The Japan tour is just around the corner! Why does Paul McCartney keep performing live?
It’s unfortunate, but regarding the upcoming performances in Japan, some media outlets are making off-target criticisms such as calling it a “won’t-come-again scam” or “money-grubbing.”
You can ignore it if you like, but because the media has such a strong influence, I didn’t want non-fans in the general public to get the wrong idea, so I decided to write this for Paul’s honor.
Paul is 74 years old!
First, consider Paul’s age.
He’s 74 years old!? (as of April 2017)
It wouldn’t be surprising if “X-Day” came at any time.
In fact, Aretha Franklin, a soul music legend who was the same age as him, also announced her retirement in 2017 due to her age.
Since she is a singer, she can focus solely on vocals, but Paul not only sings; he also stands the whole time holding a heavy electric guitar or bass and plays the keyboard, so the burden on him is even greater.
Moreover, we’re also doing sound checks from early on, well before the actual performance.
The criticism about a so-called “I’m-not-coming-anymore scam” is that they say, “This will be the last time I come to Japan,” yet they come again—just like a store that keeps operating under a perpetual “closing sale.” But neither Paul nor his staff have ever said anything like that.
There are just people who are assuming that on their own.
I have serious doubts about the media’s attitude of reporting as if many fans think that way.
Impressively comprehensive performance
I’m not sure about this concert, but at least up through his tour in Japan two years ago, Paul performed without taking a single break or even hydrating during the show!
Even artists in their 20s today wouldn't do something like this.
It's normal to take a few breaks and hydrate on stage.
He only went offstage when the actual performance was over.
It also made another appearance in the encore.
Serve as the main vocalist from start to finish
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After the Beatles broke up, during live performances with Wings—the band he formed himself—he was in his prime in his thirties, yet he still handed over lead vocals on several songs to other members.
However, since going solo, I have served as the lead vocalist on every track.
In other words, there isn’t a moment on stage when they’re not in the spotlight.
There are 39 songs performed!
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At his April 25, 2015 concert at the Tokyo Dome, Paul performed an astonishing 39 songs in a single set, including the encore!
Considering that even contemporary young artists have only about twenty-some songs, this is an astonishingly large number.
Even though many of the Beatles’ early-period songs were short numbers under three minutes, you can probably imagine how difficult it is to perform this many songs while maintaining their quality.
It had become a running routine for him to ask the audience in Japanese near the end of the show, “Do you still want to listen?”
Of course, the audience demands more.
Then Paul said, “But I have to go home and sleep now,” while making a gesture as if he were sleeping in a bed.
However, it keeps delivering solid performance even after that.
I have enough assets.
In 2016, in a rich list of musicians from the United Kingdom and Ireland, Paul, together with his wife Nancy Shevell, topped the ranking with an estimated net worth of approximately 119.5 billion yen.
Would someone who has more money than they could ever spend really bother to go all the way to distant Japan just to make more money? If it were me, I’d have retired long ago and be living a leisurely, carefree life.
Paul loves live concerts.
Paul really loves live shows.
Indeed, in the latter part of the Beatles era they stopped performing live altogether, but that was because they were fed up with the impossibly packed schedule, the malicious media coverage, the ever more frenzied fans, and the cold attitude of the police.
In 1969, as their breakup drew near, he labeled it the “Get Back sessions” and persuaded the other three—who weren’t really into it—to perform a live show on the roof of Apple, simply because he had always loved playing live.
a great Japanophile
As many fans know, Paul loves sumo, and during his Fukuoka Dome concert, he even went out of his way to attend the Fukuoka tournament and watch Grand Sumo from the audience.
Also, at that time, Paul offered a bounty.
Before the bout, the yobidashi made a lap around the ring displaying the prize banner, which prominently read “Paul McCartney,” and the crowd erupted.
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He was the first visiting artist to go this far, and the next day’s newspapers were abuzz with the story.
He then announced on stage that his album released in 2013 had quickly reached the top of the sales charts in Japan, and he expressed his gratitude to his fans.
Why do you visit Japan repeatedly?
Paul was asked on July 2, 2015 by a reporter from Esquire, a men’s monthly magazine published in the United States, why he performs in Japan so often.
Europe is close by, and the U.S. is a big market, so I get it.
However, even if it is a developed country, the reporter must have wondered why he would go repeatedly to a single country in distant Asia.
In response, he answered as follows.
There are two reasons: because I love live shows, and because it’s my job.
However, just these two alone are not sufficient as an answer.
If it's just this, there's no need to go all the way to Japan.
He added further.
The third reason is the audience. When I sing, Japanese audiences give me incredibly warm appreciation. Who could dislike that?
Let me make it clear: this is by no means just lip service.
Because this magazine was sold mainly in the United States, and the Japanese edition was suspended at that time (this article appears in the August issue of Esquire).
If the interview had been from Japan, they might have offered some flattery, but since there was no need for that, it’s natural to take it as their honest opinion.
Fans in the West get so excited that they rush to the front of the stage, not caring about their seats.
By contrast, Japanese fans observe proper manners and cheer for him from their own seats.
While excited by his performance, we’re warmly cheering him on.
In the same article, Paul said that long ago he had suggested to his then manager that he planned to retire when he turned 50.
However, his reaction wasn't very good.
And so Paul decided to continue his career, thinking, “Oh God, he’s probably right.”
That said, the manager may simply have been afraid that he’d lose his job if Paul retired (lol).
That aside, Paul absolutely loves continuing his music activities—he just can’t help himself.
Thrill of the Japan tour
What especially moved Paul was the Tokyo Dome show in 2013, which marked his first Japan tour in 11 years.
On the final day, November 21, as a surprise for Paul, when the performance of "Yesterday" began after the encore, the fans all started waving glow sticks that lit up bright red.
The organizers secretly planned it without telling Paul and asked for fans’ cooperation by handing out glow sticks at the entrance.
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Paul was deeply moved by the beautiful pageant of light created by fifty thousand glow sticks swaying in unison across the pitch-black audience.
Or perhaps this event made him think, "I want to do a Japan tour again."
And then, a Japan tour was held one after another.
That said, unfortunately, in 2014 the show was canceled because Paul fell ill shortly after arriving in Japan.
Lastly
What I really want the general public to understand is that Paul’s repeated visits to Japan are by no means for the money.
He simply loves live shows, and he loves Japan.
Please do not pay attention to reports that mock him.