Paul McCartney blames Bruce Springsteen for epic-length concerts: ‘It’s your fault!’

(US Today) – If you’re sick of super-long concerts, Paul McCartney is right there with you.

During an onstage conversation with comedian Conan O’Brien at Tribeca Festival on Thursday evening, the music legend bemoaned the growing fad of three-hour-plus concerts – a trend popularized by jam bands such as Phish and the Grateful Dead, but adopted more recently by pop stars including Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

“I blame Bruce Springsteen,” McCartney joked, referencing the rocker’s famously lengthy gigs. “I told him so. I said, ‘It’s your fault!’ ”

“He ruined it for everyone!” added the former late-night host, who recorded the conversation for his “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast.

“He did!” McCartney said. “We used to do a half hour. That was like The Beatles’ thing – and we got paid for it. I tried to work out, ‘Why was it so short?’ Well, because there was a lot of people on the (lineup). When you went to a thing, if you were a comedian, the promoter would say, ‘How long can you do? Four minutes?’ And the guy would say yes. So we thought, ‘Half an hour – that’s epic!’ But that was it. With a Beatles show, we were on and off like that, and it didn’t seem strange.”