Tobin scores McCartney; tickets on sale today

Paul McCartney will be in the Tobin's 1,750-seat H-E-B Performance Hall.

Paul McCartney will be in the Tobin's 1,750-seat H-E-B Performance Hall. Photo: BRUCE CRUMMY, Associated Press Photo: BRUCE CRUMMY, Associated Press Image 1 of / 40 Caption Close Tobin scores McCartney; tickets on sale today 1 / 40 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — Most fans have to pack binoculars to see Paul McCartney up close on tour this year, but not in San Antonio.

The most famous pop star on the planet will play the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, the old Municipal Auditorium, at 8 p.m. Oct. 1.

Tickets for the concert in the 1,750-seat H-E-B Performance Hall go on sale at 10 a.m. today through the Tobin Center's box office. They will be available by calling 210-223-8624. Tickets will not be sold online. There is no limit to the number of tickets an individual can purchase.

Ticket prices have not been released. In most other cities, tickets for McCartney's “Out There” tour have been maxing out at about $250, but the Tobin is a much smaller venue. By contrast, other tour stops include the US Airways Center in Phoenix, which seats about 18,000, and the American Airlines Center in Dallas, which seats about 12,500. McCartney also will hit Candlestick Park in San Francisco, where the Beatles played their final concert.

“McCartney played in Central Park (in New York last year) and sold 60,000 with two hours notice,” said Mike Fresher, president and CEO of the Tobin Center. “This is unheard of for him to do a building our size.”

The Tobin will be the smallest venue McCartney has played on tour since a December 2010 gig at the O2 Academy in his hometown of Liverpool.

Stateside, his only shows at auditoriums or concert halls in recent years have been when he surprised students at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens in October 2013 and when he played Harlem's famed Apollo Theater in December 2010.

Coincidentally, Ringo Starr, the other surviving member of the Beatles, will play the Tobin Center with his All Starr Band on Oct. 7, less than a week after McCartney's concert. Tickets to see Starr, which have been on sale for weeks, still are available.

The Tobin's box office staff has been beefed up to accommodate the expected onslaught of ticket seekers for the McCartney concert. Fresher expects every seat to be snapped up quickly.

The concert, which is billed as a benefit for the nonprofit Tobin Center, has been in the works for a year, he said. He attributed getting it to “perseverance, connections and the dedication from our board to support an event like this.”

It will be McCartney's first gig here since 1993, when he opened the Alamodome, playing to 48,000 fans, San Antonio Express-News reports state.

McCartney resumed his “Out There” tour July 5 in Albany, New York, following an illness that kept him off the road for more than two months. The concerts have featured a mix of Beatles, Wings and solo songs.

“You can't have a more marquee name than a person who transcended music with the Beatles,” said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, an early supporter of the Tobin Center. “There will be a big demand for sure, not just in the city but region-wide. People will want to see this show not just because of him, but to see him in this remarkable venue. I know my wife would kill me if I don't buy a couple of tickets.”

Major acts sometimes enjoy popping in on smaller venues on tour, rock critic and author Ben Fong-Torres said.

“This is probably Sir Paul's idea of playing outside the box (albeit big boxes),” Fong-Torres said. “He's always loved pulling surprises and stepping (or jumping) down from perceived thrones, so this is not out of the norm. As if there's a norm when it comes to Paul McCartney.”

McCartney's performance will be the big finale to the Tobin's opening month, which kicks off with a ribbon-cutting on Sept. 4 and includes performances by Jason Mraz, Vikki Carr, Bill Cosby, opera star Renée Fleming and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.

“I want to say it puts a period on it, but it's actually a double exclamation point with a happy face,” Fresher said. “If I had an emoji, I would have McCartney on mine.”

News Researcher Michael Knoop and Staff Writer Lorne Chan contributed to this report.

dlmartin@express-news.net

Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN