Sunday, July 15, 2012

The night London pulled the plug on Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen

What do London, England, and downtown Staunton, Virginia, have in common?

The neighbors don't want to hear music played late at night.

Saturday, as Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen jammed into the night in London's Hyde Park, someone pulled the plug and silenced their mikes at 10:40 p.m. From CNN Entertainment:
London's Westminster Council confirmed that concert organizers Hard Rock Calling had cut the power, saying they "were sticking to their license for the event." According to the Hard Rock Calling website, Springsteen had been due to finish his set at 10:15 p.m.
Springsteen said he had been waiting 50 years to play in that venue. A crowd of 65,000 fans were rocking to the music and then it all went quiet, as seen in this video. Like Staunton, local residents have complained about concerts going into the night:
Conditions for holding concerts in London's biggest central park have been tightened in the past year, the BBC reported, due to a rise in complaints from local residents. The Conservative-run council received 130 complaints about popular music events in the park in 2011. The events, which bring vital funding to the parks management, have been cut in number from 13 to nine and crowd size has been reduced from 80,000 to 65,000 maximum. Campaigners in the well-heeled borough have also sought a reduction in permitted noise levels.
...
British journalist Richard James tweeted, "Springsteen and McCartney: Only in Britain could a local council pull the plug on the greatest artists of the last 50 years giving it all."
Earlier this year, all Staunton City Council members except Councilwoman Andrea Oakes voted for a noise ordinance that cut off outdoor music at 11:30 p.m. against the wishes of young people who live, work, and enjoy entertainment in the downtown area.

Who would ever have thought that London and Staunton would have a late-night intolerance to music in common?

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