Paul McCartney launched his 2025 North American tour Friday night with a last-minute warmup gig at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, California. He kicked off the night by playing the Beatles classic “Help!” in its entirety for the first time since 1965.

The Santa Barbara Bowl seats a mere 4,562 people, meaning it’s roughly a quarter the size of the arenas he’s hitting on the rest of the tour. The show was announced just two weeks ago, it sold out within minutes, and fans had to secure their phones in Yondr pouches for the night. That’s why footage of “Help!” from the show has yet to emerge online. An enterprising fan did capture 30 seconds of “Help!” from soundcheck that provides at least a rough idea of what it sounded like.

McCartney last performed just a section of “Help!”

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