Concerts

Paul McCartney on Bob Dylan: “I Couldn’t Tell What Songs He Was Playing”

Paul McCartney recently contrasted his and Bob Dylan’s approaches to playing their hits live, noting that he sometimes "couldn't tell" what songs Dylan was performing during concerts.

Consequence·May 14, 2026·via Consequence

Paul McCartney on Bob Dylan: “I Couldn’t Tell What Songs He Was Playing”

Sir Paul McCartney has compared his approach to playing the hits live to Bob Dylan ’s aversion to doing the same. During a recent appearance on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, Macca said he doesn’t mind the repetition of playing classics if it means satisfying fans.

“If you’re going out to do a show, I know who’s in my audience most of the time,” he explained. “It’s kind of families. So it can be granddads sort of my age, or it can be their kids, and then it could be their kids. So, it’s quite a spread. So, I think, well, we could do songs they don’t know. I have a lot of black holes. But they’ve paid a lot of money.”

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In contrast, McCartney shared his experience of attending Dylan’s shows. “I’ve been to see a couple of shows of Bob’s, and I couldn’t tell what song he was doing,” he recalled. “Now that’s a bit much, because I know his stuff. I get it if he doesn’t want to do ‘Mr. Tambourine Man.’ Maybe he’s fed up with that, but I would like to hear it. And I’ve paid.”