Paul McCartney Plays Two Intimate, Star-Studded Shows At Hollywood’s Fonda Theatre [Review/Photos]

For all the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there seemed to be at least as many schmoozing and singing along with Paul McCartney and his band—to classics from The Beatles, Wings, and Macca’s solo catalog—from the balcony VIP section inside The Fonda Theatre on Saturday night.

An incomplete list of celebrities in attendance included superstar musicians like Taylor Swift, Ringo Starr, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Christina Aguilera, Seal, St. Vincent, Renee Rapp, Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, all three HAIM sisters, Sam Fender, and Towa Bird.

Not to mention a “who’s who” of Hollywood actors (Margot Robbie, Reese Witherspoon, Dakota Johnson, Jason Bateman, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Steve Carrell), comedians (Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Jimmy Kimmel), and even high-powered executives (Disney CEO Bob Iger, former Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine).

Photo: MJ Kim

But as exciting as it was for fans on the floor to see so many luminaries in the loge—to the point that some couldn’t help but turn their heads during the show to see which other A-listers were coming out of the woodwork—the presence of so much wattage upstairs merely drove home what was already clear: This was a special night, to say the least. If you were in Los Angeles over the final weekend of March and had any opportunity to see Sir Paul in a 1,500-person venue, you were probably going to take it (or have your people figure out a way to get you in).

No matter who you were, Sir Paul and his band put on a show that was every bit as compelling as the production they took around the world on their Got Back Tour.

Granted, the large-scale effects (pyrotechnics, fireworks, on-screen graphics, etc.) were mostly absent, though Macca’s crew managed to rig up plenty of lights and lasers—perhaps more than the Fonda has ever seen.

Photo: MJ Kim

What was gained, though, was an intimacy that’s almost unheard of for an artist of McCartney’s legendary stature.

To be sure, Sir Paul has gone even smaller-scale than that in Southern California. Back in 2016, he stunned a packed house at the famed Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown (capacity: 300 people) with a surprise set while he was in the area for Desert Daze.

In the case of the Fonda shows, they were both announced ahead of time, complete with special ticket registration and Yondr pouches at the door, to keep everyone (celebs and plebs alike) locked into the vibes, rather than glued to their phones.

That attentiveness, that purity of presence, added to the ambiance, as Paul himself noted while seated at his brightly colored piano. From Beatles staples like “Help!”, “Got To Get You Into My Life”, and “Getting Better”, to Wings standards like “Band on the Run”, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five”, and “Let ‘Em In”, to selections from Sir Paul’s solo catalog (“Maybe I’m Amazed”, “Every Night”), the crowd was fully attuned to the touring troupe of Rusty Anderson on guitar, Brian Ray on bass, Wix Wickens on keys, and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums and percussion, with the Hot City Horns (Mike Davis on trumpet, Paul Burton on trombone, and Kenji Fenton on saxophones) in tow.

Photo: MJ Kim

As is his wont, Paul sprinkled in plenty of personal touches throughout the show. “Coming Up” included a bit of the Peter Gunn theme. “My Valentine” followed a dedication to his wife Nancy, for whom he wrote the song originally and who was also seated in the VIP section. “Blackbird” ended with a refrain of “You were only waiting for this moment to be free”—a subtle but noteworthy shift from the canonical composition. “Let Me Roll It” closed with a “Foxy Lady” outro, followed by a story from Paul about meeting Jimi Hendrix in London.

He unspooled other yarns, too: about the Beatles encountering crowds of screaming girls when they first came to America, Tony Bennett highlighting acoustics at Royal Albert Hall and the Beverly Hilton, and when the Fonda used to be known as the Hollywood Music Box.

Macca even made some of his interstitials interactive. He exchanged “I love you’s” with audience members, shared how glad he was to hear one person “squeal” with joy after “Let It Be”, called out signs in the crowd—including one indicating a fan’s 200th show—and nodded to the glaring disparity between the bourgeoisie upstairs and the hoi polloi down below.

That, in addition to leading a singalong to “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and conducting guys and girls separately to belt out the “na na na’s” in “Hey Jude”.

He shared the joy of seeing all the faces in the crowd at small gigs en route to “I’ve Just Seen a Face”, joked about how he could “just stand” there on stage after singing “From Me to You”, and shouted out John Lennon for writing “Now and Then” and George Harrison for jamming with him to “Something” before recreating said jam on ukulele.

Photo: MJ Kim

“Lady Madonna”, “Get Back”, and the encore of “Golden Slumbers” into “Carry That Weight” into “The End” a la Abbey Road left their own indelible marks on everyone who was fortunate enough to be in the room.

Yet, not so much as a note was heard from Sir Paul’s upcoming release, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which drops on May 29th.

Perhaps he’s saving all of those for an upcoming tour to promote it… which, in some respects, seems unlikely. After all, the man just wrapped up the two-year, worldwide Got Back Tour late last year, and turns 84 in June.

Then again, as everyone at The Fonda saw, Paul McCartney is still more than capable of doing his thing, now well into his seventh decade of doing so.

And, clearly, he’s still a draw—even (perhaps especially) for any star in or near his orbit.

Photo: MJ Kim