WHAT IF? ​​PAUL MCCARTNEY SET LISTS

​by Billy J Shears

What if, in 1989, Paul McCartney hadn't made the decision to add 17 Beatles songs to his set list for his World tour and continue his policy of including 3 or 4 Beatles songs to please his fans? 

Normally an artist would continually build his set list through his musical career by adding material from their new album to songs from their previous album releases as Paul himself had done in the seventies..

Ten years earlier he'd undertaken a theatre tour of the UK, the 21 song set list included 5 songs from his latest album 'Back to the Egg' plus two none album singles from 1979, 'Goodnight Tonight' & Wonderful Christmastime, 11 songs from previous solo albums and 3 Beatles classics.

It sounds incredible but to be honest Beatles fans I know are getting a bit bored with the 'one man Beatles tribute show' and would love to see Paul put together a set list from his solo albums and featuring fewer Beatles songs.​

So would you attend these Paul McCartney concerts from 2002, 2007 & 2017? ​

2002 (Set List)
MAIN STAYS
Coming Up (McCartney 11)
Live and Let Die (Single)
Jet (Band on the Run)
Band on the Run (Band on the Run)
Maybe I'm Amazed (McCartney)
Take It Away (Tug of War)
Pipes of Peace (Pipes of Peace)
No More Lonely Nights (Broad Street)
My Love (Red Rose Speedway)
No Other Baby (Run Devil Run)
Party (Run Devil Run)
C'mon People (Off the Ground)
The World Tonight (Flaming Pie)
Tug of War (Tug of War)
Let 'em In (Speed of Sound)
Mull of Kintyre (Single)
Back Seat of My Car (Ram)
Bluebird (Band on the Run)
Big Barn Bed (Red Rose Speedway)
Flaming Pie (Flaming Pie)

LATEST ALBUM
Lonely Road (Driving Rain)
She's Given Up Talking (Driving Rain)

BEATLES
All My Loving  (Beatles cover)
Let it Be  (Beatles cover)
Hey Jude (Beatles cover)
Yesterday  (Beatles cover)

FLOATERS
Don't Let It Bring You Down (London Town)
Letting Go (Venus & Mars)
Waterfalls (McCartney 11)
Silly Love Songs (Speed of Sound)
My Brave Face (Flowers in the Dirt)
With a Little Luck (London Town)
Keep Under Cover (Pipes of Peace)
Only Love Remains (Press to Play)
Wild Life (Wild Life)

2007 (Set List)
MAIN STAYS
Coming Up (McCartney 11)
Live and Let Die (Single)
Jet (Band on the Run)
Band on the Run (Band on the Run)
Maybe I'm Amazed (McCartney)
Take It Away (Tug of War)
Pipes of Peace (Pipes of Peace)
No More Lonely Nights (Broad Street)
My Love (Red Rose Speedway)
No Other Baby (Run Devil Run)
Party (Run Devil Run)
C'mon People (Off the Ground)
The World Tonight (Flaming Pie)
Tug of War (Tug of War)
Let 'em In (Speed of Sound)
Mull of Kintyre (Single)
Back Seat of My Car (Ram)
Bluebird (Band on the Run)
Big Barn Bed (Red Rose Speedway)
Flaming Pie (Flaming Pie)

LATEST ALBUM
Only Mama Knows (Memory Almost Full)
Dance Tonight (Memory Almost Full)
House Of Wax (Memory Almost Full)
Ever Present Past (Memory Almost Full)

BEATLES
Hey Jude (Beatles cover)
Yesterday  (Beatles cover)
Back in the USSR (Beatles cover)
Helter Skelter (Beatles cover)

FLOATERS
Silly Love Songs (Speed of Sound)
My Brave Face (Flowers in the Dirt)
English Tea (Chaos & Creation in the Backyard)
Too Much Rain (Chaos & Creation in the Backyard)
Lonely Road (Driving Rain)
Young Boy (Flaming Pie)
Fine Line (Chaos & Creation in the Backyard)

2017 (Set List)
MAIN STAYS
Coming Up (McCartney 11)
Live and Let Die (Single)
Jet (Band on the Run)
Band on the Run (Band on the Run)
Maybe I'm Amazed (McCartney)
Take It Away (Tug of War)
Pipes of Peace (Pipes of Peace)
No More Lonely Nights (Broad Street)
My Love (Red Rose Speedway)
No Other Baby (Run Devil Run)
Party (Run Devil Run)
C'mon People (Off the Ground)
The World Tonight (Flaming Pie)
Tug of War (Tug of War)
Let 'em In (Speed of Sound)
Mull of Kintyre (Single)
Back Seat of My Car (Ram)
Bluebird (Band on the Run)
Big Barn Bed (Red Rose Speedway)
Flaming Pie (Flaming Pie)

LATEST ALBUM
New
Queenie Eye
Everybody Out There 
Save Us
Early Days
On My Way to Work

BEATLES
Hey Jude (Beatles cover)
Yesterday  (Beatles cover)
I Saw Her Standing There (Beatles cover)
Blackbird (Beatles cover)

FLOATERS
Highway (Electric Arguments)
Sing The Changes (Electric Arguments)
My Valentine (Kisses on the Bottom)
Too Much Rain (Chaos & Creation in the Backyard)
Only Mama Knows (Memory Almost Full)

Of course it's all about opinion.

You can't argue that Paul loves playing Beatles songs, after all he didn't get to play a lot of them in the sixties when the Beatles ceased touring.

I attended the 1989 Hamburg gig and it was absolutely fantastic to hear so many Beatles classics performed live but since that magic night the set list seems to have gone a bit stale.

His solo output is often overlooked by the Beatles adoring public and maybe that's Paul's fault because besides his well known solo material he's mainly ignored the less familiar songs from his back catalogue in concert.

He gives the people what he thinks they want to hear, people who go to see Paul for whatever reason leave on a high but my question is, what if?