Springsteen and McCartney play to 80,000 in Hyde Park: Police pull the plug.

[Ichingcarpenter]

Last edited Sun Jul 15, 2012, 11:01 AM - Edit history (1)

Rock stars Bruce Springsteen and Sir Paul McCartney had the plug pulled on them after over-running at a concert in London's Hyde Park.
Headline act Springsteen welcomed Sir Paul on stage for renditions of the Beatles' I Saw Her Standing There and Twist and Shout.But their microphones were turned off before they could thank the crowds.

Springsteen had exceeded the time limit for the Hard Rock Calling event after playing for more than three hours.
It made for a slightly bizarre, anti-climactic end to what had been a fantastic show," said Stephen Robb, a BBC reporter who was at the event.
The band obviously couldn't tell from on stage that the sound had been shut off.

"It just looked a bit like everyone was milling about on stage having forgotten how the show should end."
Guitarist Steven Van Zandt, a member of Springsteen's E Street Band, was angered by the forced curtailment, accusing "English cops" of preventing "80,000 people having a good time".When did England become a police state?" he wrote on Twitter.

more:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18845542



Wow...... that's a concert I would have loved to see.

[B Calm]

1. Yeah that would have been something

to be lucky enough to been there.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Police pulled the plug at the request of the organisers - not Westminster City Council.

The concert had already run over by half an hour and I guess they didn't want to chance their arm against local environmental laws. You either agree with environmental laws period or you don't.

I saw Springsteen at Wembley the first time he came over here which I think was 1980. Great stuff.

[pnwmom]

3. Not every "environmental law" is equally valid. Any environmental law that would require

a Springsteen/McCartney event to be abruptly curtailed before midnight is a law meant to be repealed.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Or at least they could apply a kind of 'Taterguy Exception'

[dipsydoodle]

6. The organisors considered it to be expediant

to shut it down when they did because they knew they risked Westminster Council refusing future licenses to them : there is no appeal against that. If they say no then tough.

[pnwmom]

7. The Westminster Council were at fault then, for not establishing an appeal process.

[Nye Bevan]

5. Health and safety gone mad. You just couldn't make it up (nt)

[treestar]

8. didn't they have the show planned?

I would have thought them planned to the minute.

[dipsydoodle]

9. They did

but it over ran by half an hour. I think lock down time is 10.30pm for noise in a residential area and that's most likely a bi-law : what you'd refer to as a city ordinance.

One of the issues is the sound level. Some details from the past here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17079203

First concert I recall being there was the freebee the Stones did after Brian Jones died :

We didn't have any noise laws in those days : over 200,000 turned up for that.

[panader0]

10. Brian Jones had a little help "dying".