McCartney fears lesser known songs will send audience to bar
SIR PAUL McCartney admitted he has a recurring dream in which the audience at his concert deserts him for the bar when he plays a lesser known song.
The former Beatle, 79, discussed the challenge of choosing his setlists from more than 60 years of music ahead of his Got Back Tour, which began on Thursday in the US.
He said he wanted to include the track Women And Wives, from his 2020 number one album McCartney III, in his upcoming shows but worried fans might switch off.
Sir Paul is visiting 13 cities in the US before heading to the UK where he will headline the Saturday night of Glastonbury – his second time topping the Pyramid stage after a performance in 2004.
He said: “I’m now just starting to think about that. Last time we rehearsed we worked up Women
And Wives, so hopefully we’ll include that in the tour. The trouble with that though, is there’s always the eternal dilemma of what do you take out, knowing the audiences really want to hear the hits so you’ve got to balance it very carefully.
“You’re taking out something they know very well and putting in something they don’t necessarily know, and I’m always dreading that’s the signal for them to go get a beer.
“It’s actually a recurring dream of mine: I’m playing and people start walking out, and I’m trying to think of a song that will get them back – ‘do Long Tall Sally, quick!’ – but they keep walking – ‘let’s do Yesterday!’ – it’s typical performer’s insecurities.
“I’d like to do a whole show of new songs but that’s for the anoraks in the crowd, that’s for the deep fans.” Sir Paul said most of the audience “have paid good money, have brought their mums and dads” and do not want to hear his “deep cuts”.
“I think they want Beatles stuff mainly, Wings stuff, and maybe some of the new stuff,” he added. “I force some of the new stuff on them. I know which ones people like because you can see it all light up, all the phones recording.”