The historic reunion of the Beatles: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr play together in a concert in London

Ringo appeared next to his own drum kit, conveniently placed to Paul’s right, walked to the edge of the stage, looked at the audience and addressed them: “I had a great night!” He announced to them, before asking them: “What about you?” Paul asked his former bandmate the question everyone was eagerly waiting for: “Should we play some rock’n’roll, don’t you think?” Macca then began to joke, putting on a serious voice to tell Starr: “Get on your drum kit!”, and the Beatles reunion began. The two seemed delighted to be playing together, and Paul actually put his arm around Ringo in a moment that melted fans.

This was the first time the old friends have played together in five years, after doing so in 2015 during Ringo’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and in 2019 on Ringo’s ‘Freshen Up’ tour. Macca. The last time Starr and McCartney teamed up was in 2023, when they worked together on ‘Now and Then’, the ‘new’ official Beatles song, created from recordings made by both Lennon and Harrison and with the help of artificial intelligence.

On this occasion, Paul also invited Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood to perform ‘Get Back’ with him, who surprised him by playing his original Hofner 500/1 bass for the first time in over 50 years. The instrument was stolen in 1972, but Paul was reunited with it earlier this year.

Another great moment was the performance of ‘In Spite of All the Danger’, the first song recorded by Paul’s first band, The Quarrymen, which also included the late John Lennon and George Harrison.

The concert was full of very emotional moments, with McCartney telling many personal anecdotes from his time with the Beatles, which was taken by some as a sign that is in line with the rumors that this could be his last tour.

Reflecting on the years of Beatlemania’s explosion, Paul revealed the impact of the band’s famous show in Jacksonville, Florida. The Liverpool Four were going to play at the city’s Gator Bowl in 1964, but were told the crowd would be segregated by race. «We didn’t understand it until we went there and played a place called Jacksonville, in the south. The promoters told us: “Tonight you will play to a segregated audience.” And we said “What are they talking about?” They said there would be blacks on one side and whites on the other, and we said, “No, why are you doing that?” So we refuse to perform with segregated audiences. The other day I received a text message from a black girl who sat with some white guys. He told me, “I’ve never sat with white people.” Imagine, she said “I loved it because we were all screaming Beatles fans and it didn’t matter.”

Paul also paid tribute to John Lennon during the set when talking about his late bandmate and friend. And speaking of how attitudes towards male emotions have changed, he explained that in those days it was considered strange to tell your friends that you loved them: “Even in a group you couldn’t turn to your friends and say ‘I love you, man.'”

In another moving tribute to George HarrisonPaul performed a version of ‘Something’, the band’s 1969 hit, with a ukulele given to him by the guitarist who died of lung cancer in 2001.

There was also another tribute to his deceased wife Linda, by installing a Linda McCartney Foods brand vegetarian food stand (a food track called Van on the Run in a nod to Band on the Run), where Linda McCartney burgers were sold, Korean Chicken Bites, Vegemince Chili Nachos, and Vegan Sausage Corndog with Fries.