Paul McCartney hits out at 'naughty' bands who play gigs with backing tapes

Former Beatle says his onstage mistakes prove he's not a fake

January 1, 2012

Photo: MJ Kim, 2011 MPL Communications Ltd

The former Beatle told the Sunday Express he was dismayed when his sound engineer Paul Pablo Boothroyd revealed many major artists rely on tapes for much of their shows.

Although McCartney refused to name the artists in question, Boothroyd is known to have worked for a host of big names during his career.

McCartney commented:

We are glad at the end five of us take a bow and there is nobody hidden under the stage either which I hear some naughty people do… sorry, I won’t say names.

He continued: "When we make mistakes playing live, we always now turn it and say, ‘Tell you what – this proves we are live'."

McCartney played a number of UK and European dates late last year, including a huge show at London's O2 Arena on December 5.

He is due to release his new as-yet-untitled studio album next month - and you can hear the first single from the record, 'My Valentine', a collaboration with Eric Clapton which surfaced online last month.

Meanwhile, pick up this week's special Beatles anniversary issue of NME, which tells the inside story of how the band were rejected at their first audition for a record contract 50 years ago - widely thought to be the worst decision in the history of the music industry. The issue is on UK newsstands and available digitally now.