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Microphone problems at a sold-out concert is bad. But pulling the plug on music royalty Bruce Springsteen and Sir Paul McCartney? Now that’s just cold.
Bruce Springsteen, with his E Street Band, were headlining the Hard Rock Calling Festival in London’s very affluent Hyde Park when the incident happened. Apparently, Hyde Park has imposed a curfew on performances there. Bruce Springsteen is beloved by fans for not only performing some of the greatest music of our time, but he also gives fans more than they asked for at his concerts. Immediately following a three-hour set by Springsteen and his band, he called Sir Paul McCartney to the stage to perform “Twist and Shout/La Bamba” together when British police shut down the audio in the middle of their performance together because of the curfew violation. Footage of the concert at the time the audio was shut off can be seen here.
The crowd was deeply upset, as they were enjoying every moment of the concert. Police shut them down without warning. The Hard Rock Calling website, responding to public outcries to viral video footage that went around the globe, issued this statement: “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.”
Steve Van Zandt, the band’s guitarist, took to Twitter to vent his own frustrations, saying: “English cops may be the only individuals left on earth that wouldn’t want to hear one more from Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney! On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing?” Later, he would follow up by saying they held no grudges.
The ordinance was put in place apparently to ease tensions between Hyde Park concert promoters and fans and the wealthy residents of Hyde Park who have voiced their concerns over these packed concerts in the park.
