear enough mix.
“It took almost a quarter of a century for us to wait until the right moment to tackle ‘Now And Then’ again,” McCartney stated in the video, explaining that working with Peter Jackson on 2021’s Get Back docu-series made him want to revisit the track and try again.
Around the same time, The Beatles released expanded editions of ‘1962-1966 (The Red Album)’ and ‘1967-1970 (The Blue Album)’, mixed in stereo and Dolby, and NME headed down to the Apple Corps London HQ to find out more about the making of the new single.
McCartney is due to arrive home on UK shores this December, which will include two shows in Manchester and two in London. You can purchase any remaining tickets here.
In other Beatles news, a new documentary titled 1964 is coming to Apple TV+ this year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the group conquering the United States.