Paul McCartney will perform at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville on May 31, in what AC Entertainment President Ted Heinig calls a "career highlight" and "a dream come true."
"For someone who has lived in Knoxville for over 30 years, to be able to bring someone like Paul McCartney and to be part of the team that made it happen is an experience I will never forget. I can't think of anyone bigger than Paul McCartney," Heinig said. "In my mind, this is the greatest show to ever play Thompson-Boling, and I mean that with no offense to anybody else."
The show, which is part of McCartney's Got Back Tour, a 13-city return to U.S. stages, will kick off April 28 with the superstar's first-ever show in Spokane, Washington, and will run through to June 16 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at MetLife Stadium.
The Knoxville show is one of only a handful of arena shows on the schedule, and one of only four that Live Nation has booked. The other three Live Nation shows are in Los Angeles, Seattle and Boston. The rest of the tour is being promoted by AEG and being staged in baseball or football stadiums. Heinig said in a telephone interview the fact that Knoxville got it is no accident and the result of years of work and relationships.
Thompson-Boling Arena seats a little more than 21,000 people but will be configured for a crowd of around 16,000 for the concert.
AC Entertainment, headquartered in Knoxville, has helped book shows at the Tivoli Theatre and Memorial Auditorium for the past seven years. It was bought by Live Nation, one of the leading music promotion companies in the world. Heinig, who took the AC reins two years ago when founder Ashley Capps retired, said that relationship played a key role in Knoxville being chosen.
"The reason we got it goes back many years to Ashley Capps starting AC Entertainment many years ago and being dedicated to making Knoxville a great music town. We have continued that work, and this is the result," Heinig said.
The closest show in the South will be in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Heinig said he expects ticket buyers to come from all over the region.
"I think this will be a history-making show where people talk about being there for years to come," he said.
The name of the tour is a play on "The Beatles: Get Back," the Peter Jackson documentary that came out in the past year. The Tennessee Aquarium Imax Theater will show this weekend the one-hour film "The Beatles: Get Back - The Rooftop Concert" featuring The Beatles performing on top of Apple Studios in 1968.
The former Beatles and Wings star played in Tennessee at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in 2013 in Manchester, Tennessee. That festival was co-founded by AC Entertainment, and Capps told the Times Free Press the day after the McCartney show that being able to present him in his home state was a career highlight for him.
For the Knoxville show, tickets range in price from $69.50-$299.50.
"Got Back" is McCartney's first tour since his 2019 concert tour, which included 39 performances in 12 countries and concluded at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
"I said at the end of the last tour that I'd see you next time. I said I was going to get back to you. Well, I got back!" McCartney said in a statement issued Friday morning.
Tickets for all "Got Back" tour dates will be on sale to the public beginning next Friday, Feb. 25, at 10 a.m. A presale for American Express Card Members will run from 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24.
A presale for McCartney fan club members also begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. People can join the fan club online at paulmccartney.gotback.com.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Follow him on Twitter @BarryJC.
Tribune News Service contributed to this report.
Paul McCartney performs on day one of the Austin City Limits Music Festival's first weekend on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)Paul McCartney 2022 "Got Back" tour dates
Thursday, April 28: Spokane, Washington, Spokane Arena.
Monday, May 2: Seattle, Climate Pledge Arena.
Tuesday, May 3: Seattle, Climate Pledge Arena.
Friday, May 6: Oakland, California, Oakland Arena.
Friday, May 13:- Los Angeles, SoFi Stadium.
Tuesday, May 17: Fort Worth, Texas, Dickies Arena.
Saturday, May 21: Winston Salem, North Carolina, Truist Field.
Wednesday, May 25: Hollywood, Florida, Hard Rock Live.
Saturday, May 28: Orlando, Florida, Camping World Stadium.
Tuesday, May 31: Knoxville, Tennessee, Thompson-Boling Arena.
Saturday, June 4: Syracuse, New York, Carrier Dome.
Tuesday, June 7: Boston, Fenway Park.
Sunday, June 12: Baltimore, Oriole Park.
Thursday, June 16: East Rutherford, New Jersey, MetLife Stadium.
Via Tribune News Service