Is there anybody better than Sir Paul McCartney?

INDIO, Calif. – Energized by the desert air and memory of his late wife, a playful and passionate Paul McCartney riffed on “Foxy Lady,” led an after-midnight “Hey Jude” singalong and dedicated songs to his former bandmates at the Coachella music festival that kicked off Friday.

McCartney took off his black jacket five songs in and didn’t put it back on for the next 29, strutting the stage in boots, black pants, a white shirt and suspenders that he tugged at wryly.

“It’s going to be a good weekend, dear,” he told the crowd of thousands gathered for the three-day festival, which erupted in cheers with the first chords of Beatles tunes like “Eleanor Rigby.” It was McCartney’s first appearance at a U.S. festival as a solo artist.