Springsteen's Hard Rock Calling show cut off early

E-Street guitarist labels UK a 'police state'

Chris Swindells - 15 July 2012

Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band last night headlined the second night of Hard Rock Calling 2012 when he brought on special guest Paul McCartney to perform with him. However, the show was running half an hour over the allotted 10:30pm curfew and the plug was soon pulled on the legendary performers.

Bruce 'the Boss' Springsteen introduced McCartney to stage and told the crowd: "I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but I've been waiting about 50 years," before performing The Beatles' 'I Saw Her Standing There' and 'Twist and Shout' together.

E-Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt went to his Twitter page to vent his fustrations following the incident.

"One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state?" he tweeted.

"We break curfews in every country but only English cops needs to "punish us" by not letting us leave until the entire crowd goes. Is there just too much fun in the world? We would have been off by 11 if we'd done one more. On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing?"

He followed this, tweeting later: "I'm sorry but I have to be honest I'm pissed. Like I said, it didn't ruin the great night. But when I'm jamming with McCartney don't bug me! If it's a public transport issue I'm sorry but people are adult enough to go get a train if they need to without the cops pulling the plug!"

He updated his Twitter status this morning (July 15) with this comment: "There's no grudges to be held. Just feel bad for our great fans. Hard Rock is cool. Live Nation is cool. It's some City Council stupid rule."

Neither Springsteen nor McCartney have released official statements about the performance yet.

Westminister Council also tweeted their own message last night: "Last night's Hyde Park gig was ended by organisers to stick to their licence - runs to 10.30. It ran over to let them say goodnight & thanks"

Earlier this year Westminster Council ruled in favour of live concerts in Hyde Park being cut with smaller crowds and greater monitoring for noise levels.

In 2013 the number of concerts permitted in Hyde Park, London will fall from 13 to nine, and crowds reduced from 80,000 to 65,000, and in some cases 50,000.

The ruling by Westminster Council's licensing subcommittee follows months of disputes and 109 complaints from local residents in 2011, up 100 percent on 2010.

London Mayor Boris Johnson also got involved in the row, saying the musicians should have been allowed to continue their set.

"It sounds to me like an excessively efficacious decision," he told LBC Radio in London. "You won't get that during the Olympics. If they'd have called me, my answer would have been for them to jam in the name of the Lord."

Click here to read our review of Bruce Springsteen at Hard Rock Calling last night.

Should they have been cut short or allowed to break the curfew? We want your opinions, let us know by leaving a comment below.

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