Paul McCartney Envisions A Post-Covid World

Paul McCartney is featured in the new issue of GQ, modeling clothes — some of which designed by daughter Stella — while photographed by older daughter Mary. McCartney, who has been quarantining on the family's estate in Sussex, England, was asked if he feels the post-Covid world will see people changing: “I think in the short-term, yes, people will act differently, because it’s going to be difficult to just pop along to a football match or a concert or the theatre, so those things are going to change us all.”

He went on to say, “I suppose I’d like to think that people will simply be kinder. There will be a bit of that, of people thinking a bit harder about things, but at the back of it all is the thought that everyone just thinks, 'Oh, sod it,' and goes back to their old ways.”

Regarding what live performances will possibly look like, McCartney admitted, “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. As y'know, we were going to do Glastonbury this year and it started to look doubtful because no one knew if the crisis was going to be over by June or not and then obviously that was cancelled. But the summer is when we do concerts — that’s pretty much what we do, y'know? Playing to people gathering together. How you can socially distance that I do not know. The same with theatre, cinema, everything. It’s just thrown everything into doubt. Does this mean the end of live concerts? I don’t know.”

When pressed as to whether he would want to develop a “storytellers”-like show, similar to Bruce Springsteen's recent Broadway run — or possibly even a Las Vegas residency, “Macca” said, “The idea (of a storytellers show) is okay, but I think I’d just prefer to play with the band to a bigger audience, or even smaller — I don’t mind little clubs. I do a solo segment in the middle of my shows at the moment and to do a whole show like that, I’m not sure I fancy it. It might be a little bit like too much hard work. As for playing Vegas, that’s something I’ve been trying to avoid my whole life. Definitely nothing attracts me about the idea. Vegas is where you go to die, isn’t it? It’s the elephant’s graveyard.”

Over the past 30 years, Paul McCartney's live show has mined the Beatles' catalogue — featuring him even performing songs normally associated with John Lennon and George Harrison. He admits that playing Beatles songs these days is a great way to revisit his time with his late, former bandmates: “Y'know, the live experience is a mad one, because the same time that you're singing and remembering words and remembering chords — you're off on one! And you're thinking 'Oh, Abbey Road, and I remember John coming up with. . . and what about when George said that?' And you go, 'Come back! Come back! Earth to Paul — you're onstage! Don't go too far!' (Laughs) Y'know? But it is, it's great, you do look at the songs as if it's someone else.”