Sir Paul McCartney has revealed he wasn’t thrilled after paying to see Bob Dylan live – only to spend most of the gig trying to work out what he was actually playing.
The Beatles legend, 83, takes issue with artists who don’t play their most popular material for the fans.
Speaking on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, McCartney said of the 84-year-old folk icon’s approach to setlists: “In fact, talking about Mr Dylan – I’ve been to see a couple of Bob’s shows and honestly, I couldn’t tell what song he was doing. Now, that’s a bit much, because I know his stuff. And I get it if he doesn’t want to do Mr. Tambourine Man – maybe he’s fed up with it. But I would like to hear it. And I paid.”
He went on to explain that he’s always mindful of fans who come to see him, especially those who’ve saved up for the experience, recalling his own teenage excitement at seeing Bill Haley.
He said: “I think: we could do songs they don’t know and have a lot of ‘black holes’. But they’ve paid a lot of money, and I remember as a kid saving up – a paper round and everything – to go to a Bill Haley concert. I knew what I wanted. I wanted him to do his hits. And if he got all clever on me, I’d let him indulge himself.”
The Let It Be hitmaker also explained why he never takes selfies with fans.
He said: “As time’s gone by, things have changed. Now – phones. So if I meet someone, they’re reaching for their phone, and I say: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t do pictures.’ And that is radical these days. I told that to Oprah – I’m name-dropping now – and she said: ‘You don’t do pictures?’ I said: ‘No.’ She said: ‘Why?’ I said: ‘I don’t want to.’ It’s as simple as that.”
McCartney said he avoids taking photos with fans because it makes him feel like a prop rather than himself.
He further explained that staying grounded is important to him, and the moment he starts seeing himself as “above” who he really is, he stops liking that version of himself.
Macca went on: “I have a long explanation – I say I don’t like to do it because something important to me, something related to your question about innocence and staying normal, would be lost. The minute I start thinking I’m something above myself, I won’t like me. It’s very important for me to just be me. So I say to people: I don’t want to do photos. And they say: ‘Why?’ And I say: ‘I’ll tell you what…’ – and I go into this long explanation about how, down on the south coast of France in Saint-Tropez, there’s a man on the beachfront who has a monkey, and you pay to have your photo taken with the monkey. I really do not want to feel like that monkey. And when I take a picture with someone, I do feel like him. I’m not me anymore – I’m suddenly something else.”
Watch or listen to The Rest Is Entertainment wherever you get your podcasts: linktr.ee/therestisentertainment.