Paul McCartney is back and kicking off his U.S. tour tonight (July 7th) at Miami, Florida’s American Airlines Arena.  In addition to today also being Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr‘s 77th birthday, July 7th also marks what would have been “Macca’s” father, Jim McCartney‘s 115th birthday. McCartney has stateside dates spread out through October, before his “One On One” tour heads to South America and, for the first time in 25 years, to Australia and New Zealand.

McCartney chatted with Rolling Stone about the tour, and was asked if he sees himself as being competitive with other artists on the road, and explained, “I think everyone, when they do a job, tries to be the best they can.  So yeah, I guess I’m competitive. Not in a crazy way: If someone does better than us, I don’t go home and cry.  But it’s just a natural thing. . . In the Beatles, we always tried to be the best band in Liverpool.  Then we tried to be the best band in England.  Then we tried to be the best in the world. It’s just an instinct. But I think what you have to think of, really, is what if you didn’t think like that?  Then you’re going to get sloppy. You’re going to think, ‘Does it matter? I’ll just do a bunch of s*** tonight and no one will mind.’  So I just like to put it in and don’t phone it in.  I suppose that ends up making me competitive.”

Paul McCartney tour dates (subject to change):
July 7 – Miami, FL – AmericanAirlines Arena
July 10 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
July 13 – Duluth, GA – Infinite Energy Center
July 15 – Bossier City, LA – CenturyLink Center
July 19 – Wichita, KS – Intrust Bank Arena
July 21 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
July 23 – Omaha, NE – CenturyLink Center Omaha
July 25, 27 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
September 11, 12 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
September 15, 17 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden Arena
September 19, 21 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
September 23 – Syracuse, NY – Carrier Dome
September 26, 27 – Uniondale, NY – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
October 1, 2 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
October 13 – Porto Alegre, Brazil – Estadio Beira-Rio
October 15 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Allianz Parque
October 17 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil – Mineirao Stadium
October 20 – Salvador, Brazil – Itaipava Arena – Fonte Nova
October 28 – Mexico City, Mexico – Estadio Azteca
December 2 – Perth, Australia – nib Stadium
December 5, 6 – Melbourne, Australia – AAMI Park
December 9 – Brisbane, Australia – Suncorp Stadium
December 11, 12 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
December 16 – Auckland, New Zealand – Mt Smart Stadium