Lights Out On Bruce Springsteen And Paul McCartney

Just when you think British higher ups couldn't get any more stuffy.....enter Saturday night.  Bruce         Springsteen and the E Street Band were cut short during a joint performance with Paul McCartney in London’s Hyde Park Saturday night.  According to sources, multiple eyewitnesses and the Twitter account of Steven Van Zandt himself, British authorities and concert promoters took it upon themselves to shut the power off to the stage right in the middle of an, what I can only imagine as AWESOME, rendition of "Twist and Shout".

Van Zandt said "One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state... We would have been off by 11 if we'd done one more. On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing? The cops got nothing more important to do? How about they go catch some criminals instead of [screwing] with 80,000 people having a good time? English cops may be the only individuals left on earth that wouldn't want to hear one more from Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney! 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!"

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for LiveNation in Great Britain, the concert's promoter, released his own statement.

“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 Hard Park are put in place at specific times to make sure everyone can exit the area in a safety.’”

So there you have it.  One of the most epic albeit unlikely duos to ever take the stage was not enough to impress British authorities or even the promoter himself.  On a lighter note, however, the mayor of London was quoted as saying "If they’d have called me, my answer would have been for them to jam in the name of the Lord!"

Well, at least there might be some saving grace to the stereotypical stuffiness of British law makers and law enforcers but all I can say is too little too late.

And you wonder why we kicked you to the curb 230+ years ago.