29 June 2023 , 13:08
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Paul McCartney blames fellow music great Bruce Springsteen for changing live concerts forever and even told him it's all his fault.
The Beatles legend says artists used to only have to do a couple of songs on stage before heading off to enjoy a well-deserved drink.
He says fans only ever expected them on for half an hour but now that's certainly not the case.
Macca pinned it all on the 73-year-old thanks to his energetic and lengthy performances wowing audiences around the world.
It changed the way live music was consumed, he says, and has even had it out with him!
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Paul was looking back fondly of the days when pop stars were only expected to do a couple of numbers at a show.
He blames Bruce Springsteen - and told him as much! (Samir Hussein/WireImage)As he promoted the new Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, he had his say on the mega sets.
He said: "You can’t now do an hour, we used to do a half hour. That was The Beatles thing – half an hour and we got paid for it. I tried to work out why was it so short.
“Well, because there were a lot of people on the bill, and I think when you went to a thing if you were a comedian the promoter would say ‘how long can you do? Four minutes?’ The guy would say yes, so they would do four, and so we thought, ‘well, half an hour that’s like epic’… It didn’t seem strange.”
He went on: "These days, pretty much there’s a main act and there might be a warm-up act.
The music legend spoke at the Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm exhibition (Dave Benett/Getty Images for MPL)
Bruce clearly has a lot to answer for! (Getty Images)"Then, it was a lot of people on the bill because nobody did long, now people will do three or four hours. I blame Bruce Springsteen - I’ve told him so, I said 'It’s your fault man.'"
The pair are still great pals - even though he has created a lot of extra work for him.
Bruce joining him on stage for the final show of his Get Back Us Tour last June, fans loving their chemistry as they belted out some hits.
The exhibition features incredible images of all four Beatles from their heyday in the band together, including many never-seen-before snaps.
Paul is probably still recovering after taking in Glastonbury weekend, enjoying the festival backstage following his headliner performance last year.
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