Paul McCartney, known for his lengthy performances lasting two and a half to three hours, jokingly attributed the change to Bruce Springsteen. In an interview on the “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast, which was released on Monday, McCartney recalled how concerts used to be much shorter during his time with The Beatles when he was in his twenties.
He stated, “These days, it’s common to have a main act with or without a warm-up act. In the ’60s, there were a lot of performers, and nobody played for a long time. Nowadays, I play for three to four hours.”
McCartney humorously blamed Bruce Springsteen, saying, “I told him, ‘It’s your fault!’ He messed it up! We can’t just play for one hour anymore. We used to play for only 30 minutes. That was the Beatles’ style. We played for 30 minutes and got paid!”
Jokes aside, McCartney explained that the shorter performance times in the ’60s were due to the large number of performers sharing the stage. He compared it to comedians being asked by promoters, “How much time can you do? Four minutes?” So, they thought, “30 minutes is grand!” It wasn’t unusual in that situation.
In June of last year, just a week after his 80th birthday, Paul McCartney performed at the Glastonbury Festival for approximately two hours and 50 minutes. Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance during McCartney’s performance.
