I’m not sure which would be worse: having the cops showing up to your parents-are-out-of-town keg-a-thon JUST when things are starting to get interesting ORRRR getting shut down as a 66-year-old living rock legend.
Probably the latter.
Just ask Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen. The Boss himself was in London Saturday night performing at Hyde Park in London when the Beatle joined him on stage for an historic performance. Announcing to 80,000 fans that he’d “waited 50 years for this,” Springsteen welcomed McCartney to the stage as the crowd went apeshit.
McCartney’s unheralded appearance—he simply wandered on stage with his trademark Hoffner bass—was the spectacular answer. Macca seemed to invigorate the Boss and his E Street band. When the Boss announced a fellow music legend had joined him, the crowd exploded with a warmth that must have thrilled even an ex-Beatle.
And for a little bit, it was awesome. Having already played for at least three hours, Springsteen and McCartney launched into “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Twist and Shout” before the venue literally pulled the plug as they began “La Bamba.”
The concert promoters, Live Nation, had received license to host the performance as part of their three-day Hard Rock Calling Festival until exactly 10:30 PM. After being reminded of that curfew by the Westminster Council, the plug was pulled at exactly 10:43. A statement that they later released said something about health and safety, so I can only imagine that the crowd was full of Cindarellas or some shit.
Last night everyone had a fantastic time, in the excellent weather conditions, with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band giving a record-breaking 76,000 people an incredible performance of 29 songs with special guests John Fogerty, Tom Morello & Paul McCartney joining him onstage.
It was unfortunate that the three hour plus performance by Bruce Springsteen was stopped right at the very end but the curfew is laid down by the authorities in the interest of the public’s health and safety.
Road closures around Hyde Park are put in place at specific times to make sure everyone can exit the area in a safety.
The mayor himself was bummed about the turn of events, saying to media on Sunday that “if they had asked me, I would have said ‘Jam in the name of the Lord.’”
Amen, Mayor. AMEN.
Members of Springsteen’s band were not so happy about being silenced, as it turns out. Steven Van Zandt took to Twitter to express his frustration, which the crowd itself did with booming boos and jeers.
E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt took to Twitter following the performance to vent his frustrations. “One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state?” he said, shortly afterward adding, “We break curfews in every country but only English cops needs to “punish us” by not letting us leave until the entire crowd goes.”
Bummer, dude. I can’t help but wonder if at least ONE of the rockers approached the po-pos with his DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM card. Because, c’mon, that mess has got to burn just as bad as it did when the cops shut you down at age 19. So. Embarrassing.
But, then again, this Henry Rollins prose comes to mind.
PWNED.
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About Kristine Cook
